Bleisatz Video Tutorial from Lukas Loss on Vimeo.

Las Vegas 1962 from Jeff Altman on Vimeo.

So, a recent trip to Paris. We realised that we had done pretty much all the major touristy things possible on previous visits, so we decided to wander around the backstreets and see some of the more offbeat sights. One of the things that struck me was the amount of ‘classic’ signage around the place, detailed signs that had been lovingly hand-painted and maintained over the years rather than replaced by durable, yet ugly, plastic versions. And while the influence of the Swiss style is obviously a good thing, I don’t feel it’s the catch-all solution some people seem to think it is.

The way Paris has continued this practice which is dying off in most other major cities is laudable, especially as it can be physically difficult – this brilliant documentary on NYC sign-writers is a lament to a dying art, but also shows sign-writers shivering on rooftops waiting for the rain to stop.

Then, a few weeks later, I watched the whole of Boardwalk Empire season one. Set in Prohibition-era Atlantic City, the series creates the atmosphere of a time and a place brilliantly with great set design – including some of the few instances of CGI scenery that doesn’t make me cringe. One of the things that appeals to me about British Victoriana is the way it incorporates a rich past and yet lays the foundations for the 20th Century and all the progress therein; in Empire the feeling is of an era at the cusp of the modern age, the history of the place represented by the beautiful traditional calligraphy, and the onset of modernity shown by the bright lights and electric bulb hoardings. This is all backdrop, of course, but in addition the story has a great narrative drag as well, setting it apart (in my eyes) from the great looking, but deathly dull, Mad Men.

So, on to the two-colour option… I knew I had done nice fat trapping, but was still concerned about register in some areas. But, the results were mainly good – there’s a few imperfections in the black, but that to me is the beauty of screenprinting, no two prints are the same.

Although these were early versions (I will be reworking the ‘Voyante’ artwork into a two colour design), after signing and numbering them I am really pleased with the results. I am considering having then on sale as an extra option at my photo exhibition for the E17 Art Trail in September.

Not sure where (or when) I acquired this but I’m glad I did. It’s didactic qualities may have been diminished by the emergence of, say, Adobe After Effects, but it’s a kick-ass cover and the book is full of great technical illustrations. There’s even some hand-written notes in there from a previous owner, trying to work out the complex formulas involved in calculating analogue focal lengths and suchlike. Plus the author’s name – P. Monier – could easily be a rapper’s moniker.

As a creative whose working life has seen a wholesale transition from hands-on, analogue methods to digital workflows (and in some cases, back again), it’s of great interest to see how this comprehensive, highly-detailed manual from 1958 is now pretty much redundant as anything other than a curio and has become what I believe is now called ‘vintage’.