Histories of Newark : 1758 - 2008

We are still trying to rebuild this important Lead Graffiti story from our previous website. What follows in this blog entry is text from several pages in our old website’s blog. They are pretty disconnected.

NOTE : The only books available are two deluxe, leather bound editions which are priced at $450. They have a 5/8” inlaid coin minted in 1758 with King George II, the signer of the Newark charter which was signed in 1758. Seriously, how cool of a find was that?

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Below is a carousel of images of 20 spreads below will show you a nice range of the pages, the variety to spread layouts, citizen photographs of all kinds of groupings, and the general fun we had designing and photographing for this book. Just click an image to advance to the next one.

The design of the book includes a 1″ band that will run through the middle of every page of the book to include current citizens of Newark. A book on the history of the city doesn’t have room for the contemporary city and a lot of the old photos do not include much of the humanity that has gone into that history.

This citizen band was included to counter both of those problems.

While the effort in the citizen photography was far more than we anticipated the fun of doing it was also far beyond what we anticipated

Picture #1 of the CITIZEN BAND was such a good idea from the 5 women in the photo that we decided to make it the first one. Can you figure out why?. Photo #2 is Jill and I

After we had finished the citizen band here are some statistics.

  • Scheduled hours included in photoshoots : 98

  • Total number of citizen photos taken : 5,054

  • Total file size of originals (color .jpg images) : 6.86 gigabytes

  • Total number of retouched photos : 1,237

  • Total file size of retouched photos (black/white .tif images) : 2.79 gigabytes

  • Estimated hours spent retouching : 155

  • Total citizens included (some sneaked into multiple images which was OK with us) : 3,767.

The original name we were using for our studio was Wallflowers Press. After a bit we decided against it because anytime anyone Googled it they would be getting “press kits” for the band “Wallflowers.”

As Wallflowers Press we designed and produced a lot of the photography for the nearly 300 page book on the Histories of Newark: 1758-2008.

We got a nice write-up in the Wilmington News Journal. The bike riders featured are worth a bit of the story.

As the ‘citizen photos’ part of the project was just getting started we hadn’t had a lot of publicity or word-of-mouth advertising happening. We had gotten the Wilmington News Journal to send down a reporter and a photographer on Friday, April 30 (our first day of shooting). They came at 5:00.

And it was dead at the photoshoot when the News Journal got there.

Ray was standing outside trying to find anyone to come in and be in a photograph. All of a sudden a group of about 25 bicyclists were coming down the street and holding up traffic. They took up the complete width of Main Street. Ray walked out and tried to talk with them while they rode by trying to get them to come in to do a photo. Not much enthusiasm for it at that point.

About 20 minutes later and our photoshoot was still just as dead the group circled back down the street in front of the building we were were holding the photoshoot. This time Ray went right out into the middle of the street to force them to listen to his story. “Be in the photograph and we’ll promote your cause.”

So they came in. We think the article pays off the promotion promise. Their group is called “Critical Mass.”

We are headed into the final stretch with the Histories of Newark 1758-2008. Rebecca Johnson Melvin, Jill and I traveled to Ivyland, Pennsylvania, to visit Downey Hoster at Hoster Bindery to approve the foil stamping on the hardback covers, to get a personal tour of the facility, and to talk about final details with the binding and delivery of the book.

It was also our first chance to see the final folding of the book’s signatures and the nesting of the signatures. There are some details we wanted in the book to help give it some sense of being handmade. Two things we did were to print the book on two colors of paper—vanilla and white and to leave the front edge of the book un-trimmed.

The book is printed in eight-page signatures (sheets with four pages on one side and four on the other which are folded in half both ways to get the pages oriented correctly). There is one signature in vanilla with two signatures in white nested inside each other. That way the book has 8 pages of vanilla followed by 16 pages of white. We thought it would give the book some texture. The other thing we wanted was a rough fore edge (the edge away from the spine). There was no way to do the book with deckle-edged (rough) paper (we would have loved to do it in handmade paper but we wouldn’t have gotten the book for another 22 years and the cost would about the same as putting in a city subway system). Anyway that fore edge is left untrimmed and it looked exactly like we had envisioned it. Everything we’ve heard about Hoster Binder has been positive and after the visit we saw why. Top notch equipment, personnel, vision, and the ability to see ways to contribute that the designer / printer can’t see.

One very nice element that Downey has added to our book is to round the spine. It seems like a small detail, but after having the architecture of the book explained from the point-of-view of the spine it is a must if you can have it.

The critical moment was Friday, December 7 at 6:00 pm. The Histories of Newark group along with the Mayor had an opening ceremony along with a booksigning. A lot of the authors come and we kind of wonder if anyone will want us to sign their copy of the book.

Another detail we wanted was to do a full dustjacket that folded over on the top and bottom. The jacket designed by Jill Cypher ended up being a perfect solution. We used a hand-drawn map of the city from 1820 and overlaid images of Newark people into the house shapes. It does a wonderful job of mimicking the inside look of the book.

We also got three sets of the unbound book with all of its parts. Wallflowers Press donated one to Special Collections at the University of Delaware Library, one to the Newark Historical Society, and we will keep one. Once we get into our new letterpress studio feel free to stop in and take a look. It is an interesting process and this book was done right from the very start.

Tell the Post waitress story.

Tell the Critical Mass story.

The First Art Loop of the Year Evokes Peace and Innovation

This is an article published by WITN Channel 22, Wilmington, Delaware

January 23, 2020

This month’s art loop featured various forms of art including rose-colored glasses, paintings, photography, and ideal depictions of peace in the world.

The Delaware College of Art and Design hosted a letterpress design printing exhibition. Casey Smith, Program Chair of Liberal Arts at DCAD, says he wanted their students to learn about what artists Ray Nichols and Jill Cypher, owners of Lead Graffiti create in their letterpress printing shop.

Casey Smith, Program Chair of Liberal Arts at Delaware College of Art and Design, shows locals the process of letterpress printing during the Art Loop Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, at Delaware College of Art and Design in Wilmington, DE. Photo by Monique H…

Casey Smith, Program Chair of Liberal Arts at Delaware College of Art and Design, shows locals the process of letterpress printing during the Art Loop Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, at Delaware College of Art and Design in Wilmington, DE. Photo by Monique Harmon

“[We wanted] our graphic design students because of the typography, but also the fine artists, printmakers, and everybody here to see a creative enterprise. To see artists who have a business and are doing their own thing. It’s very inspiring,” says Smith.  

Lindsay Schmittle, an alumna from the University of Delaware and owner of Gingerly Press, visited the exhibition and talked to the students and visitors about building a creative business and her journey as a letterpress artist. 

“I’m very much a proponent of developing your own artist voice that is unique to you. As a business owner, it is your most valuable asset other than your time,” says Schmittle.

She creates her geometric paper designs with handset type, which is the old-school way of creating this particular art. Much of her work is inspired by mindfulness and nature, such as moss she sees when she goes hiking. She explained the process of her letterpress printing.

“Once your first layer is down, you are committed to that first layer on however many sheets of paper you just printed on. You have to find a way to work with that layer that you already put down,” says Schmittle.

Visiting artist and University of Delaware alumna Lindsay Schmittle shares her letterpress prints during the Art Loop Friday, Jan. 10, 2020 at Delaware College of Art and Design in Wilmington, DE. Photo by Monique Harmon

Visiting artist and University of Delaware alumna Lindsay Schmittle shares her letterpress prints during the Art Loop Friday, Jan. 10, 2020 at Delaware College of Art and Design in Wilmington, DE. Photo by Monique Harmon

Schmittle says she enjoys going in the press room and stamping the ink type in what she calls “press sketching”, which is a technique she learned from Nichols and Cypher. This allows her to be less committed to the layer as she is able to plan it out which is less time consuming than trying designs on a computer.

Schmittle met them while she attended the University of Delaware. She wanted more hands-on experience from professionals. Their business is down the street from the University. They host workshops and Nichols has given talks at the University.

One of the recurring themes in some of the couple’s works was that the words printed on the artwork oftentimes represented a rider who was a cyclist in what is called “The Breakaway.” Nichols says at the Tour de France, there are 200 riders who are put in 22 teams. There are riders that jump out in front of the group coming up behind them so that the group behind them doesn’t catch them. 

Ray Nichols and Jill Cypher, owners of Lead Graffiti use letterpress printing to tell narratives of Breakaway Racing Friday, Jan. 10, 2020 at Delaware College of Art and Design. Photo by Monique Harmon

Ray Nichols and Jill Cypher, owners of Lead Graffiti use letterpress printing to tell narratives of Breakaway Racing Friday, Jan. 10, 2020 at Delaware College of Art and Design. Photo by Monique Harmon

“They almost always get caught. Nine of them broke away. The big group can ride faster than the small group. They run right behind each other. It’s easier to do this with a mass of people,” says Nichols.

Nichols says he listens to the story of an event and thinks about how he will depict that in letterpress type. He can put the type close together or deal with each figure separately.

Art from Wilmington’s youth was hung on the walls of The Grand Opera House by 100 volunteers for Pacem in Terris. The works of art displayed messages of what peace means to them. This is a way for them to communicate with the older generation about creating more peace in the city. 

Carolyn Bitzer, a representative of Pacem in Terris says when the organization asked Delaware’s youth in grades K-12, ‘What does Peace mean to you?’, 42 groups responded.

“All of their work hung in the Delaware Contemporary during Peace Week Delaware. It was 650 pieces. We had a jury come in and they selected what they saw as the 100 strongest messages of peace and they’re framed. 25 are here, 25 are at the [Wilmington] Library, 25 are at A.I Children’s Hospital, and 25 are at Bear Library. Every month, it rotates. At the end of the year, First Lady Carney gives them awards for being involved and engaged. They get their artwork back,” says Bitzer.

Artwork depicting peace hangs in an exhibit during the Art Loop Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, at the Wilmington Library in Wilmington, DE. Photo by Monique Harmon

Artwork depicting peace hangs in an exhibit during the Art Loop Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, at the Wilmington Library in Wilmington, DE. Photo by Monique Harmon

The judges are comprised of Tina Betz, Cultural Arts Director of the City of Wilmington, Leslie Shaffer, executive director of The Delaware Contemporary, and peace and justice leaders in the community.

The Grand featured a work of art titled, “Diana” from one of the students of the Serviam Girls Academy, a middle school for girls from under-resourced communities.

Peggy Prevoznik Heins, President of the Serviam Girls Academy spoke about student Diana, who is really strong in math and is very athletic. She said that she wasn’t sure that many people knew that she had an artistic side.

“Any kid being recognized for something they do is huge! There’s some affirmation about that. This exhibit lets girls know that they matter and their voice needs to be heard. And this is a way for them to bring their voice about a world that’s not always pretty,” says Heins. “And saying we want peace and we’re about peace. I think that’s powerful.”

The deadline for the next year’s art for the Visionary Peace Youth Exhibition will be July 20, 2020, at Pacem in Terris, located at 401 N. West Street in Wilmington, DE.

Please note the Art Loop is held every first Friday of the month. For more information, visit artloopwilmington.org.

Lead Graffiti hand-rolled type in magazines

This isn’t intended as a New Year’s resolution as that has never worked before.

We want to see our hand rolled wood type in a MAJOR NATIONAL MAGAZINE (think Vanity Fair or New Yorker). We are looking for a (maybe 2) creative, outside-of-the-computer designer (student or professional) for an UNPAID INTERNSHIP / APPRENTICESHIP who will focus with us on that goal. WE’LL TRADE YOU for press time, portfolio work, food, or most any other expertise or printed materials we have to offer. FIRST PLANNING STEPS? : list of target magazines; list of target people; physical, affordable portfolio architecture; strategy for typographic images; and mailing strategy.

Here are a few examples pulled from our past work to start the conversation. Laughter.

1 : Article about people talking about nothing. Political talk.

2 : Initial cap. Maybe for the word “ABsolute.” Interesting in that nothing about the color is absolute.

3 : article on the Grand Opera House or the Metropolitan Opera.

4 : Opening paragraph of an article about conflict, chaos, politics (red / blue).

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People Were Close / American Material Culture Studies / UD

In 2004, working with Bernie Herman, Director of the Center for American Material Culture Studies, RAY NICHOLS, and a dozen VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS STUDENTS produced a book entitled, "PEOPLE WERE CLOSE." The 108-page book tells the story of the African-American community in Newark bounded by New London Road from the train tracks north to Clayton Hall, including Rose, Ray, Corbit and Mill streets. Along with the student design of the pages, a visual highlight of the book is a 2" x 80' (as in feet) photographic panorama of multiple-angle views of every building along all of the included streets in the neighborhood that runs along the bottoms of the pages.

Here are a few of the 17” strips of photos. The African-American church at the corner of Cleveland and New London Road (896) is at the center of the top image.

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Here is a close-up of one section of the plinth to show how piecing the images together worked.

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Organizing, cropping, retouching, and positioning the several thousand images was accomplished in the Visual Communications Macintosh Lab as part of the commitment of the entire membership in the VC family. It turned out to be an excellent experience in organizing digital files.

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The book cover was printed via letterpress at Raven Press at the University of Delaware.

Alas, time moves on, and during the summer of 2019 the remaining houses along New London Road were demolished (see below). The houses were arguably run down, but it is a shame that there isn’t some way to preserve more of the history. It really makes me feel good that the group of us did our part to honor this neighborhood and their impact on the history of the city of Newark.

Slowly real estate groups had been buying up the edges of the community to build student rentals. One day we drove by and the main ones were gone as you can see below.

People Were Close was a great effort and a wonderful student experience to help maintain a bit of Newark’s history.

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Here are some sample pages of People Were Close.

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The second of two books designed by VC students through the Center for American Material Culture Studies is designed and printed. This full color, 120-page book entitled "Food, Poems, and Stories," is a combination of recipes and history based on interviews with residents recorded through a project by Bernie Herman’s seniors.