The 2007 Kerrytown BookFest Poster

Thoughts on creating and printing the BookFest Poster for 2007
James Horton

Having been involved in a past BookFest Poster, I was honored to have been asked again, to create something for the now annual event.

When faced with the question of how to approach such a challenge, I want something to be informative, but eye-catching and expressive. For such an event, there is no reason a graphic design shouldn’t be in the realm of finer art. There are times one creates for just information. There are times one uses humor, a retro feel, or a stunning impact! This was a time; I wanted to make something that I hoped would be beautiful. Information, illustration, color and design on a poster that one can also see, as fine art was my goal.

One has to also take into account the many differing tastes of a committee when working for such. There may have to be flexibility. In this case, there were actually good suggestions from the BookFest committee. They visited me in my studio, and I had a great working relationship with the people that make this event so successful.

My approach was to connect Ann Arbor as its reputation as a “Tree Town” to the world of books and book arts. Paper comes from trees…books come from paper…now how to put that into visual terms? The solution was a pattern that is created by a leaf. In this case, every fall I admire the leaves of the ginkgo tree as they lay on my steps. The many colors of fall give richness and character to the leaves. The event is in the fall…so not a time for blacks, browns or grays. I wanted color and pattern to be the focal point of the poster.

I proceeded to make a drawing of a tree trunk. I cut into Shima plywood. I also cut a design using ginkgo leaves, and then engraved on end-grain wood, another leaf. I ran galley proofs of these designs. And prepared them for the making of magnesium plates. The plywood cuts would not have held up for the kind (and quantity) of letterpress printing the poster would involve. The mags can be used for many impressions. Look at the back of the poster, and you will see what I mean by impression. That embossed look is what sets letterpress printing apart.

Many hours are spent at the press for such a project. I made seven color runs on the press. The hand-setting of the type is another story. One has so much involvement with the letterforms – the spacing, the leading. It is a visual symphony when it all works.

The equipment and materials that I used, spans the nineteenth century to the present. I use old presses, engraving tools and in fact, my studio is like a working museum. It is almost a sacred place to me. I rarely feel the need to be entertained. I rarely feel the need for electronics or digital toys. Tools of any kind are valued for sure. But my heart is having these materials and processes in my hand.

In art, sometimes things work, and sometimes they don’t. If success were guaranteed, we wouldn’t strive so for perfection. It is the process that I value more than anything. There is also the time to finally set a finished piece of artwork up, and evaluate it. To a printmaker, signing a stack of hundreds of the same, gives one a feeling of productivity as well as a massaging of the soul. Sweat, problem solving, learning, experimenting, and even having accidents that become useful are all a part of this process.

Making a Copy of the Poster

This is the plate of the central image. Both it and
the image of the Ginko branches were printed together on each
sheet first, before the text. The branches were in fact one image
that letterpress printer and wood engraver Jim Horton actually
cut in half. The leaves he etched himself in wood, and then
sent to a printer who made the metal plate.

Next, on this table Jim mixed the inks he would need for
each pass of the press on the sheet.

Here Jim is showing us the sheet after the images have
been printed, but before the final pass to add the text.

Here is the type in the form, set up after the Ginko branch
and leaf images have aready been printed.

This is the start of the last pass on the press. Jim, to the left,
has put two colors on the type for different parts of the sheet.
The orange color was applied by hand after Jim made a pass over
the rest of the type with the rollers in the picture. He taped over
the words that would need to be orange while he inked the rest.

Jim is now rolling the sheet over the form.
The rollers are not inking at this point.

And here is the final product, one of only 100, all signed by Jim.
Tom Hollander, right, is looking on.

If you wish to order a poster, please visit:

http://www.hollanders.com/workshops/KerrytownBookFest.aspx