Do anything, but let it produce joy.

June 1, 2023 12:41 AM

A little process video of setting type (SLYT) in honor of Walt Whitman’s birthday.
posted by janell (8 comments total)

Lovely.

in case the poem ran by too fast:

A FONT OF TYPE.

This latent mine—these unlaunch'd voices—passionate powers,
Wrath, argument, or praise, or comic leer, or prayer devout,
(Not nonpareil, brevier, bourgeois, long primer merely,)
These ocean waves arousable to fury and to death,
Or sooth'd to ease and sheeny sun and sleep,
Within the pallid slivers slumbering.
posted by chavenet at 1:36 AM on June 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

Well, that brought back lovely memories.

I am of an age that, when I started to become versed in printing and graphic design, I was taught setting cold type. Within ten years, every small shop and studio could have a phototype machine. Within less than ten years from that, digital typesetting was taking over.

While I absolutely love the ability to do anything you want with type that digital gave me, I miss the deeply hands-on craft of setting cold type. I think it’s the constraint of thinking about what you’re doing, and not being able to simply hit ctrl-z over and over if I didn’t care for what I just did.

Neat video.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:05 AM on June 1, 2023 [8 favorites]

Plenty of high school shop class vibes, from a lost age.
posted by Marky at 5:25 AM on June 1, 2023

I found the music obnoxious, but I do love letterpress. As a Whitman fan, I wish there were a link to where prints can be bought!
posted by Well I never at 6:35 AM on June 1, 2023

I can probably get you one, Well I never.
posted by janell at 6:40 AM on June 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

I love this. I think I was the last generation of kids who had a graphic arts class in Jr. High School. We learned silk screening and type-setting. We would make "business cards" that just said "Van Halen" or "The Doors."

I loved all the little type cases and fitting all the letters in the little holders, and the way the printing press made that Kachunk noise every time you pulled the letter. In my other life where I have unlimited time, money and space I would own and operate an old-timey print shop.
posted by bondcliff at 7:39 AM on June 1, 2023 [4 favorites]

Come visit Lancaster in September, bondcliff! The annual Print Crawl looks like fun!
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:30 PM on June 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

What blew me away was the lack of labels on the type-case. The typesetter/designer/printer didn't need them to pick the correct character.
posted by Jesse the K at 10:12 AM on June 3, 2023