This week,
Brad has been working on printing a poster for
Imogen Heap, a musician who will be performing at the
Ryman in June. It was nice to see how he designs and prints a poster from beginning to end, something we will all be doing shortly!
This is Brad's "Proof" which he sent to the Ryman for approval. Instead of printing a proof on the press, they brayer the type with ink and print it on tracing paper (by rubbing the back of the paper with their hands), so they can photocopy it at kinko's and shrink it down to 8.5x11 to fax to the client. To keep the ink dry, they cover it with cornstarch after printing it.
This is the set type he printed the proof from.
After getting approval from the client, they can then put the poster on the press to print. To get this gradient, Brad did what is called a 'fountain roll.' He put one color on one side of the roller, and one on the other side, so they would mix together in the center.
This is the print from the first press run.
Then, Brad had to set the second color with the rest of the information.
And this is the finished print!
This is Brad's "Proof" which he sent to the Ryman for approval. Instead of printing a proof on the press, they brayer the type with ink and print it on tracing paper (by rubbing the back of the paper with their hands), so they can photocopy it at kinko's and shrink it down to 8.5x11 to fax to the client. To keep the ink dry, they cover it with cornstarch after printing it.
This is the set type he printed the proof from.
After getting approval from the client, they can then put the poster on the press to print. To get this gradient, Brad did what is called a 'fountain roll.' He put one color on one side of the roller, and one on the other side, so they would mix together in the center.
This is the print from the first press run.
Then, Brad had to set the second color with the rest of the information.
And this is the finished print!
Very cool, Stephanie! Thanks for sharing that process, especially the proofing stage. Smart!!
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about the second stage and the exact placement of the notches into the wood forms to create the letters. How was that registered?
Lastly, on average, how long does a poster take to create (concept to hand off)?
Cheers!
Dave
Hey Dave!
ReplyDeleteThat's where the tracing paper comes in handy, since it's see-through. I think in this instance Brad put one of the first prints down on a block, and set the notches (which are actually letters, 'L"s and "I"s) on top of the poster to make sure they lined up before locking in the furniture.
Hatch's turn-around time is about six weeks (from design to production), mostly because they have so many jobs coming through that it takes a few weeks to get something into the press schedule. Once a designer starts on a poster, it seems to take about a day to design it and lay it out, but sometimes the proofing process can take a week (if the client doesn't like it, or wants a change), and then printing takes a few days depending on the number of colors.
Thanks for the question! I'm learning all of this as I go along so it's my approximation :)
-Stephanie
Thanks for the feedback on this Stephanie. Very cool. Pretty exciting to say the least...can ya sneak a medical illustration example onto a poster. :)
ReplyDeleteBest!
D