guest's blog

Amazing Paper Typography

guest — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:56:23 +0000

I love it when two art forms collide and something beautiful emerges. Paper typography is one such type of art that has fascinated me since I was little. Maybe it's because I learned about origami in grade school, and now also have a love of typography. So when I see these two artistic methods that I love combined, it's mesmerizing.

This collection is a roundup of some gorgeous paper typography. Some of these are simple letters while others are complete phrases built using paper techniques. A few were created simply for a creative outlet, while others have been featured on the cover designs for catalog printing pieces.

On a more pragmatic note, I find studying these pieces useful to better understand 3D type. Notice how the shadows fall and the perspectives work to help your eye recognize that these are, in fact, not just computer generated images. The textures also play an important role, not to mention the different elements within each letter of different colours.

Tara Hornor has a degree in English and has found her niche writing about marketing, advertising, branding, graphic design, and desktop publishing. She writes for PrintPlace.com, an online printing services company that offers business cards, catalog printing, posters, brochure printing, postcard printing services, and more printed marketing media. In addition to her writing career, Tara also enjoys spending time with her husband and two children.

What is Scratchboard Design?

guest — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 06:17:15 +0000

Scratchboard was developed in nineteenth century England and France, where printers were looking for new ways to reproduce illustrations. Wood, metal and linoleum engraving all had their faults, and scratchboard seemed to be the perfect solution.

Scratchboard illustrators use knives and other tools to etch delicate lines into white China clay. The etching is then coated with black India ink to reveal intricate images with sophisticated shading, texture and, occasionally, many colours. The ability of the images to be accurately reproduced in everything from newspapers to educational books meant the scratchboard technique soon became the preferred method of printing medical, scientific and technical illustrations.

By brookeduckart

Because of this prestigious association with the great designs of the past, the scratchboard technique is having a comeback in publications like graphic novels, magazines and ads.

Most scratchboard artists use pencil sketches to begin the design process, drawing rough outlines of the finished product. The first pencil sketch will have shading and textured elements to give the artist a good idea of what the illustration will look like when finished. Then, they often create a simplified sketch that they transfer to the scratchboard. They prefer to keep the sketch as simple as possible, since the graphite of the pencil is hard to erase from the scratchboard tablet. Once the simplified sketch has been transferred, the artist will use various carving knives and other tools to scratch lines into the clay, using deeper scratches for areas that are more highlighted and less shaded and eventually revealing the complete scratchboard design.

By Paul Demyser III

By sixtäriis

By Kai

By John D Maddin

By Avalilly

By Hellmuth

By Klcostley

By Sadam JP

There are a couple of ways the scratchboard design can then be used for printing. Most printers will likely take a high-resolution photograph of the image, as most printing is done electronically now via desktop publishing. The photograph will then be inserted into the digital design of the page, then a plate will be made of that page. Finally, the plate will be inserted into the printer, and the page will be printed. Before desktop publishing became the industry standard, however, the scratchboard design would often be inserted directly onto the metal plates that already contained the text of the page. The scratchboard itself would then be coated with ink along with the moveable type.

By kuruvata

By SADAM JP

Scratchboard is also becoming popular as an artistic medium in its own right. Because it uses fine lines to create intricate designs, the scratchboard technique is superb for accurate depictions of eyes and fur. This makes it an ideal medium for wildlife artists and artists who make very detailed drawings. Scratchboard artists will often sell the scratchboard tablet as its own work of art. Though the contrast of the black ink and the white clay is striking enough to generate interest from buyers, some artists will also add colour to the illustrations using ink, watercolour or acrylic paint.

By amelieke

By WildGlance

By Jan Poynter

By jeanner

By PawtraitsFL

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About Amie

Amie is a freelance graphic designer for a printing company, Print Express UK. They specialise in business card design and printing. Amie has been designing and writing for 2 years and has a huge passion for abstract art and vintage photography styles. She can be found on Twitter .

Stunning Aerial Photography

guest — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:30:43 +0000

Photography is great and amazing in and of itself, but aerial photography takes it to another level of beauty by capturing these incredible shots only few people are able see without these photos. I hope you all enjoy and get inspired from this!

Hello everyone! I'm Mackenzie, a graphic designer out of Colorado. In addition to being a designer, I run Artists Inspire Artists - an inspiration blog. I hope you've enjoyed this post. For more, follow me on Facebook & Twitter.