Sneak Peek: You Can Do It, Put Your Back Into It
I work in two worlds: the digital and the analog. Usually, I only operate in one of those worlds at a time – either creating graphic design for clients or printing on an antique printing press. I had the opportunity to break out of that mold for my piece in the upcoming exhibition at Light Grey Art Lab.
You Can Do It, Put Your Back Into It features over 30 artists and their take on the motivational poster. There is such a deep historical well to draw from for this theme, such as the fabulous Mather Work Incentive posters of the 1920s, through propaganda-style work from WWII and of course the proliferation of Pinterest-ified typographic inspiration that dots the internet landscape today.
For my piece, I decided to create the poster by starting in the analog letterpress world and finishing in the digital. Here are some process shots, along with a sneak peek of the final piece, which was created by printing vintage metal type and borders and then scanning the results.
The quote that I ended up using for my piece was "Plan your work and work your plan". Not all of the text that I printed ended up in the final piece. Since I was scanning and manipulating the text digitally, I didn't have to worry about spacing (note the lack of a space between "LET'S" and "GO") or setting text for repeating words.
I used a variety of paper texture to play around with the level of "saltiness" I wanted in the final work. I love that I created a digital design with "trendy" distressed texture that was actually created from ink and metal.
And a sneak peek of the final:
