That’s what they call those. I call them tickets to Cape Cod but that’s none of your business.
-
Black ink can be so nice
It’s unofficially Summer around here and to celebrate I’m going to make some more prints for Room & Board. People always ask me(no, they don’t)if I feel lonely or maybe a little afraid working out in thestudio/shop/time warp at night. But how could I feel lonely or afraid out there when I have all of those cabinets of cold, lead type andMark Wheat‘s voice coming from the plastic radio?
-
More letterpress for Room & Board??!
I hit my head on the asphalt yesterday and when I snapped out of that familiar concussive daze, I thought to myself:Again?And:That wasn’t as bad as running into the tree. Or the windshield. Or the Christmas tree-stand. Or the windshield.
Walking my bicycle and openly weeping, I made it home just in time to work on the new Room & Board project:
ThanksMADGEfor introducing me to the Polaroid app for my iPhone!!
-
A Typical Day for Zeichen Press (Minneapolis Design and Letterpress Studio At Large)
“Yeah, you should wear the wig.”
-
Achieving perfect balance
People always ask me, “Fran, how do you balance everything so well?? Zeichen Press, kids, marriage, hypochondria, facebook, animal-taming, daydreaming – It doesn’t even seem possible!” I wish I had some fluffy (Oprah-approved) secret to share but it’s really much more simple: Evil twin.What?!Yes. You’d be surprised by how many people actually have evil twins.
This has beena regularrat kingof a week: The bigTanek partyis tomorrow and Jen and I have been planning the whole thing – From venue to letterpress printed coaster to life-jackets. One of my favorite things is the Tanek10 Year CD- a music mix and letterpress printed sleeve/party favor/door prize. My playlist skills were honed as a teenager – hour after hour spent with the dual cassette player… see, mom?? I told you it was more important than algebra.
Tanek 10 Year Party CD Sleeve 
As soon as this party is done I can get rid of that mannequin.
-
Wherein the dog wears a wig for Room and Board and Jen pies type
Yes, well… As you can see, the dog was ready to meet with Room and Board today. We fought over the wig but there’s just no talking to her. I don’t even think the wig looks that great - her fur is a totally different color.
Whenever Room and Board stops out to visit, Jen dumps a case of type onto another case of type. I think it’s a waste of time but Jen loves wasting time – I have to be like,“Jen, quit wasting time.”
Oh, well – the meeting went great (I think they think we’re strange. Maybe the wigwastoo much??) They told us to make some morealphabet press-type prints.
-
What DOESN’T a “Long Men’s Wig” have to do with letterpress?
The creepy severed head would not discourage us from our very important purchase.The wigwill play a small, but pivotal, role in our upcoming film (tentatively titled,Your CPR Hurts My Chest).
-
(Edina) Minnesota! Where the Booze Drips Freely From the Trees
Right? We met with half of the“Jelly Shot Test Kitchen”AND if you don’t know what I’m talking about -you soon will.These Edinaladies (why did I italicize that?)answered a pretty serious question:“What would a jell-o shot look like if it grew up?”
Here’s the answer:
A Jelly Shot Test Kitchen “cookbook” (cookbook?) is in the works and they have come to Zeichen Press to help create some buzz. I wonder if it’s becausethey caught wind of our professionalism.Probably.
-
Craft+Extravaganza=Craftstravaganza
Does Geek+Spectacular=Geektacular? I was never good at math but I DO know that the State Fairgrounds are going to bewall-to-wall geeks tomorrow. Jen and I will be there handing out love-letters and hugs to all of our loyal customers.
We went there tonight to set up. This baby has been following Jen around for, like, two years:
-
OH, I get it! PR is like stalking!
Creative, elaborate, polite (but persistent) stalking! Nothing against thecreativestalkers out there. You know who you are.Please don’t start re-stalking me.
I sent out the press package for Tanek today, it contained everything but a pan of brownies and a lock of my hair.
I hopeNeal St. Anthonylikes kittens.
Did I hand set that type?
Yes.
-
email is so 2009
I love getting a letter in the mail – and getting a package in the mail is like finding money under your pillow. Or discovering a coin in a freshly gutted fish.
Readingmyemail goes like this:delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete… oh, that’s important… delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete.
As you know,Zeichen Press is handling all things that fall into the realm of communications forTanek Inc.This job is usually less messy than gutting a fish but just as satisfying. Contacting reporters is part of the job and we realized that doing so via email might just be a little bit like whispering to your date across a crowded room. Not that we have dates. Or are ever invited to rooms that are crowded.
Here is the first part of a press package going out to local reporters. (Neal St. Anthony, you lucky devil!)
(Here’s a story:Ken Piperof Tanek was the head designer for the brand-new KMOJ station in North Minneapolis. That’s right: North Minneapolis. Watch out, South Minneapolis – the Northside is picking up steam!)