Remember December: Making a Typographic Pilgrimage in My Old Backyard

Souvenirs from Up North.

Souvenirs from Up North.

The sun rose over the lake as I stepped outside to get in a run before heading to the morning’s workshop. Subfreezing temperatures were once a familiar part of life to me, but not anymore. My Californian constitution couldn’t handle it and the amount of layers I wore for a 4-mile jog was quite comical.

An hour plus hot shower later, I revved up the heat and the classic rock station in my rental car to head to what is familiar to me now: an international community of type designers – this weekend joining the letterpress and printing community – for the ninth annual Hamilton Wayzgoose at the Hamilton Woodtype and Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

Continue reading

Holiday Shopping with the Alphabettes

Certainly you’ve already gotten twenty dozen emails alerting you that today is CYBER MONDAY and that you MUST SHOP or you’re not doing your duty as a citizen of Planet Earth. If that consumer hypnosis has gotten to you, but you’re wondering how to support some awesome independent women in typography whilst stuffing those stockings this year, check out the shops below!

Left image courtesy Nicole Phillips / right image courtesy Maria Montes

From prints to shirts, greeting cards to enamel pins, these ladies have you covered this holiday season. Please feel free to let us know in the comments what other online stores we may be missing!

Greetings from the Pacific Coast Highway

Last September, after getting laid off from my job, I did what every American is programmed to do in times of existential crisis — hit the open road. Unsure of my future, I decided to drive south from my San Francisco home to visit friends in Los Angeles. I had plenty of time before starting my next chapter, so I decided to take the scenic route: California Highway 1, on the stretches known as the Cabrillo Highway and the Pacific Coast Highway.

bigsur_1

For nature, go to Big Sur. For some fantastic vintage signage, keep heading south on the PCH.

Continue reading