For Print Only

A Division of UnderConsideration

ABOUT      CONTACT      RSS

2009
–
2017

Wordless self-promotional pieces often say more than the wordy ones. Nando Costa is able to share a series of subtle messages as included in his six portrait illustrations and the printing process that inspired them as he produced each. One by one.

This series of limited edition letterpress prints is entitled “Memories of an Escapist”. It’s essentially an homage to artists which have been key to my understanding of various aspects of the art field throughout my career. The illustrated portraits are of Hieronymus Bosch, Lygia Clark, Maurits Cornelis Escher, Wassily Kandinsky, Stephen and Timothy Quay (Brothers Quay) and Bill Viola.

This was my first experience with letterpress, so it was a really exciting medium to explore. Each image was designed after the previous had been printed so as the new images were created I tried to push them not just design-wise but also in terms of the technical possibilities of letterpress.

Every color was custom and hand mixed and, in addition, the registration we tried to achieve was quite important which was a challenge for the prints. In the end they came out beautifully.

I am fascinated by the amount of detail and thought not only within each illustration but in how each layer of ink relates to the other in so many different ways: touching, overprinting, contrasting, etc.

If you want to see additional images, including some juicy close ups of the plates, visit Nando’s flickr set of the project.

2011 Time Traveler’s Calendar

Recent Posts

←
Previous

→
Next

Thanksgiving Card

Nando Costa Portrait Promotion

Production Method

Design

Nando Costa

Printing

Keegan Meegan