The past few months have been a mix of projects and practical life matters. In July, Beck and I had a period of high activity with the Celestial Emporium Project in preparation for her talents being put on hold while she recovers from hand surgery. We managed to complete a prototype of each edition and photographed them for the next stage.
At this point in time, we have a prototype of the two book 'states'. Both are accordion style, but there will be some differences in their final presentation. One will be leather bound, the other paper and card. Each will have their own particular aesthetic qualities.
Lettered Edition - Very limited (A-Z = 27 copies)
Numbered Edition - Less Limited Probably around 250 copies
(For a full description of the Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge, check out the official Substack HEREÂ & Harebrained Press Blog HEREÂ )
We have taken some very detailed images of the books in order to get our crowdfunding off to a great start. Below I will share a few tidbits on the design of the book.
Covers of each edition: Beck has made some wonderful prototypes to be used to take us to the next phase in the project. Each features samples of all the major components to be found in the final product.
Front of the pages:Â Each page will include one of the animal classifications hand-printed in letterpress animals that 'fit' into that category. Below is one of the classifications "Stray Dogs"
Covers and end papers:Â Will include astrological charts of our night sky. I transferred the star constellations to two round lino pieces and referred to a chart. The pieces took me about 10 hours to engrave before reaching a satisfactory result.
Here's a video of the end papers being proof printed:
Here's a video or the drawing to lino design process:
Back of the pages: For the lettered edition, we have designed some shapes that are inspired by astrological constellations, namely those which are animals. Around 20 designs in total. The printing will be completed using Cyanotype exposure, a very old iteration of exposure that uses a beautiful cyan blue which works very well with the rest of the design.
Conclusion: This project has been a fascinating opportunity to explore a range of techniques and methods in a way that would never have occurred without the collaboration with Ampersand Book Studio . I am trying to capture a sense of free exploration with regards to the animal images, while creating well thought out and executed images that push my design skills further. I am always keen to learn new skills so using the dot tool I created has been a beneficial experience in making my drawings translate into relief prints in an interesting way. Of course, we could have opted for photopolymer plates and I simply use drawings, but I enjoy working within the engraving medium with as little use of technology as possible and love the idea of my plates being made by hand, despite it being a lot of work.
Stay tuned for the official project launch very soon and subscribe to the mailing list.
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