Yee-Haw!! Happy New Year

A few days ago I went to Chelsea Market to buy some yummy bread and as luck should have it they had an immense letterpress exhibition by Yee-Haw Industries. Unfortunately for me I wasn't carrying my camera, so all the images here are from their website.

The exhibition consisted of 78 prints dotted around the market. I really liked the variety in the prints - some were just letterpressed; others letterpressed and then sewn (50 quilt squares were created specifically for the show); some were overlaid woodcut letters and some were huge (42x90"). They were all lovely, reasonably priced and drool worthy.

Yee-Haw Industries are based in Knoxville, Tennessee. They are a custom letterpress print and design outfit founded in 1997 by Kevin Bradley and Julie Belcher. The exhibition ran from 4th October 2009 - 2nd January 2010. New Year's resolutions: 1. always carry a camera, 2. learn about exhibitions earlier, 3. post said exhibitions. Sorry folks!

Beautiful 2010 calendar

As we are barreling towards the end of the year I thought it would be fitting to blog about a beautiful calendar that I noticed in Kate's Paperie (a fabulous paper and stationary chain in the State of New York). The gorgeous letterpressed calendar is by Linda & Harriett.

There are 12 fully letterpressed months, tied together with a double-faced satin purple ribbon. The reverse side is designed so it can be cut and used as a post card.
Unfortunately they have sold out of the calendar from the website, but it's possible that Kate's Paperie might have a few remaining.

All the creations are designed by Liz Coulson Libré, who like many of the people I feature, happens to live in Brooklyn, NY. What a creative city this is! She started in 2005 creating pure custom hand-stamped invitations, and then in 2007 launched Linda & Harriett as a custom letterpress company. In her words she designs lines of "luxurious paper goods that are simple, unpretentious and fresh – but never cutesy, frilly or boring. Injecting a good sense of color and fun into her designs, Liz provides personalized attention and love for every product she produces." Here is a small sample of her work, to see more, please see her website.





I really, really love her stuff and I look forward to see what she produces in 2010. I have friends arriving tomorrow night to spend Christmas with us, so I'm unsure if I will get a chance to blog before Christmas, so if I don't - Happy Christmas & Holidays to everyone!

Words are Pictures

Tonight I'm going to my other half's AIGA NY talk, SMALL TALK NO. 4: CRAIG WARD. He has always been passionate about design but more specifically typography and as his pseudonym suggests, Words are Pictures, he likes to mix the two to create something unique and different. He is constantly exploring the notion of word as image.

I've always been proud of the work he has created and tonight, at his first US presentation, he gets to showcase his work. He will discuss his thought and idea processes as well as his journey from designer to typographer. He has another talk scheduled in France next July for OFFF Paris 2010 conference.

Here are some of my personal favourites...

Letterpress

I love to see something en masse, which is why I love Tor Pettersen's reception. This type spans 2 floors of the design agency just off Soho Square and looks so amazing.

The letterpress collection in Tor Pettersen reminds me these unique woodletter collages from The Old Printing Shop. They are also inset in the original type trays, that have been cut to size, which I think is a nice touch. A larger version would make for a very lovely coffee table.

Alphabet City

After our strange visit to the Bowery Museum we walked to Alphabet City. I thought it was appropriate that I happened upon this letter 'P' on a door that had been graffitied and posted on. I also spotted this lovely ornate doorknob and letterpress letters as a 'closed' sign. I love New York!