Studio Snippets № 002
Fall updates and small happenings in my little creative practice
The weather shifted quickly here in Northern Indiana, and with that comes all the hustle and bustle that accompanies this season. Its exciting to think about the next couple months on the way to Christmas!
I’m still biking orders to the Post Office in the morning when I can. It’s a favorite way to start the day with a little bit of exertion and some quiet time outside. There have been several brisk and beautiful mornings, but with the temperatures shifting and the wind picking up lately I’ve had to drive down a few times.
My Busy Market Season
Over the next seven weeks I have four events where I’ll be selling my letterpress prints in-person at a few different venues. I always enjoy meeting enthusiastic guests and the occasional follower that comes out to chat a little.
I love it when guests recognize letterpress design and printing (usually from Hatch Show Print) and have an idea of the process and the history. It’s great to see their enthusiasm and understanding of the craft!
However, I’m often surprised by how few people know what letterpress is, or even who Gutenberg was. Maybe it’s because I’m a little older or maybe it’s because I’ve always been interested in art, but I thought Gutenberg’s printing press was an important historic invention and something more people would know.
Regardless, markets are often a good opportunity to explain how the process works and educate people a little bit about the history of graphic design! I’m always up for an opportunity to geek out and explain a little bit about fonts and printing!
On the Press
I’m currently finishing my annual Minimalist Calendar prints. It’s a favorite project each year: a simple layout that comes with twelve stickers for you to cover a symbol or shape for each month to visually watch the year progress and think about how you’re using your time. It’s not the kind of thing you write appointments on, more like an interactive artwork.
This year I’ve got a little twist in store that I’m excited about, but you’ll have to wait a few weeks before they are released!
A Small Project and a Little Hope
I may have gotten ahead of myself a little bit, but my optimism showed up and I took a little bit of a creatively courageous leap…
I printed a small, pocket-sized collection of my favorite Notes I’ve written in the Substack app! ( and it comes with a mini-print!) I’m definitely excited about it, but a bit nervous as well.
I reworked 23 of my Notes, had them edited, and then formatted them into a little 4x6” booklet with each page spread holding a short thought on Creativity and the Creative’s Journey as well as a space to reflect on how it might apply to your own creative work - and twice! Once now, and again later…6 months, or a year maybe? I think it’s important for us as creative people to think about our relationship to our creative work and I hope this is a good tool for that! And, I also am regularly thinking about how I can use writing and presenting more to help encourage other creatives, and this seemed like a good, low risk way to keep moving toward that dream.
I’ve labeled this as a “Work in Progress” Edition, as this was a little bit of an experiment and a learning process (I made some small design errors: I wish I’d have left a little more space in the interior near the page gutter and there’s subtle ghosting on the cover around the image boxes. Better to start imperfectly than let my perfectionism win and never start at all!)
I also hand-printed an exclusive 4-color print of a beautiful and bold overlapping ampersand, as a reminder of all the different things that add up to make a creative journey in all their variety and overlapping and shifting ways. (Also 4x6”, good for placing on your desk or maybe your corkboard.)
If you’d like to grab this booklet and print set for yourself or even as a gift, here’s the link. I only ran 50 of them, and I won’t reprint these again in the same way again.
https://hoosiertypeco.etsy.com/listing/4392552716
Next Up
It’s going to be a fast and furious seven weeks but I’m looking forward to it! I have a few more prints I plan to finish and release here in November and early December. Stay tuned to see them as I share things here and in the Substack app as they become available!
Thanks for Subscribing!
I deeply appreciate all the followers and interactions I am having with other writers and artists and creatives here on Substack. Thank you for the gift of your time and attention to my letterpress design work!
*I do not have paid subscriptions turned on yet, but for those of you who are interested you can “pledge” ahead of time to my newsletter as a way of supporting my studio in advance.
I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the change of the seasons!
-Daniel
Subscribe, Follow, Share, Wish-List, Invite
You can support my small, rural studio’s printing journey by subscribing here on Substack, following on Instagram, sharing this article, adding my prints to your Amazon wish list, or inviting me to speak to your group or class.
Growing a letterpress design practice in rural Indiana is a real challenge, but it’s worth it when I see so many of you enjoying my prints and engaging in discussions on fonts, design history, and creativity! Every little bit helps!
Thanks again for reading along and for all your support!
P.S. - Questions about the printing process, font history, or printing/book arts? Leave a comment below or reply to this email!
Wait, Gutenberg isn't common knowledge?!