In my previous research for my proposal I identified the work of the Richard Ardagh and the A23D printed type project (2014). This was funded in part by an Arts Council grant and the pieces themselves were fabricated by model making specialists Chalk Studios using industrial machines. The designs were 3D printed as veneers and mounted onto MDF blocks to bring them to type height. As a project it is an interesting exploration of how detailed a 3D printed block can be, with the design of the typeface itself being custom made to explore how sharp and complex the strokes of a letterform can be printed.
Designer Jack Gover at Print My Part, a 3D printing service, has worked with Gordon Chesterman, a Letterpress Printer, to fabricate 3D printed replacement letters for an antique set of wood letters (2017). As with A23D these blocks were 3D printed from digital designs as veneers that were then mounted onto wood to have them reach type height.
The 3D printed replacement letters amongst the original wood letters.
Previously, I have been interviewed by Chris Wilson, a printmaker, design educator and doctoral candidate based in Newcastle upon Tyne as part of his Digilog PhD project. In his project he has been documenting and analysing the intersection between traditional craft and contemporary production methods in relation to Letterpress printing. Currently his website is offline while he finishes writing his thesis but it may be worth getting in contact to discuss my own project.
Alongside the production of the blocks for printmaking, other designers are addressing the need for the production of printing presses themselves. The Open Press Project was started when they noticed “intaglio printmaking is only accessible to a small group of artists, most of which don’t have the option to get themselves one of the very expensive and heavy printing presses or work in one of the very few printmaking workshops in art universities or private institutions.” (2019). The press they designed can be downloaded as digital files and printed and assembled anywhere in the world, enabling the democratisation of the intaglio process.
As noted in my proposal research, in order to create a printed impression on a printing press a letterpress block needs to be 0.918″ in height, other dimensions are measured in points (commonly abbreviated to pt) which is a unit of measurements based on divisions of an inch (72pt in an inch). This standardised height presents a set of specific challenges for contemporary production, primarily that the measurements are in imperial whilst most substrates available now are measured in metric.
0.918″ converted into metric is 23.3172mm
Thicknesses of substrates available in the UK are generally available in measurements such as 1,3,5,8,12,18mm. Thus when using a laser cutter to produce designs to be printed into a suitable material such as MDF, plywood or acrylic there will always be a portion of the block height that needs to be made up with something like paper.
Past Laser Cut Experiments
In the past (June 2016) I produced my own set of laser cut ornaments for printing which were laser cut 3mm MDF mounted onto 18mm MDF blocks with wood glue. Custom cut mount board and card was used to bring these to type height. Though useable, the use of loose card beneath each block made using them (particularly at the smaller sizes) laborious as sheets would move during printing. In some cases I glued all the components together but that introduced inconsistencies in their height as well as another stage in the process of their creation. The blocks printed successfully but due to the printing surface being glued by hand to the mounting block there was a very fine level of mis-registration present when similar blocks were over printed.
Laser cut 3mm MDF shapes and ornaments mounted onto 18mm MDF blocks. The largest measured 3″ and the smallest 1″.
Past 3D Printer Experiments
Previous to these experiments with laser cutters I have tried utilising early commercial 3D printers and in 2013 I tested a FDM printer. FDM or “Fused deposition modeling is the most widely used form of 3D printing at the consumer level. FDM works by extruding thermoplastics, such as ABS, PLA, through a heated nozzle, melting the material and applying the plastic layer by layer to a build platform. Each layer is laid down one at a time until the part is complete.” (Form Labs 2021).The best way to think about this method is like icing a cake with an icing bag. Though you can get some fine detail in the quality of the stroke, when filling in a large area the resulting surface has a lot of unnecessarily texture. The result of these experiments were a series of type height Helvetica Upper case A’s. Though the printing surface took ink well they required too much further sanding and finishing on the printing surface to be worthwhile creating in a large enough number to print an edition with.
My own 3D printed experiments in 2013.
Contemporary 3D printer technology
A comparison between an FDM and a SLA part showing the difference in the layer height and the resulting disparity in quality. (Form Lab 2021)
3d printing as a method of fabrication has advanced very rapidly in the past 10 years, both in regards to the methods used and machines available for the home user and crafts person. They have gone from very large machines requiring a whole workshop space allocated to them to small, desk mounted machines that are user serviceable. In particular there have been great advances in SLA, also known as stereolithography printing. As stated by Form Lab in their analysis of the medium, in SLA printing “liquid resin is cured by a highly-precise laser to form each layer, which can achieve much finer details and is more reliable to repeatedly achieve high-quality results” (2021). The bonds between layers created this way are incredibly fine and though different machines can produce different heights some like the Mars Pro can achieve a layer height of 0.01mm (Elegoo 2021).
Consumer units with a printing area of around 8cmx13cm are produced by many manufactures and are used by a thriving community of makers online. In all3dp.com’s overview of the many models available currently the 3D printing site, Mensley states that the machines themselves start at around £200 with a litre of resin costing between £20-£40 depending on the type/colour (2021). If I wanted to be able to create type from home during the lockdown, a resin printer seems to be the best option but some further research is needed. With there being many positives and negatives related to the introduction of the process I felt a SWOT chart would be helpful.
SWOT chart for 3D Printing
Strength
Streamline work flow by working and producing work, rather than working digitally at home and waiting till I can get access to the print room to laser cut.
Quality of printed surface appears to be very smooth.
3D printing software appears to be able to make use of vector files produced in conventional 2d design software like Illustrator.
I learn new processes quickly and enjoy the experimental nature of learning.
Weakness
Upfront cost of machine
New software to learn.
Though there is a lot of community support online for model making using a resin.printer, printing blocks for print making is not as widely documented.
Use of potentially toxic chemicals at home and related safety concerns.
As a late addition to the project that wasn’t covered in the Proposal, will it still be able to integrate into the project?
Opportunity
University has a selection of technicians who may have knowledge on the subject.
With there not being evidence of many projects using the technology this way there may be an opportunity to get my research featured online and in.
Threats
How strong are resin prints? Will they crack if put under pressure?
How long does a print take?
How much will a solid block 1inch cubed cost? Will it be uneconomical to do a selection of letters in this way?
There appears to be various models and makes of printers available, which is the most suitable?
References
CHAN, N., 2020. Elegoo Mars 2 Pro $300 Resin 3D Printer Review![viewed Feb 14, 2021]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AWWRP12hGw&ab_channel=AdamSavage%E2%80%99sTested
ELEGOO, 2021. Mars Series LCD Printers 2021]. Available from: https://www.elegoo.com/collections/mars-series https://www.elegoo.com/collections/mars-series https://www.elegoo.com/collections/mars-series
FORM LABS, 2021. FDM vs. SLA: Compare the Two Most Popular Types of 3D Printers [viewed Feb 14, 2021]. Available from: https://formlabs.com/uk/blog/fdm-vs-sla-compare-types-of-3d-printers/
MENSLEY, M., 2021. 2021 Best Budget Resin 3D Printers (January) 2021]. Available from: https://all3dp.com/1/best-resin-dlp-sla-3d-printer-kit-stereolithography/ https://all3dp.com/1/best-resin-dlp-sla-3d-printer-kit-stereolithography/ https://all3dp.com/1/best-resin-dlp-sla-3d-printer-kit-stereolithography/
SANLADERER, T., 2020. 3D Printing Basics: Resin Printers! (Ep3) [viewed Feb 17, 2021]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TZ2R88rPoo
What 3D resin printers are available in 2021?2021. [viewed Feb 13, 2021]. Available from: https://www.3dnatives.com/en/top-10-resin-3d-printers280320174/
A large period of my time on the Visual Communication course has been affected by the Corona Virus Pandemic. This has had an affect on my ability to access certain resources (such as closures at the University and other academic institutions like specialist libraries) as well as on my overall motivation to create new works. It has been a struggle at times to push onwards and generate my own insight through experimentation. On reflecting on my feedback from my proposal it was suggested that “there is a little too much context and existing (past tense or factual) than proposed material.”, which I would agree with. Always in the back of my mind throughout the course has been a desire to not half do things, to not only rely on my own knowledge and to push my skills further. Autumn 2020 left me quite uninspired and I felt it was better to generate secondary research that fills in gaps in my knowledge (as this was something outlined in my SWOT analysis), so that at least I was moving forward with something.
In the time since I submitted my proposal I have circled back to my initial statement of intent:
Explore randomness, legibility and process in typographic design through the expansion of the Odd Foundry website and the creation of a new range of experimental typefaces informed by experimentation and modularity.
When I teach typography to my graphic design students I often make use of analogies to explain concepts relating to types use so to borrow from my own teaching process here’s one:
“Typefaces are a vehicle, they are designed to do different things. Some are pretty, some are fast, some are comfortable.”
I think my proposal research has focused too heavily on the design of a typeface (the car) and it’s construction and not enough on the journey and destination. Any written language is designed to communicate a message, the typeface it has been set in would be picked to aid and reinforce the communication of this message. So what am I actually aiming to do with my proposed typeface? What is the journey that I want the viewer and designer who uses the typeface to go on? These are questions that I aim to answer in the next stage of my research
Reflections on SWOT analysis and SMART objectives
In my SWOT analysis, many of my weaknesses revolved around a lack of knowledge about the creation of a typeface. I feel I have successfully gained the knowledge I was lacking in this field, but in aiming to remedy this my research has narrowed my perspective and made me focus too much on the micro detail of the design of a typeface and not enough on what I want to create my typeface to do. Now I need to focus on my strengths of experimentation and research in order for me to enjoy the Masters Project and engage with it at a level when I will feel personally happy with what I create.
At the proposal stage I set myself SMART objectives and worked to complete them throughout the project. They were a great aid in providing methods to address the weaknesses I had previously outlined. I will need to cultivate a new set of objectives for the project ahead to ensure I remain on track.
Legibility
Example of Atkinson Hyperlegible (Applied Design 2020)
As part of my further research for this module I attended an online lecture presented by Applied Design about the development of their typeface Atkinson Hyperlegible(2020). The typeface was designed for the Braille institute to be read by people with low vision and one thing they identified was the need to prioritise a distinction between individual letterforms that appear similar to people with low vision, for instance r, n, f and t. As noted in an interview with Dezeen about the publication of the typeface (Crook 2020), Applied Design aimed to “break with the longstanding tradition of letterform harmony and focus instead on letterform distinction to increase character recognition.”. So rather than creating a typeface of similar forms, a readers recognition of the single characters was prioritised.
Throughout the lecture Applied Design, a 3 man design team, detail the level of focus that they brought to the construction of the letterforms throughout a 1 year development period and their breakthroughs. It was during the lecture while making notes I realised that perhaps the mention of legibility within my proposal confines my output to something more mathematical and scientific than I’d like. I think it will still be a metric with which I will judge my outputs but I don’t want it to adversely restrict my creativity. Though something that I did take from the lecture was a renewed focus on a readers perceptions of individual letters and how a typeface should be designed for a specific reason and specific audience.
Prompts for Further Research
1.Frameworks for Analysis, Criticism and Evaluation
With working in a medium that I feel comfortable with (Typography and Letterpress) there have been times in the proposal stage where I found it hard to critically evaluate my work. I feel I need to research further methods of criticism and evaluation in order to help push my work forward, this is something I aim to revisit throughout the course of the module.
2.3D Printing
During my proposal I experimented with many different ways of creating type, from carving to casting. My proposal aimed to integrate that research into the final outcome by continuing to explore technologies available at the university such as laser cutters. With the University shut I have decided to explore consumer grade 3D printers as a possible avenue for exploration. If these seem suitable, the purchasing of one will allow me to continue to explore the intersection between digital and analogue type design that I started in my earlier work on the course.
3.Redefine the aims of my project
What am I aiming to do with my proposed typeface?
Who am I designing my typeface for?
What is the journey that I want the viewer and designer who uses the typeface to go on?
It is my hope with this project that it can be something that feeds into the development of my own self initiated work, as well as be something that can integrate and be referenced in my teaching. With that in mind documenting the project in an indesign or word document as I have on previous units will make the project hard to access and reference easily. Also with part of the project being the creation of a website, a self hosted journal in the form of a blog that runs alongside it makes sense. With the journal being written in a blog format there are somethings that I plan to do in order to make it easier to make use of after the hand in, namely that where possible references will be linked directly in the post as well as listed at the bottom of each post.
one.com hosting control panel for the newly set up oddfoundry.com domain and hosting.
I registered oddfoundry.com via the one.com hosting site (one.com 2021) and set up a WordPress installation for the main site as well as a sub site for the blog (that you are reading now) on blog.oddfoundry.com. The benefit of this is that hopefully when I am on site in the print room creating prints, I’ll be able to access the blog directly from my phone and document the process directly from there.
On the main oddfoundry.com site I put up a holding page and linked to it from the Instagram account that I had previously set up in the Digital Media unit with the same name.
After discussing how a digital journal would be submitted at the end of the unit with the rest of the class I have undertaken some research into the best way to download a WordPress blog. It is possible to download a website on a page by page basis but with my journal being multiple pages this isn’t ideal, thankfully I have found a plugin called Print My Blog (Nelson 2021) which can be installed on a WordPress site and then used to download a complete website as one large, multi page pdf.
