CrankyLog

A load of old letterpress work.

It's been non-stop work around the letterpress shop for a some time now. Not one to complain (okay maybe sometimes) but all these jobs make the caring-sharing that an old guy's obliged to do these days more difficult to get done.

Don't worry though, all our hard work will not stop us from showing off all your hard work. We have many good-looking print samples photographed and are diligently preparing them for posting. They will not just be used to release our supressed feelings of appreciation but also to demonstrate interesting use of letterpress printing.

In the meantime here are few classy pieces to get a load of:

Abi Campbell Photography Busines Card and CD Packaging. By The Thoughtful Type

Mind your Ps and Qs at the Cranky Camp.

The first Cranky Pressman Letterpress Workshop of 2011 recently took place in Salem, Ohio. We've agreed to endure several of these events this year. They are in association with AIGA Cleveland and the classes are limited in size so griping and discipline can be handed out judiciously. The next camp is on July 23, 2011. Look for more details and enrollment information here. Book early to avoid disappointment. There is no crying in letterpress (unless of course you drop a heavy ass piece of lead on you finger).

To sweeten the pie and lessen the pain we've created these certificates to give to anyone who satisfactorily completes the workshop. Designed and wickedly illustrated by Oliver Barrett, it gives you something to show your dad and prove you are not just sitting around doing nothing all day. Keep reading for a detail shot and production notes.

Wishing you a wizz-bang 2011.

 
Let Fun-Boy show you to the future!

We thought these cool posters by fun guy himself Ralph Cosentino were a great way to see in the new year. Cranky Pressman thanks Ralph and all our fantastic customers for helping us make this past year way way better than it should have been.

Here's the link to www.RalphCosentino.com. He just got the chain back on after some tinkering with a redesign. It's a dandy place with tons of animation, comic characters, toys and all kinds of artwork. You should fishtail into there right now!  It appears Ralph is still tinkering. Be sure to check out his site later.

Cranky resolution for 2011 - Post More - More Pictures - Less Words

Introducing The Coasters.

Meet Edna, Mr. Snogglebaum, Adelaide and the cantankerous old pressman himself.

These self-promotional designs were done in collaboration with Parliament of Owls to launch our new letterpress imprintable die-cut coaster line - The Coasters.

~ EDNA ~

"Sit your glass down here sonny..."

Edna likes her men young (sixty something) and her gin slow. A bit brash with a splash of class, she's always the center of attention.

Continue reading to meet the entire coaster gang.

 

Links to the past.

Switching the website from steam to electric power.

This is the first post in what will become the new Cranky Pressman blogging space. The old posts are still sitting in a dusty box somewhere over in the main site area but will no longer be easily accessed without a lot of swearing and hunting around.

Below are links to our entire previous blog archives. This only amounts to a handful of useless babblings but here they are if you are interested:

Let Letterpress Be Letterpress, Tips on designing for the medium

Video of Keith Berger, the Cranky Pressman, taking the stage at the recent Pecha Kucha Cleveland 8 event and lecturing for over 6 grueling minutes about creating design and artwork for letterpress print production.

Jennifer Daniel ~ Unicorn Groomer

When Cranky Pressman letterpress printing shop was called upon by Jennifer Daniel to print her new business cards my delight could hardly be contained to find out that Ms Daniel had diversified her business even further to now offering professional unicorn grooming services.

Ass Backward

July 30th, 2010 Keith (the Cranky Pressman) gives a presentation at PechaKucha Cleveland Volume 8. The title is Let Letterpress Be Letterpress - Tips on designing for the medium. This is an advanced look at a few of his slides.

Hand-Cranked Social Media

A look at old-timey pieces created to promote the new digital media company Shadow Works. Post also contains links to the Cranky Pressman's various run-ins with social networking.

The SOCIETY of ILLUSTRATORS

Cranky Pressman is pleased as Punch to have our piece included in the Society of Illustrators "Annual Exhibition: Illustrators 52". The work we call 'Old Creative Juices' was created by our old friend the talented and witty David Flaherty. See the piece here.