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on April 26
Bradley W. Schenck
Posted project update #15Getting there one move at a time
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on April 6
Bradley W. Schenck
commented on a project updateUsing the eye is just a brilliant thought for Option 2: I'm ashamed that I hadn't thought of it myself! It looks like we're still on Option 1, though - I think next week we'll try a test pressing of my latest revision of the design and that should tell us where we are with that. The current plan is to blind press the front design (just embossed, no foil) and to use foil for the spine. In the worst case - if even the blind pressing doesn't give us a good result - I'll end up paying for a second front die In the meantime I should be finishing the dust jacket design today. So: progress on all fronts!
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on April 4
Bradley W. Schenck
commented on a project updateI meant to leave it alone till tomorrow, but of course I didn't. I have something pretty promising for option #1. No idea if it'll make the cut, really, but I managed to start with exactly what they started with and then did what they did, but differently. There's much more definition in the eyes and cheeks while other areas ended up nearly identical with their version. So, like I said, promising. I'll keep tinkering with that and get it to them sometime tomorrow. If it still won't work then I may need to go for door #2 or door #3. John, doing an ink drawing of the face would leave me right back in the same place. What I'm running up against isn't trouble with the medium I'm working in, but in the medium of its reproduction. Design always ends up being a conversation with one or more media in which there's some give and take. What's a little awkward this time is that I can only converse with the medium through an interpreter :).
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on April 4
Bradley W. Schenck
commented on a project updateOh, yes - the stamp is always embossed.
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on April 4
Bradley W. Schenck
commented on a project updateI'm way too obsessed with detail- losing it isn't always a bad thing :). But the eyes and the very broad gold areas trouble me. I did finally think to ask whether we'd have the same problems with detail in a "blind" (no foil) stamp. That may be a long shot; and it would mean, like option 3, that the design would now be stamping darks rather than highlights. But it's best to know for sure.
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on April 4
Bradley W. Schenck
Posted project update #14Here's the state of the foil stamp; I could use a reality check
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on April 4
Bradley W. Schenck
commented on a project updateI've got a revised stamp design over there now; we'll see what they think of the new one. I have to keep reminding myself that a lot of old books were stamped on leather (or materials like leather) and that those smoother surfaces can handle much finer detail. Stamping is still my first choice - but if the new design doesn't fly I'll have some thinking to do. For the future, though, I think you could do some nice things - including two or three color designs - with screen printing. Right now, though, I'm working on dust jacket designs - a whole different world!
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on April 3
Bradley W. Schenck
commented on a project updateSo far they're really encouraging me to try the screen printing, or to do a much less detailed version of the stamp. The first would make me feel odd because even though I haven't counted, I'm pretty sure I used the phrase "foil stamped cover" about a hundred thousand time in the video; but on the other hand if the stamp seems cruder than I wanted it, I have to question its value. What do you folks think?
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on April 3
Bradley W. Schenck
Posted project update #13Preparing the Hardcover edition! With bonus videos
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Phil Salvador on April 3
I'm inclined to pull for foil over screen printing. I've picked up three hardcover books so far this year, and I was taken aback each time by how cool the foil-printed titles were. It's noticeably a little nicer.
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Phil Salvador on April 4
Argh, this is why I'm awful for feedback. I just took a look at a few screen-printed hardcovers and really liked them as well since they felt a little older and more worn-down. And now I'm leaning towards that!
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Bradley W. Schenck on April 4
I've got a revised stamp design over there now; we'll see what they think of the new one. I have to keep reminding myself that a lot of old books were stamped on leather (or materials like leather) and that those smoother surfaces can handle much finer detail.
Stamping is still my first choice - but if the new design doesn't fly I'll have some thinking to do. For the future, though, I think you could do some nice things - including two or three color designs - with screen printing.
Right now, though, I'm working on dust jacket designs - a whole different world!
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on March 19
Bradley W. Schenck
Posted project update #12Preparing to proof the book design
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Bradley W. Schenck
I was born about a week after a B-47 bomber accidentally dropped an atom bomb on Mars Bluff, South Carolina. No one told me about it at the time. This is a true story but it has no bearing on much of anything except that, statistically, I'm older tha... view more
Using the eye is just a brilliant thought for Option 2: I'm ashamed that I hadn't thought of it myself!
It looks like we're still on Option 1, though - I think next week we'll try a test pressing of my latest revision of the design and that should tell us where we are with that.
The current plan is to blind press the front design (just embossed, no foil) and to use foil for the spine. In the worst case - if even the blind pressing doesn't give us a good result - I'll end up paying for a second front die
In the meantime I should be finishing the dust jacket design today. So: progress on all fronts!
I also think Yong Kuan's idea is brilliant and a great fallback if the test pressing is disappointing. (I was originally going to recommend Option 3 since the art is so significant a part of the overall effect, but...)
For my tuppence, I'd hope to keep the embossing, even if it is blind, than to go with screen printing. I find that embossing gives a hardback some extra gravitas - I'm reading James May's "Toy Stories" at the moment and even that has gravitas due to its embossing.