This project changed dramatically from the first stage which was done in February and early March 2022.
Farther down you will see the final poster which uses the same image of the broken glass, but it is printed from the laser-cut Plexiglas. The text was also changed after I saw the movie “World War Z.” The image of the zombies climbing the city walls was startlingly similar to the mob going up the steps to the capital.
⬆ At Lead Graffiti, we wanted to create a broadside stating our opposition to “the big lie” and a group of so-called American patriots.
What a trying 15-hour day we had at Lead Graffiti to get this one image so we could post it on January 6. There are still a few bugs to work out of the process before printing an edition (and then we are thinking 10). We’ve done a fair amount of printing on our iron hand presses, but never such a sizeable corner-to-corner image. The grey paper we chose has a strong woven texture which adds some visual detail to the large flat areas.
January 6 is undoubtedly a tricky subject. We’re trying to combine paying homage to its historical significance while finding the experimental letterpress discovery we seek with a dash or 2 of typographic playfulness.
A lot of the brain fun was searching for a meaningful visual that we could pull from the avalanche of available imagery. And to marry that image with words and typography that would capture the essence of what happened and how we felt. I debated for a while, saying “my voting rights” instead of “democracy.”
Hand-cutting a full-size sheet of book board to create the broken glass pane was more satisfying and meditative than just plugging into a laser cutter—just one of the things that pushed us toward the craftsmanship of letterpress and away from the computer.
The image below shows the inked plate showing the white ink on the upper surface while the cut-away areas are left un-linked.
Just for the experience we may try to re-cut the plate, but this time using a laser cutter and working with a sheet of 1/8” thick Plexiglas.
⬆ The finished broadside was printed with Melissa Lentz. Printing was started in February 2022 and finished in November 2022.
Paper : French
Type : hand-set wood and metal type
Broken glass : laser-cut 1/8” Plexiglas
Runs : 3 (hand-rolled large wood type, credit line, broken glass)
Edition : 20
Press : Vandercook Universal III for all runs
Copyright : Paramount Pictures
⬆ Still from the movie “World War Z” showing the similarity between the zombies and the invading horde on January 6, 2021.
⬆ Shows us printing the image of the broken glass over the text. The ink is Opaque White printed relatively lightly to mimic the transparency of the glass while still showing the shattering.