If you get a chance to catch the The Marty Stuart Show, which airs Saturdays at 7 p.m. CT on RFD-TV you’ll get to see some classic Hatch Show Print letterpress posters as part of the set design. The Marty Stuart Show is produced in Nashville, Tennessee.
As the show opens, announcer Eddie Stubbs stands in front of a WSM Grand Ole Opry poster. The montage of photographs shown above is from the TV show and from a YouTube video that shows Jim Sherradan printing a color variation of the same poster that’s used as the background for Mr. Stubbs.
Many people seem to appreciate the look and feel of letterpress printing — especially the letters, images, and throwback appearance of music and art posters produced by Hatch Show Print of Nashville. Letterpress is old-style printing with press pressure that impresses type and images into the paper. In the last several years Jim Sherradan and his team at Hatch Show Print have received acclaim through AIGA presentations along with a traveling exhibition showcasing their work. Sherradan interestingly refers to the work of Hatch Show Print as “preservation through production.”
“Advertising without posters is like fishing without worms.”
— The Hatch Brothers
Sunday, October 31, 2010
The Art of Hatch Show Print Posters
Friday, October 29, 2010
Dordt Alumni in Design: Janna Rohde (Hofmeyer)
From posters (above) to selected examples of various print work by Janna Rohde. These pieces indicate, nicely, the diversity of her portfolio.
I graduated from Dordt in 1996 (hard to believe it has been that long!) as an Art major with an emphasis in Graphic Design. In college, I began as an intern at Demco Printing in Boyden, Iowa, and I am still here 14 years later. In those 14 years the graphics field has changed considerably. It is hard to imagine Adobe Photoshop started without layers, we didn’t have the internet, and we worked on computers that were so incredibly slow.
The best part about my job is the variety of work I get to do. We have five of us that work in Pre-press, each contributing a different specialty. Mine is doing most of the design-work. Our print shop is very diverse and therefore brings in many different kinds of jobs. I get to work on anything from 800 page catalogs to wedding announcements. The fast-paced work environment makes everyday a challenge and interesting.
Some of the jobs I receive are basically ready-to-go. For these jobs the important part is making sure it is set up correctly for the press and for bindery. Everyone works together to make the jobs run smoothly. I am fortunate to work in a print shop that keeps up on the latest technology. We are continually being trained on upgrades in equipment. It is fun to look back and see how the technology has changed in many ways such as from film to direct-to-plate.
Other jobs need designing from start to finish. I have designed several posters for high school teams, many brochures for businesses, business cards, posters, postcards, catalogs, many covers, product labels, calendars, invitations — a large variety.
Some days I travel with our salesman to customers if they need consulting on jobs or are ready to start a larger project. Last year I spoke at a conference, in Sioux Falls, for the design and marketing departments of several area colleges about “sending jobs to pre-press”.
Graphic design is a very rewarding career. Customers really appreciate your work and it is personally satisfying when they are happy with their end product. Each day there is striving to do better than the last piece you designed.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Promising Land / Project by René Clement
René Clement is a good friend and has been a guest presenter for the AIGA Dordt College Student Group. Thus, we're giving him and his book project a “shout-out”. The photographs — all of which are shot on location in Sioux County, Iowa are make-ready and now all that’s needed is funding. You may check on his project, which is a combination of fondness, curiosity, and parody at Kickstarter.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Quotations on creativity — E. Paul Torrance
Photograph of E. Paul Torrance is from the blog Thriving Too in a piece posted by Tessy titled “The Power of Creativity,” May 15, 2010.
“They found a large number of significant correlations between the non-aptitude traits and the measures of ideational fluency and originality. Ideational fluency appears to be related to impulsiveness, self-confidence, ascendance, greater appreciation of originality and inclination away from neuroticism. Those having higher originality scores tend to be more interested in aesthetic expression, in meditative or reflective thinking, and appear to be more tolerant of ambiguity, and to feel less need for discipline and orderliness.” —E. Paul Torrance
Thursday, October 21, 2010
The tension between making art that depends on familiar devices and being honest to an artistic vision.
David Versluis
Spirit Lake, Iowa: Fish with Brush
Digital / Giclèe Print, Framed 31'' x 40''
2005 and printed in 2007
This piece responds allusively to tension between the technical aspects of digital images and the intention of the artist who makes them. Thinking of the fish image as metaphor was the primary goal with these digitally produced pieces. However, the inclusion of the brush image in the composition is a simile that senses the intrinsic tension between the computer as artistic medium and the tradition of the artist’s brush as the painter’s handcrafted tool.
My work is produced through digital photography, digital collage techniques, and eight-color giclée printing. Digital collage is a medium, in the structure of binary data that can shape and express highly personal artistic work.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Joe Sparano, graphic designer for Oxide Design Co., will be at Dordt Wednesday October 27
Joe doesn’t exactly enjoy writing about himself. Truth be told, he’s kind of embarrassed about it — because it implies that he's done something especially important with his life.
Until that happens (and he’s confident that it will), Joe is proud to have had his work recognized by Communication Arts, AIGA 365, and One Show.
Joe believes in the power of design to make the world a less convoluted, more breathable place. In fact, New York State’s voter registration form (which was designed by Joe and the rest of the Oxide team) has been printed 2.5 million times. Joe hopes (sincerely) that his work has simplified the lives of as many people.
Joe is also the inventor of The Sparano System™, an uncomplicated method for evaluating everything. You can read all about it at sparanosystem.com. (In case you were wondering, he’d give the quality of writing in this bio a “Not Great”.) Read More......
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
collage and assemblage invitational exhibition at Dordt 5
Daniel Weiss
Visitation Nighthawk, c.2001
Assemblage
photograph of the artwork by Doug Burg © 2010
In the past week we’ve been featuring artists who are participating in the Dordt Collage and Assemblage Invitational Exhibition (see previous four posts). The show opens today October 13 in the Campus Center Art Gallery and will be on display until November 30, 2010. In this last installment we feature Daniel Weiss of Des Moines, Iowa. Daniel’s work, in the show, is on loan from the Roy Behrens and Mary Synder Behrens collection.
Daniel Weiss contributes his work in exhibitions throughout the United States, most recently in an installation of objects and assemblages at the Des Moines Art Center. His assembled paintings have been included in the publication New American Paintings. Years of drawings, collage, cutouts and now the restoring and renovating of houses have led him to the assembled paintings displayed in the exhibition. “I am a student of a form’s surface and of the psychological natures of its layers and configurations.” Weiss has an AA degree from North Iowa Area Community College, a BA in Art Education from Iowa State University in Ames, and has recently completed an MFA in Visual Arts from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier. He is a sculptor, a consultant and mentor at Innovative Learning Professionals in Des Moines, and teaches visual studies at Johnston Senior High School and Des Moines Area Community College in Des Moines.
