Press it to read it.

Printing: press and hold this area (or hold the space bar) to press the sheet onto the type; let go and the printed sheet turns face up.

Forme 01 — cast in reverse

Metal type is set in reverse. Ink it, press it into paper, and the letters read the right way round.

Move the light — pointerMove the light — drag

Fictional concept — Novaia Labs

Four lines of metal type locked in a composing stick, every face reversed (3D render)

02 Type

Every letter,
set by hand.

Each piece of type is picked by hand and set into a line in the composing stick. What faces up is the word in reverse — the only way it can print the right way round.

  1. 01PickOne piece at a time from the case.
  2. 02SetInto the stick, letter by letter, with spaces between.
  3. 03LockFill the gaps with spacing material and lock the forme in its frame, so nothing moves under pressure.
Macro of a character pressed into cotton paper; a low light casts shadows along the edges of the impression (3D render)

Move the light — pointerMove the light — drag sideways

03 Paper & Ink

Ink on the surface.
An impression in the paper.

Ink sits on top of the paper. Pressure pushes the fibres down. Turn the light low and the edges of each letter cast a shadow.

04 Printed work

What the press
leaves behind.

Three pieces made for this concept. None of them is a client job — they show what pressure leaves in paper.

The ATSU shop card from above (3D render)
01 / 03 — Shop card
Macro of the edge of the large character on the shop card (3D render)
Shop card — the edge of the impression
Cotton board · black · one pass
The postcard on a wide table (3D render)

02 / 03

Postcard

Stock
Cotton board · black and vermilion · two passes
Size
100 × 148 mm
Note
Fictional piece, self-initiated
The type lines of the specimen poster (3D render)

03 / 03 — Type specimen

Stock
Wove paper · vermilion and black · two passes
Size
297 × 420 mm
Note
Fictional piece, self-initiated

All three pieces are fictional, made for this concept. None is a client job.

A stack of postcards; the top one reads “Press it to read it.” in Japanese (3D render)

05 Closing

A printed mark
you can hold.

The sheet you printed at the top of this page is now on top of the stack.