One of the things that I identified earlier in the project was making tools that are accessible. Not everyone has access to a 3D printer, or to the printing presses required to use the 3D printed blocks. With that in mind I experimented with different physical ways I can create tools for people to use. In this experiment I created stencils and stamps.
Above are two different laser cut stencils to be used with a pen or pencil.
Here I have assembled my stamps by gluing laser cut rubber to laser cut acrylic components.
Experimenting with the stamps to create abstract designs.
Reflection
The use of the stamps has definitely been enjoyable – the act of inking up, considering it’s placement and then making an impression is very meditative and as good example Active Experimentation and Abstract Conceptualisation. However the production of the stamps was very involved, with a lot of hand assembling required for each stamp. Perhaps after submission I could experiment with creating silicone stamps using these as the moulds but for now I don’t think, as part of this submission, they are worthwhile exploring further.
As decided at our first discussion, I presented my project in it’s current state to Chris Wilson for evaluation. It was the same presentation that I gave to Sally Hope earlier in the week. Overall Chris was impressed by the work produced so far and he understood my decisions with relation to the designs of the components. He to commented that the subject could further be explored as part of a PhD and that it might be worth narrowing the focus of the project in the final stretch so as to be able to hand in something cohesive for the Masters submission.
On reflection this was the most helpful part of the discussion. I have aimed to produce a great deal in a limited time and it may be worth focusing on the core components of the project and then expanding on them further after submission. He also suggested pushing the concepts of hybrid learning and how the digital can integrate with the physical.
While printing a set of blocks for printing I ran into an unexpected problem. The printing of a set of blocks takes around 1.5hours, during which time I was teaching and did not realise the resin in the printing vat had begun to run out. The result was a failed print as with no resin left in the vat the resulting blocks were below type height and the printing surface was imperfect. However on inspection, where the resin had ran out at different rates across the different blocks the resulting surface was covered in various random shapes of different thicknesses. Raising low or damaged wooden blocks up to type height is fairly common in letterpress printing and is achieved by placing sheets of paper below the block until it creates an impression when printed. With some work raising each block individually I was able to create a collection of blocks that print a well defined and one of a kind design.
The print the blocks create evoke a similar aesthetic as ordinance survey maps, with elevation lines showing the height of points of interest. Inspired by the exploratory nature of the project as well as the visual similarities to maps I created a series of abstract prints around the theme of wayfinding.
While not directly related to the core themes of my project I found it a useful detour as I continued to explore the possibilities that surround the 3d printing process. It is interesting to think of the possibilities of manipulating this process during printing to achieve different designs so that the printing of the block becomes a transformative process that imbues the pieces with a trace of it’s means of creation, rather than it being a direct physical copy of the digital file.
While discussing these pieces with Katherine Anteney she mentioned it was reminiscent of a physical process used in the creation of chaos blocks, lead blocks with random patterns on the surface that were used in the letterpress printing process to create prints that could not be duplicated by another printer. Molten lead was dripped into a mould and allowed to cool slightly before being fully filled. So my chaos blocks have been created in a similar way, but in reverse. The technique has been researched and explained on the St Brides Foundation blog as “a method of producing and printing complex ‘organic’ images from the raw material of letterpress itself – molten type metal. John Franklin Earhart was the inventor of this process used for a short period in the late 19th century which relied upon the unpredictable and random qualities of chaos.”(2020)
In my previous research for my proposal I identified the modular typefaces P22 Blox (based on Alphablox), Super Tipo Veloz and Extraset’s Klarheit Kurrent. With my typeface possibly existing both as a digital design and a physical design I felt some further research into other expressions of modularity within different mediums relating to type could be helpful.
The branding for the Vietnam Festival of Media & Design: Hanoi 2019 by Behalf Studio (2021) is a graphic system that makes use of modular elements inspired by the architecture and patterns found in Hanoi itself. These shapes have the hints of letters in their forms, when viewed alone they are compelling enough to be viewed as a shape whilst when combined with other shapes into words they can be read like a conventional sentence.
Vietnam Festival of Media & Design: Hanoi 2019 (Behalf Studio 2021)
Line Up (OLGA, R.D 2020)
In the Line Up book created by Raffaella Della Olga, each right side of a spread is a letter in the alphabet, running sequentially from a-z. The letters themselves are made out of lines aligned with a rigged adherence to a grid, resulting in some very abstract forms. The typeface used is called “Alphabet”, created by Timothy Epps and the experimental psychologist Christopher Evans in England in the late 60’s. As Olga writes in the description of their work “Alphabet” was the result of a challenge for them to find a system that would enable early computers to recognise fonts. Working within a five x five grid, Alphabet was designed entirely from vertical and horizontal lines.”. The first time I watch the video of the book pages being turned I didn’t recognise the shapes as letters, it was only once I had seen up to the letter F that I recognised it as a letterform. Once I had that understanding that I was looking at letterforms I was able to perceive the previous shapes as letterforms. The repetition, unified structure (all designs are made using the same weight of lines and grid) as well as the context of this alphabet being presented as a book aided me in perceiving disparate forms as an alphabet.
10×14 Matrix Alphabet (Information Graphics:A Survey of Typographic, Diagrammatic and Cartographic Communication book 1989 )
Handjet (Rosetta Type Foundry 2021)
Early digital design required physical typefaces and letterforms to be converted to be viewed on low resolution digital screens. This resulted in forms such as these seen in the Information Graphics:A Survey of Typographic, Diagrammatic and Cartographic Communication book (1989) which brings together many letterforms created during this period. This typeface in particular was the outcome of a set of experiments “designed to demonstrate the flexibility of the 14×10 system while conforming to the restrictions of a matrix format. It shows the considerably improved legibility, character spacing and consistency of letter form achievable within this enlarged format.”, by conforming to a grid they are able to enlarge and reduce each letter proportionally whilst keeping the letterform distinct.
A contemporary exploration of this same grid based technique can be seen in the work of Rosetta Type Foundry, where designer David Březina’s Handjet (2021) variable typeface uses the same grid for each font in the typeface but varies the shape of the forms that follow the stroke of the letter. This creates fluid, moving forms that still remain legible as a letterform, even whilst in flux.
When most people think of modularity they think of Lego toys. Lego bricks adhere to a strict set of rules that govern the size, alignment and connection points of any component in their system. This can result in some unexpected shapes and angles being produced, it is shapes like this that allow the flexibility of the system to create distinct and varied forms, rather than everything being built off a 2×4 grid.
Vintage wooden borders and ornaments (AUB 2021)
Creating 2.5-line “star bars” (Hamilton Wood Type 2021)
In my discussion with Ryan Molly we spoke about traditionally produced blocks and about the limitations of the tools they used in being able to produce non-rectangular forms. Though variations of shape and alignment options do exist within antique blocks they are rare to find. This is due in part to the fact that their production was a much more involved process. With there being different angles needing to be cut, machines had to be reset and more care needed to be taken to ensure they lined up correctly. These samples from the archives at AUB show a selection of patterned borders that intersect at 45degrees as well as L shaped patterns that allow you more flexibility in the creation of shapes.
While most conventional woodtype was produced with a pantograph (a router that follows a pattern to create a form), borders were stamped on a separate machine. This video shows the process of taking prepared blank wood blocks and running them through the stamping machine by hand, using the settings on the machine to align various brass ornaments. The patterns are built up one shape at a time, a long process that was again reflected in their higher cost.
As mentioned in a previous post, I have had contact with Chris Wilson, a printmaker, design educator and doctoral candidate based in Newcastle upon Tyne when I was interviewed as part of his Digilog PhD project. Chris was happy to meet up online for a discussion about my project and to give me some information about his own work. His PhD has been investigating the growing community of contemporary letterpress printers making use of new type production methods and how this integrating of traditional craft with modern techniques affects the medium.
I did not record the session due to a computer error but I made notes about the topics covered and his suggestions for further research.
One subject that came up in our discussion, as we are both design educators, is how beneficial the use of physical tools like letterpress can be when teaching a design student about typography. Observing a physical object and it’s form is very different to experience that same form digitally. To be able to hold something physical, create a print, evaluate the result and make changes based on that evaluation is a powerful tool for imparting the key understanding behind the design process. On this theme he describes it as an act of Remediation, to correct something that is deficient. These corrections made with each print pulled can be observed and compared. Each print pulled documents a different part of a design coming together.
As the discussion progressed, the idea of using my project to create a tool to aid a novice designers understanding of typography and design emerged. With that he suggested I look to some of the teaching methods outline in the HEA documentation for when I trained to become an Associate Fellow of the HEA.
We agreed that another discussion later on in the project would be helpful in evaluating the success of the project and I suggested I present my findings to him at the mid point presentation in June/July.
Currently I do not have access to the print room at university to be able to test how the blocks prints on a proofing press. So to make good use of the time I am endeavouring to continue to learn the relevant software as well as become confident in both the design of the body of the blocks and the way in which they will be printed.
Once I had progressed with learning the Tinkercad program I was able to produce a selection of test blocks suitable for letterpress printing. These were a square, triangle and M which I printed at an angle of 45degrees as based on both my primary and secondary research this was the optimum angle to minimise the stepped layering effecting the print. These were solid blocks with no infill.
I also printed these flat on the bed so that I could compare the different blocks and how they print once I have access to a proofing press. As with the tokens I printed flat, these were difficult to remove from the print bed though with them being larger I was able to leaver them off in a more controlled manner.
Circles
Though the test blocks I have printed so far appear to be visually accurate to the digital design, I need some way of testing how consistent their shape is from one block to the next as this will define how well they register with one anther if I am trying to create printed with multiple layers. To test this I have created 3 circles on 3 separate blocks. The circles are designed in a way so that they could be printed in the same place one at a time to create 3 impressions all on top of each other. If there is any variation in the placement of the resulting print that means that the blocks are not all completely inline with each other.
Hollowing out design
As I have mentioned previously, it is quite common for a 3d printed design to be hollow in some way to save on print time and materials. However this is more often the case for decorative elements that don’t need to be load bearing in some way. Some very large lead type is partially hollow at the base of the body to same on materials so there is a precedent for doing this historically. However lead is harder that the resin I am using, so the amount that I can hollow the body out will need testing.
I have produced 3 different blocks of type height cubes. One completely hollow, one solid and one with a pyramid shaped void at the base. It is my thinking that the pyramid base should still provide enough support when put under pressure, but also slightly reduce the amount of resin used. The other blocks will act as controls. When printing a hollowed out design there needs to be drainage holes added to the design. I have added these to the base of the designs as a long cylinder, with the orientation of these being towards the bottom of the block they will also allow me to know which way is up on blocks where the design of the block may be too abstract.
I purchased the Mars 2 alongside some further relevant materials. When a print is made it first needs to be cleaned off the excess resin with a relevant liquid (in the case of the water based resin I have purchased this is water), after that the print needs to be cured under ultraviolet light. Some people leave their prints outside to cure in the sun but with the current unpredictable weather and a need for the prints I create to be consistent across a range of prints I opted for a machine that will wash the print as well as cure it.
Elegoo Mars 2. (Elegoo 2021)
Tinkercad
While waiting for the order to arrive I endeavoured to learn more about the 3d design process but setting myself a series of tasks to complete in tinkercad, this was a method I utilised in the Digital Media unit and I found it very helpful to progress through the relevant tasks.
Tinkercad provides various short tutorials on how to create commonly made items. (Tinkercad 2021)
The tasks I set my self to complete were
Draw a square
Draw a cube
Set cube to 1inch x 1inch x 0.918inch (Type Height for letterpress printing)
Add letter to cube
Hollow cube
Support cube
Add drainage holes
Mars 2 3D Printer Calibration and Tests
Levelling the print bed of the Mars 2, the white rectangles on the rear of the machine are the extra carbon filters I purchased.
Once the printer arrived there were various assembling and calibrations to be done. Much of this is documented very well in the materials that come with the machine and after levelling the print bed I attempted my first print with the test model provided, a chess piece. While printing this piece I kept the space well ventilated and used gloves while handling resin. After a roughly 2 hours the piece had finished printing successfully and I washed and cured it using the wash/cure unit.
A time lapse of the rest model being printed
The finished models upside down on the print bed
Using the Wash/Cure unit to wash the prints in warm water. The Wash/Cure unit uses a vortex of water to remove excess uncured resin from the prints.
Once dried the models are placed in the Wash/Cure unit and the mode is changed to “cure” along with a timer being set. The machine rotates the models and shines uv light at them.
The final printed model after curing.
Testing the Test print
Structurally the piece is very solid, the resin doesn’t feel brittle and the surface feels relatively smooth to the touch. With being in lock down I have limited tools to test the durability of the print, however it withstood multiple drops onto a concrete floor without shattering which is important for a printing block as they can easily be knocked off a table in a print space.
Print Angles
The test piece was printed flat on the print bed but a technique that is often used for more complex prints is to angle them off the print with a series of thing supports holding the piece in the air. In his video “My favorite way to 3D print perfect resin bases for my minis. Something I discovered printing dice?” (2020), maker 3dprintedpro shows that the reason for this is that apparently when things are printed directly on the print bed they can be hard to remove, with so much of the print being in direct contact with the print bed. When the initial layers are attached to the bed they are intentionally overexposed to create a good adhesion to the print bed, this overexposure can cause a slight variation at the base of the print where the overexposed resin expands slightly. This is colloquially called “elephants foot”. Also for complex prints with overhanging parts when printed flat you run the risk of not it printing incorrectly if not angled and supported in the right manner.
With the print process taking a while and me not having any blocks designed for print yet, I downloaded a selection of coins/tokens/model bases (essentially flat objects with a design on one surface) with which I can experiment with print angles to see which method of printing will work best – flat on the bed or at an angle with supports.
Initial Tests
Angled Designs
I placed a selection of designs on the print bed and varied their angle of elevation, then placed supports around them to connect them to the bed. The prints were successful and similar to the eye, but when viewed closely you could see and feel a stepped pattern across the top surface of the token caused by the angle of the layers being printed. Interestingly prints that were only angled slightly from the print bed had the worst examples of stepping, with it be very pronounced even to the eye.
Flat Designs
Using the same token designs as the last experiment, I printed a selection flat on the print bed. With printing something so shallow the print was completed very quickly (around 25 minutes). However I found that when placed in the wash/cure unit to wash the prints that there was a lot of excess resin. The wash/cure unit cleans the print via creating a whirlpool of water that the print is placed into. Evidently, this doesn’t clean a print sufficiently when the design is shallow and on the print bed. For the next prints I will try cleaning the prints by hand in water with a small scrubbing brush. The quality of the prints was very good but they were very hard to remove from the print bed, to remove a print you lever it off with a metal tool much like a paint scraper. With so much force being exerted upon them, when they did separate from the bed they ricocheted off the cleaning surface and onto the floor, so some means of removing them from the bed needs to be considered if this is the way I choose to print future print.
Printing a Design as Veneers
With the flat design taking so little time to print, and my skills in Tinkercad progressing, I also experimented with printing a selection of thin designs that could be mounted onto a block of material (for instance mdf) to bring them to type height. My research shows that this is something that other printers have done, as shown in the previous post.
Though the print was ready very quicky the resulting prints were so thin that once cured and dry they have warped and curled. I tried heating them in warm water and clamping them to correct this but the prints remained unsuitable for printing.
It is my hope with this project that I can devise a method of production that minimises the amount of post production needed before printing with the blocks. Printing a design as a veneer in this way and then mounting it was always going to have involved accurately cutting and mounting them on to wood. Something that in the current lockdown with minimal access to tools will be very difficult so I will progress with my aims of accurately printing a type height block.
References
3DPRINTINGPRO, 2020. My favorite way to 3D print perfect resin bases for my minis. Something I discovered printing dice? [viewed March 7, 2021].
