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BROWSE
Client
–
Quantity Produced
55
Production Cost
$29
Production Time
1 month
Dimensions (Width × Height × Depth)
5 in × 7 in
Page Count
–
Paper Stock
Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Number of Colors
2 spot inks, Speedball Red and Speedball Turquoise
Varnishes
–
Binding
–
Typography
Hand carved
Is a holiday card like all others? Surely not. Especially when each card is hand crafted with care and love as a designer seeks to learn something new, a technique that snatches him or her from their usual element, forcing them to improvise and go with the flow. Such is the case of Brent Couchman, designer and illustrator at Fossil:
For one of our projects we had done a series of woodcut inspired prints to use on different Fossil products. It was my first time working with the technique and it was fun to get away from the computer and learn something new. It was also relatively simple so I thought it could work well for our holiday cards. Previously, I had used a single color but I thought it would be fun to try printing with two colors. The actual carving was pretty easy and probably took about 2 hours. The trickiest part was to carve it so that each block would line up correctly for printing. I used the dining room as a production area and just printed an hour at a time for a few days until we had it all done.
The rubber doesn’t hold a great amount of detail which I learned early on while we were printing. Smaller lines, like the type, didnt seem to hold up as well as I had wanted but it also gave it an overall rougher feel which we were OK with. Based on suggestions from friends I think I’ll try using linocut blocks next time to get a little bit more detail in there.
We sure hope Brent continues experimenting and having fun. May we suggest a valentine?
This post was published in the original layout of FPO so all images are smaller. Project descriptions as well as production lessons are quoted in the main content area.
Post Author
Bryony
Bryony Gomez-Palacio
Editor of FPO and co-founder of UnderConsideration LLC.
More: Online / On Twitter
Date Published
December 17, 2009
Filed Under
Self promotion
Tagged with
DIY
hand carved
holiday card
rubber block printing
speedball
About
FPO (For Print Only), is a division of UnderConsideration, celebrating the reality that print is not dead by showcasing the most compelling printed projects.
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About UnderConsideration
UnderConsideration is a graphic design enterprise that runs a network of blogs, publishes books, organizes live events and judged competitions, and designs for clients.
online
Brand New / Displaying opinions and focusing solely on corporate and brand identity work.
Art of the Menu / Cataloguing the underrated creativity of menus from around the world.
Quipsologies / Chronicling the most curious, creative, and notable projects, stories, and events of the graphic design industry on a daily basis.
Speak Up (2002 – 2009) / Discussing, and looking for, what is relevant in, and the relevance of, graphic design. Archives Only.
Word It (2003 – 2010) / Encouraging creative diversity in the community through monthly, one-word challenges. Archives Only.
Brand New Classroom (2010 – 2011) / Providing a space for critique and opinions on student identity workArchives Only.
graphic design
Department of Design / Designing corporate and brand identities and full development of printed and digital matter for clients.
publishing
The 2010 FPO Awards / 2011, self-published.
The 2010 Brand New Awards / 2011, self-published.
Flaunt: Designing effective, compelling and memorable portfolios of creative work / 2010, self-published.
Events & Judged Competitions
Brand New Conference / A one-day event on the development of corporate and brand identity projects by some of today’s most active and influential practitioners from around the world.
Brand New Awards / Celebrating the best identity work produced around the world.
FPO Awards / Celebrating the best print work from around the world.
Writing
Graphic Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design / 2009, Rockport.
Women of Design: Influence and Inspiration from the Original Trailblazers to the New Groundbreakers / 2008, HOW Books.
The Word It Book: Speak Up Presents a Gallery of Interpreted Words / 2007, HOW Books.
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