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Posted by Jason Urban on September 20th, 2009 | The Harvard Book Store, not to be confused with its Cambridge neighbor the Harvard University Bookstore, is unveiling a print-on-demand Espresso Book Machine on the 29th of September. The Espresso Book Machine can print a 300-page book in about four minutes! This is an interesting development from a technology/printing standpoint but seems like it may ultimately prove the undoing of bookstores.
The HBS is having a contest to name its new machine… they’re “looking for something warm, yet snappy, a name that explains and illuminates the book machine’s many uses and possibilities yet is still suitable to shout across a crowded store.” Hmmm… wasn’t it Oedipus who killed his father? That might be appropriate.
Here’s a corporate demo of the printer with some didactic info. Interesting that a faux-handdrawn font is used for titles and credits- as if that might somehow soften our deep-rooted fear and suspicion of robots. And if that video isn’t enough, you can CLICK HERE and watch someone from the offset printing industry awkwardly acknowledge that his days are numbered (not quite literally but you can see it in his eyes).
Posted by amze on July 18th, 2009 |  If you don’t know what this printer is doing, you need to read this book!
Book Review: Mechanick Exercises: or The Doctrine of Handywork applied to the art of printing by Joseph Moxon, member of the Royal Society and Hydrographer to the Kings Most Excellent Majesty.
A Printeresting tipster recently sent me a link to this great antiquarian text, freely available for viewing via google books here: Mechanick Exercises
The text is as cutting edge as when it was printed in 1678 (specifically to the fine art of letterpressery). Mechanick Exercises is a great summer beach reading, chock full of intriguing illustrations and fine printing advice delivered in ye olde english-style. Perhaps my favorite section is the dictionary at the end of the book, if your master printer has ever accused you of having “Sop the Balls”or if you don’t know where the “Monks” on your print came from, this is your go to source for answers.
The Author, Joseph Moxon was something of a 17th century poly-math, a gifted globe maker, mathematical lexicographer and hydrographer. Allegedly a handy printer by age 11, he was the first tradesmen to be invited to join the Royal Society. Beyond his roll as the Hydrographer to his Majesty (his mistaken belief in the northwest passage withstanding), Joseph was also noteworthy master printer, running a shop with his brother James, specializing in puritan and technical texts (including several on wood working, joinery and typography). The importance of his text as a historical document is clear by the number of times it’s cited in other texts on printing in the years following it’s publication ending with multiple citations in The Colonial Printer by Lawrence C. Wroth, originally published in 1931 by the Grolier Club of the City of New York, but now cheaply available through Dover Books.
If you are after this title in a more solid form, Dover released what could possibly be late edit of the original, titled, Mechanick Exercises in the Whole Art of Printing, that credits Moxon as the sole author with Harry Carter and Herbert Davis as editors.
-Thanks Z.L.
Posted by Jason Urban on July 3rd, 2009 | 
Originally written in seventies but updated and rereleased as recently as 1996, Studio Tips for Artists and Graphic Designers by Bill Gray is a book that archives old school paste-up practices. The secrets of the pre-digital studio are revealed! From the obvious to obtuse, all manner of practical issue is addressed through text and accompanying illustrations. If some super-virus ever destroys our computers, you’ll be sorry you don’t have copy of this resource. Used copies are available on Amazon for as low as 75 cents!!!
Some pages on print and paper handling…
 Printeresting doesn’t recommend #2. Ouch.
Posted by Jason Urban on June 30th, 2009 | 
From the Johnson County Library (Overland Park, KS) website…
With the help of Barkley Advertizing Agency, the Johnson County Library’s courier trucks have been redeisgned to resemble the delivery trucks of some of literature’s most famous characters. Barkely’s generous pro bono designs remind us of the iconic nature of these books. These books will always be relevant. Just like these classic books, Libraries are icons of American society–today and tomorrow.
(Thanks, JWJ. You’re the #1 Bibliophile)
Posted by Jason Urban on June 11th, 2009 | (via e v e r y o n e)
Information: from analog to digital, now from digital to analog. Rob Matthews has printed a 5,000 page book of all Wikipedia’s featured articles. Slightly less handy than the internet version.
Posted by RL Tillman on March 16th, 2009 | Marc Snyder, of Fiji Island Mermaid Press, kindly sent us an announcement about his latest project, Free For All. Marc is hosting a collection of pdf-based artist’s books with assembly instructions. Free downloads!
This online exhibition of artist’s books, found at http://www.fimp.net/freef.html, invites the viewer to download and assemble the books on display. The eight artists who have created books for this exhibition are Pati Bristow, Ginger Burrell, Warren Craghead III, Marti Haykin, Adele Henderson, Robert Hirsch, Judith Hoffman, and Marc Snyder.
Posted by Jason Urban on March 10th, 2009 | Thanks to an anonymous tipster for this bit… apparently Urban Outfitters, the über-hipster youth-culture lifestyle emporium, is carrying The Printmaking Bible! Wow. You’ll find it along side such other classic reference texts as The Official High Times Pot Smoker’s Handbook, The Guide to Doing Me!, and Creative Cursing. Quite a prestigious line-up! Needless to say, exposure like this is just the kind of break printmaking has been waiting for.
No doubt, it raises some pretty serious (not to mention superficial) questions. Namely, has printmaking found itself in the unlikely position of being hip? If so, how long will it last? And if the purveyors of mainstream counterculture (try that on for an oxymoron) have concluded that Printmaking is a product worth stocking, how long before the mainstream mainstream catches on? It’s only a matter of time, right?
Posted by RL Tillman on February 10th, 2009 |  Cover design by David Pearson for a paperback edition of The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.
Those designers think they’re so smart…and sometimes they are! (via Kottke)
Posted by Jason Urban on January 15th, 2009 | It’s the classic plot. A rag-tag bunch of screw-up misfit art processes need to come together as a team, against all odds, and become a lean mean technical guide. No one thinks they can do it but somehow, they manage to reach deep down inside of themselves and find the moxie to pull it off. It’s as old a story as… well… the bible. Okay. That may be a bit too dramatic.
This fall, Chronicle Books released The Printmaking Bible: The Complete Guide to Materials and Techniques by Ann d’Arcy Hughes and Hebe Vernon-Morris.
At over 400 pages and packed with 1,000 full-color photos and illustrations, The Printmaking Bible is the definitive resource to the ins-and-outs of every variety of serious printmaking technique practiced today. In-depth instructions are accompanied by profiles that show how working artists create their prints. Historical information, troubleshooting tips, and an extensive resource section provide more invaluable tools. Perfect for students, artists, print aficionados, and collectors, this is truly the ultimate volume for anyone involved in this creative and influential art form.
Read More After the Jump The Printmaking Bible
Posted by amze on January 6th, 2009 | 
Birkhauser, The publishing house responsible for, Tactile: High Touch Visuals, describes the book:
Three D – Graphic Spaces highlights a current trend in international graphic design: more and more visual designers are staging their compositions as three-dimensional scenarios, in order to turn them into posters, magazine covers, web sites, and animated films. The result is a host of suggestive new pictorial worlds that range from playfully arranged still lifes to room-filling installations. Edited by Gerrit Terstiege, editor-in-chief of the European design magazine “form”, and designed by the prizewinning German studio Pixelgarten, this book offers an inspiring look at the various modeling techniques and means of expression involved.
Edited by Gerrit Terstiege, editor in chief of the design journal form, and designed by the prizewinning Frankfurt-based design studio Pixelgarten, “Three D – Graphic Scenarios” provides an inspiring look at the various drafting techniques and expressive tools associated with its subject. The publication is rounded out by an essay by Steven Heller, for many years the art director of the New York Times, and an interview with the noted graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister, one of the leading exponents of this trend.
While the book is solely focused on commercial design work, it does offer some inspiration for the fine artist and an ample amount of glee for any art book lover. This exciting volume can be found for purchase here.
More images and smart & concise review by Regine Debatty can be found on the equally smart art/design blog We Make Money Not Art by clicking here.
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