It’s a Knock Out
It’s a productive day of live screen printing at Pick Me Up at Somerset House. Here are the first designs of the Process & Effect series: Rumble in the jungle, printed and drying. They’re two colour screen prints on A2 art card, each will be embossed, numbered and signed. Next up are the Apple posters, my ‘love letter’ to Steve Jobs and the inventions that have changed our lives.
Read more about the Process & Effect series.
High tech meets low fi
Time for a few experiments before printing the final thing. The room at Somerset House is pretty hot and we don’t have all our usual equipment so I’m prepared for my the ink to dry into the screen quicker than usual. I’ve chosen to play with screen printing ‘teaser’ cards with QR codes on crappy paper and corrugated card–I like the contrast of high tech codes in low fi materials. These prompt plenty of discussion and demonstrations from me.
Even the smudged one where it stuck to the screen works with the reader app.
The QR codes link to full images of the posters, and additional information on the inspiration behind each design. I’ve left a trail of A5 QR codes around the gallery and on the way home…
Go to knockout link / go to tapestry link
Today’s the day
Crazy traffic, Victoria Embankment entrance and my exhibitor badge (materials designed by Anthony Burrill).
Posters for pre-order through Print Club
The posters are available for pre-order through Print Club ahead of the live printing today:
Pick Me Up at Somerset House
Pick Me Up has opened, and although I’m not printing live until Tuesday I thought it wouldn’t hurt to get my posters seen around the venue. The test prints are now up on the wall in the pop up Print Club workshop. We carried a print around with us for the day like an impromptu golf sale sign, interesting to see that it caught quite a few people’s attention.
Process & Effect: Apple tapestry
Process
As a graphic designer Apple products have not only played both an important part throughout my career, they’ve also been woven into my everyday life. The products have empowered me to learn, hone, perfect my skills and to share what I do with others. We’re all very aware of recent innovations which have shaped the way we receive information and communicate. But Apple had vision from the outset, from the pre-launch ad for the first Macintosh which was directed by Ridley Scott, through giving us the mouse and realistic desktop, access to fonts, and now the iPad that has lit a fuse that will change our future in ways that we can’t yet imagine.
Effect
The timeline of Apple innovations in stitching-influenced type combined with bitmap type taken from the early Apple desktop. Both typefaces are grid-based and sit together well. A large happy Mac is to be overprinted in yellow and the final screen print will be embossed and signed.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Process & Effect: Rumble in the Jungle
Process
The first design coincides with the preparation for our kickboxing red belt gradings. We are all practicing moves at bus stops, imagining punch combos on the bus and waking up in the night to discover that it’s creeping into our dreams. After 6 months and approximately 80 hours of training we’ll no longer be beginners and we’ll become real members of Paragon Gym.
Effect
The first poster features an iconic 1970s boxing match between then world Heavyweight champion George Foreman and challenger Muhammad Ali. In the last 30 seconds of the 8th round Ali delivers a powerful series of 6 punches that leave Foreman down as the referee declares it a knockout.
Imagery: float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Bold, woodblock-inspired type to illustrate the power of Ali’s punches. The final screen print will be embossed and signed.
leave a comment