Carving linoleum, not my thumb

My mom bought me a linoleum block set when I was young...far too young to be carving linoleum blocks. I recall getting the kit down and using it long enough to run a gouge into my thumb and bleed all over myself. It would go back up on the shelf long enough for me to forget how bad it hurt and I would try it again. I wasn't a very fast learner. I'll spare you a similar story with my wood burning set. Sometimes I wonder whether she was trying to encourage my artistic abilities or scar me for life.

I forgot how bad it hurts so I got the kit back out last week. This time I'm remembering to cut away from myself. I have found several sites on-line that show how to print linocuts with a letterpress. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

More to come...

Self-promotion is a family affair

Thanks to my wife and in-laws, we have been cranking out some hand-made, personalized notebooks for self promotion. We spent several evenings over Christmas stamping, gluing, and assembling notebooks for the new year. Becky's mom was master of the rubber stamp and rubber cement, her dad can punch rounded corners like nobody's business and Becky did a little bit of everything. It's been a crazy Christmas with the new business startup and working on several projects at the same time. 2010 will be the official launch of my business and there's been alot to do to. Details like registering as a corporation, setting up finances and setting up healthcare make my head spin. My wife has been eager to do all of the above as well as run errands, send invoices and print business cards. She totally rocks.

Letterpress update

I picked up a bead blaster from Harbor Freight and set up a small blasting booth in my garage to catch the flying debris. The gun did a great job removing most of the grime and surface rust. Compare this photo with the one below! It also did a good job getting in my eyes despite wearing safety goggles. It has the beautiful dark patina of 100 year old cast iron so I decided to hold off on the painting. A press like this shouldn't look brand new. We used a brass wire wheel to remove rust and paint on the chase and smaller parts and gave the whole thing a good coat of mineral oil to protect it from growing more rust.

It looks like the handle was broken at some point and welded back together so the previous owner tapped a new hole to tighten the handle to the press with an allen wrench. They also drilled a small hole in the shaft for the screw to set into so it wouldn't slip. Unfortunately, they didn't make the hole deep or wide enough to accept the screw whch caused it to slip when pressure was applied. So I grabbed my drill and took care of problem by enlarging the hole. It holds MUCH better now.

Next step is to find some money to buy a new set of rollers ($200!!!!). I don't have the cash to buy rollers and boxcar base so I'm thinking about trying to do some linoleum prints.

More to come...

C&P Pilot Old Style

Behold, my new (old) Chandler & Price Pilot Letterpress.

I have wanted one of these for YEARS! Thanks to a good friend who totally hooked me up, I have a new project to work on. Those who know me well, know how much I love restoring stuff like this--much less something that makes beautiful art. I hope to begin breaking it down soon to began rust removal, prime and paint. It needs new rollers and a few other bits and pieces but overall it seems to be intact.

Check back for updates! I plan to upload plenty of pictures and notes as I go through the process.

CSCA Creative Best 2009

2009 Creative Best was another top-notch, well-attended event at the Arena Grand Theatre. Jeremy and the rest of the formerly-Element crew brought home three awards: one for the new Portfolio Identity, another for the  Columbus Brewing Co. Summer Teeth packaging, and one for Casey's Pop Art poster for Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams (Well-done Casey!). My photo-booth made it out to the event as well, capturing some great pictures of attendees brave enough to pose and push the button. The photos can be seen here.

Congratulations to all of the winners this year--you all make me proud to be a small part of the Columbus design community.

New mascot creates a buzz at Cedarville University

Jeremy Slagle (while at Element) working with the University Communications and Athletic Department, has designed a new mascot for Cedarville University. The Yellow Jackets have a time-honored athletic heritage whose teams routinely compete at a national level. As of the 2009-2010, the Yellow Jackets are moving up from NAIA to NCAA Div 2, allowing them to compete at a higher level, bringing with it, more regional and national exposure.

The old yellow Jacket was getting tired. Aside from the technical issues that came with printing and consistency in which it was used, really looked like the same "bee" "hornet" or "wasp" employed by high schools and colleges around the country. It wasn't memorable and didn't represent the excellence and tradition Cedarville Athletics were known for.

Our goal was to design something truly "own-able."

The result was better than anticipated. After rounds of revisions and tweaks, working with feedback from the coaches, athletic director and communications department, a new mascot was born. Along with the mascot we developed a custom type treatment and "lockup" versions. The new mascot can be easily reproduced from full-color to one-color applications.

Go Jackets!

Designed by Jeremy Slagle at Element.

Portable Paparazzi

Well, here she is. After countless hours in the basement workshop, the photo booth is fully functional. It has already successfully captured two events with some amazing results. Inside that simple plywood box is a conglomeration of scrap parts that were never intended to work together. There is an old brass sconce (with paint still on it where the previous owner carelessly painted the wall around it) a black and white portable TV set, several odd parts from deceased Apple computers, metal garage door hardware, galvanized sheet metal from some old duct work, and lots of love. All of which was either pulled out of someone's trash, found at the Habitat for Humanity, Re:Store Center, or picked up at the local thrift store. At the heart of this contraption is a Ricoh GR II Digital Camera.

 How does it work? Well, the booth sits atop an adjustable tripod stand. When you walk in front of it, you can see your happy face smiling back through a 5 inch black and white TV monitor. When you're good and ready, you reach up, push the button--the camera focuses and fires. Behind the white panel on the front is a glowing 75 watt bulb and a 40 watt-second flash. After the shot is taken the image stays on the screen for a few seconds so you admire your photo. It also has built-in wireless capability which sends the photos over a network to a laptop, that, when hooked up to a projector, will present a slide show on the wall, automatically updating as photos are taken throughout the evening.

The next scheduled event is coming up in November for CSCA's Creative Best at the Arena Grand Theatre. Be sure to stop by and say "Cheese" to my photo booth while you're there.

Graphic Design Referenced

Jeremy's work for Columbus Brewing Company is prominently featured in this new must-have book by Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez Palacio. It's getting rave reviews on Amazon and is sure to become a classic on every designer's book shelf. We enter our work for submission into many of the Rockport books but this project was especially cool because Bryony Gomez Palacio contacted us directly to request that we submit the CBC work for this book. It's an honor to be recognized in such an awesome compilation of work and among such a distinguished roster of great design firms.

CBC designed by Jeremy Slagle at Element.