Moveable Type

Roberto got roped into being my unofficial assistant for the day. He did great.

My first order of business in Kansas City was a workshop at Willoughby design firm.  We were graced with spectacular weather and enjoyed a tasty KC BBQ feast before tucking into some printing.  We rolled with their (admittedly lofty) core mission of “Changing the World Through Design”, set some type, and printed some posters and postcards for everyone in the studio.  By the end, everyone was experimenting with overprinting and crazy compositions, which was awesome to see.  It was a really great afternoon, and hopefully fun and inspiring to the designers who came out.  Thanks so much for having me!

And then that evening, I was so thrilled to set up an event with Hammerpress!  I’ve admired their work for years, and had the pleasure of first visiting their shop in Kansas City about two years ago on a sweltering summer day… I cooled down by browsing their gorgeous shop and had a refreshing handmade snow cone from Fresher Than Fresh.  So I was super excited to have another chance to visit Brady Vest and the gang, this time with the truck.

Brady at the front desk

I’m such a huge fan of their work.  They really have a way with ornaments and borders.  It’s like great classic American typographic design combined with Dada combined with awesome.  I’m particularly fond of this Calexico poster:

photo courtesy hammerpress.net

And, as I mentioned before, the shop itself is gorgeous – all exquisitely curated and staged.

books, bear

The night was a blast.  We had coffee provided by Oddly Correct roasters, cold beer, and lots of folks coming through to make posters in the truck and rifle through Hammerpress’ bins of discount/reject cards.  At night’s end, we even printed a t-shirt for pressman Eric.

nice!

Thanks, Brady and co., for an awesome visit.  Til next time!

screenprinted bricks by Christa Dalien at Wonder Fair

After True/False, we first headed to Kansas City to decompress for a few days at Dustin’s parents house, and then made our way to Lawrence, Kansas.  I set up shop outside Wonder Fair, an awesome gallery/shop/studio/creative place.  This place stocks all manner of beautiful little handmade treats, like posters, clothing, zines, and weird things you didn’t know you needed (see last photo of this blog post).  Meredith and Paul are the lovely proprietors, and they invited friends, neighbors, and customers out on a cold and rainy night to take part in some printing love.

"to the stars through difficulties"

Afterwards, we got into some March Mustard Madness at the local brewery, which involved tasting approximately 17 different kinds of mustards.  There were some favorites we all agreed upon, but no clear winner.

little onlookers/future printers

The next day, I took the truck over to the University of Kansas and parked outside the Spencer Museum.  There was a huge turnout, and we thought it could be cool to tie into a current exhibit by Chen Shaoxiong called “Prepared: Strategies for Activitsts” so we printed some pseudo protest posters – “Art here! Art now!” And then everyone looted the museum.  Just kidding.

Run on Sentence at Wonder Fair

That night, I went back to Wonder Fair for a Run on Sentence show, which was a lot of fun.  The boys had stopped by to visit some of Dustin’s family that day, and had raided his great uncle’s collection of trucker caps.  I was gifted this beauty, which I paired with a ribbon from The Small Object, to powerful effect:

posters we printed in the truck

Oh, True/False… you are one of my favorite things in the world.  True/False is a documentary film festival that takes place in Columbia, Missouri (home to the University of MO – “Mizzou”, as it is called).  Dustin/Run on Sentence has been playing music at the festival for the past five years or so, and I’ve come along with him a couple times before.  This was the first year I participated, and it made it even better.  I did a few workshops with elementary, high school and college kids, and then got to park the truck for the rest of the weekend at the most central intersection in town, right in the thick of things.  This is a supremely walkable town, and I think something like 35,000 people came out for the fest.  The streets were busy.  A bunch of friends from Maine fly in each year too, so combine that with awesome film programming, live music, good food, free booze, and parties four nights in a row, and you’ve got yourself a pretty fine weekend.

gorillas in our midst!

these guys

I grew a beard of biblical proportions

masks were a theme

Bramble from SLC

The Toughcats from Maine

Furrby

Dustin in the sky!

Run on Sentence

this pretty well sums up the last day

I also joined Instagram this weekend, something I have been resisting for months, certain that I don’t need more social media in my life.  Turns out I really like it.  Follow along there, if ya want – @typetruck.

the St. Louis arch(es)!

oh wait no, that's the one

By the time I got to St. Louis, I was feeling quite a bit better, and ready to do some exploring.  I drove into town and made my way over to meet the fellas at Firecracker Press.

Eric and Matty are awesome, and we went out for tacos before setting up for our event in the evening.  I love their work so much – hand-carved perfection!

Firecracker!

Their shop is on Cherokee Street, which is home to antique stores, great old signage, sweet paint colors and, curiously, other print shops.  I counted two others (All Along Press and Paper Boat Studios) and the guys told me about one more somewhere else down the way.  I had a great time wandering around the neighborhood, marveling at all the weird details.