Mum's old typewriter

When I spoke to my mum about a project I was doing about punctuation, I mentioned the issue of focusing on the en dash since it has only really been available to print since the computer. This prompted her to bring down her old typewriter, which was really fun to use. Once you get used to hitting the keys quite hard, you can type as fast as you would on a computer keyboard. However, I found I sometimes missed the keys and as I have small fingers, they got stuck between the keys!! I have an illustration I made of it somewhere. I will upload it when I have photographed my recent work.

The Three Horseshoes & River Colne

Our local pub is currently undergoing a makeover. It has had a new lick of paint to convert it from pink to white and driving past on Monday I noticed the name of the pub has been painted onto the walls. The previous signage consisted of bulky gold lettering stuck to the walls. This hand painted serif typeface is much more welcoming and traditional.

I spoke to one of the refurbishers and he told me that the name had been stencilled with carbon paper and hand painted. I imagine this took a while, but I am glad to have something down my road that has a properly considered identity to it.

My only issue with this design is that I hope the upside down horseshoes do not spell bad luck for the pub's new owners. The upside down horseshoes create a smoother line than the jagged peaks of upright ones would, although I hope this does not bring them misfortune. Perhaps they are challenging superstition. Perhaps they were challenged by design.

This is the scene of the River Colne just 5 minutes by foot from my front door. Whatever time of the year it is, the sun picks up on the season's colours.

The water is shallow, still and crystal clear at this part of the bank. However, you can watch the current gently carry fallen leaves and twigs along on their journey from the comfort of a nearby bench. It is the most relaxing thing I can think of to do and that's why it has to be one of my favourite places.

Reflection

Chester's essay presentation today made me think a little more about the video I posted yesterday. The video was 2 men putting old letterpress into a computer typeface format. The fonts they uploaded are ones that only exist now in wooden letterpress.


New Digital Fonts from Rare Letterpress Wood Type Kickstarter Video from Bearded Studio on Vimeo.


I enjoyed the video and the idea and the way they freely spoke about it although I felt a bit disheartened when they got to the vector stage and editing out the 'undesireable' parts of the letters. I don't think they got rid of all the print effects, although the example at the end looks like the original proof before it was edited. It's all very well taking these to the computer and applying texture there (it's a clever idea) but it is such a good experience to ink up the letters and print them by hand/in a press.