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Lead Graffiti

120 A Sandy Drive, Sandy Brae Industrial Park
Newark DE 19711
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a letterpress lab of sorts

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Lead Graffiti

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    • New Products
  • workshops
    • STUDIO SUBSCRIPTIONS
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    • . . vandercook
    • . . iron hand press
    • . . floor-model platens
    • . . week-long letterpress
    • CREATIVE LETTERPRESS explained
    • . . meander book online
    • . . werkman druksels
    • . . quotable broadside
    • . . holiday card
    • press rental
    • BOOKMAKING explained
    • . . bookmaking basics
    • . . 6-pocket accordion
    • . . one day one book
    • . . coptic stitch
    • . . clamshell
    • . . paste paper
    • . . bookmaking bonanza
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Laboratory Press : metal type composition the old-fashioned way

April 3, 2018 Ray Nichols
projet-laboratory-press-an-achievement.jpg

DO YOU TEACH TYPOGRAPHY? Here is a suggested project you should give twice : first during the first week of the semester, and a second time during the last week. In a non-letterpress environment, the assignment would be done on a computer using InDesign so the student can flow text.

PROJECT : Create a well-designed single page. 

  • Avoid hyphens and rivers as much as possible

  • Line breaks should react to and support the text

  • Utilize a variety of type sizes, including headline / title, initial cap, necessary descriptive and main text, writing and design credits to produce a visually coherent page

  • Avoid noticeable tracking or kerning extremes

  • Use of fleurons and typographic decoration is encouraged

The final piece should demonstrate the student's skill level with the craft of typography and layout

Consider the piece as it might be used for an award or mission statement, or give it a historical document quality. A knowledgeable designer with a critical eye should see evidence of a number typographic design decisions that were made, in place of default-mode decisions made by the computer.

Where this idea was born

Porter Garnett started Laboratory Press at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1922 as the first fine press educational program in the U.S. 

Under the guidance of Garnett, students produced projects (termed "projets" by Garnett) using hand composition with metal type to demonstrate the student's skill and decision-making processes with the craft of typography. About 190 of these projets were produced. At the top is one of the nicest examples we've seen, which we bought from eBay ($35) to go with our Albion No. 8112, also from The Laboratory Press. 

projet-laboratory-press-an-achievement-cropped.jpg

Specimen No. 39, produced by Charles Wesley Prew and approved for printing in January 13, 1927. Sheet measures 9" x 14".

Above the projet is cropped to show more detail. Note the use of small caps, ligatures, and border art. Pay special attention to the number of design issues this student had to contend with :

  • Note the length of the first 2 lines and then the next 2, all filling the line measure

  • The spacing between the initial cap E and IGHT

  • The complete lack of rivers

  • Only 3 hyphenated words (each 9, 10, and 11 characters in length)

  • The way Fates (a capitalized word) hits at the start of the last line

  • The handset decorative pieces to create a "tailpiece"

  • Getting the last few lines to perfectly pick up the angle of the tailpiece and to completely fill the last line

Simply stunning and representative of persistence, craftsmanship and an astute eye for detail.

Here is another projet we also found on eBay.

laboratory-press-your-afterself.jpg

Specimen No. 78, set by Harry H. Wisner in Goudy Newstyle, is a bit more open, but with a wonderful, calligraphic "Y" that contrasts beautifully with the headline's stiletto serifs. The credits say the initial cap is calligraphy by Wisner, but it is printed via letterpress. The subtle rounded curve to the type at the bottom reflects the curves of the cap Y and is simpler, but no less skillful, in design to the previous projet.

Tags students, teachers
← William Ibbett? Jack the Ripper?Proof of our Albion's origin →

Our Lead Graffiti blog is a mass of varied information that is hard to understand. The search option in the top navigation works quite well if you can hit the right keyword (s). In this sidebar, we’ve highlighted some personally meaningful entries that might help if you want to try a couple of entries. To DEEP DIVE, click somewhere in the right column and then scroll down the left column. Also, if you know us, you can try searching for an appropriate word & the word “blog.”

2025

Resist
Liar, Liar.
Just do it!
Bernie Herman

2024

"Ink Pulls:" the hows and whys
Family holiday card workshop
“Liar, Liar.”+3 broadsides @ NAA exhibit
Waldorf diplomas / 2024
More on X-ing the Paragrab
”Concertina spine” book workshop
Lead Graffiti labyrinth
Jill, Ray, & Brodovitch @ the Barnes

2023

Forward for “X-ing a Paragrab”
UCBA member IMHO Meander Mook project
Black History is White History broadside
AIGA / Philadelphia Feedback broadside
Dunya Mikhail “Pronouns” broadside
etaoin shrdlu
Seven Fun Facts about the Linotype

2022

DCAD First-year talks
Cy Twombley. It’s just my opinion anyway.
”No more war. No more Putin.” broadside
Buying our Albion : that story
January 6th assault broadside

2021

Waldorf School of Philadelphia diplomas
Teleport broadside
ONLINE MEANDER BOOK letterpress workshop

2020

A design example of subtle racism
Looking back : Histories of Newark : 1758-2008
Retrospective exhibition at DCAD
Broadside : Black Lives Matter. A lot.

2019

A wonderful film about Ben Joosten
People Were Close (2004 book project)
WHYY-TV / Waldorf School of Philadelphia
What would a good student do?

2018
Alone in Berlin : postcard power
Doves’ type : metal & digital
“Blue Wave” broadside
John Bolton / Lead Graffiti connection
Alan Kitching’s VCUK workshops
U.S. Senators postcard mailing (coming)

2017
Four things you might want to know about Ray
Introducing Stephen Frykholm at AIGA

2016

Saul Bass. A no-show.
Burning Man & Lead Graffiti’s journal
Chris Fritton, The Itinerant Printer
Porter Garnets’s 10 commandments

2015
Best Intertype project #2 : round calendar
The Nash Equilibrium

2014
WHYY-TV’s Best of 2014
London Bombing’s 7th Anniversary

2013
Tour de Lead Graffiti. Sports Illustrated.
Grant Hart. Letterpress printer?
July 4th revolution coasters

2012
Thank You, Craig Cutler

2011
APHA National annual meeting program

2008
Designing Lead Graffiti’s logo
Art Directors Club of NY Grandmasters Award

2004
VCUK’s Alan Kitching letterpress workshops
VC family album pages

2003
Alan Fletcher : Raven Press logo origin
Bukva:raz! - Our first serious piece

2001
Visiting Eric Gill’s Gravesite