DESCRIPTION Swearing Postcards CLIENT Self-promotion DATE November 2009 DESIGN CREDITS Christopher Skinner PRINT CREDITS Christopher Skinner TYPE CREDITS Millhouse

QUANTITY PRODUCED 176 PRODUCTION TIME 8 days DIMENSIONS: WIDTH × HEIGHT × DEPTH 105 mm (4.13 in) × 148 mm (5.82 in) PRINT METHOD Hand-pulled victorian nipping press PAPER STOCK 200 gsm white uncoated NUMBER OF COLORS Black + 1 (per postcard)

Christopher Skinner recently purchased an old nipping press, and while mostly interested in bookbinding he began experimenting with linocut printing.

These cards came about as I was making small test pieces and enjoying the variation in quality, from over-inked to under inked and overpressed. It's a 'celebration' if you like, of the vagaries and uniqueness of hand printing. The idea behind the postcards came from a genuine love of letterforms, and I had originally planned to do a series of letters in defunct victorian fonts. In the end, I decided that explore censored swear words as a means to celebrate the power of innocent symbols - if the pen is mightier that the sword, then the letterforms themselves are indeed, mightier than the pen, lead type, letraset, photocomposition, Mac etc, etc...

In a delicate size, these postcards are sure to impress upon the receiver a sense of humor and playfulness that many designers can relate to. Colorful and straightforward as the words they depict you can pick up a set — only 16 available — for your own use via Christopher's online store. Note that each packet contains 10 postcards with the letters F, K, W, S, P, C, two Ts and two *s for your spelling delight.

I am a bit surprised to see this on FPO. I love the letterforms, and I'd like to get my hands on that press! But the concept is so.. e m p t y ? I don't know. Its a fun exploration, but beyond that, meh.

It's not that bad. It's just not that good either.

Wow, that is a beautiful nipping press! Where does one find such a fine specimen?

Were the background colors also printed using a linocut and the press?

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Bruce, according to his blog, he printed the colours digitally.

F**K. Nice punk aesthetic brought to the 'press. No concept? I see the message as the meaning. Vernacular Craft vs Vulgar Copy. Nice job.