La Calma. Reuse of traditional printing media, movile wood type, expressiveness and calm in everyday life
Calm, or the concept of it, can be considered to be concept, is born at the moment when its opposite appears.
its opposite. When chaos and disorder are general rules in people's lives, there is an imperious need to stop, to breathe,
to an imperious need to stop, to breathe, to allow oneself to do things at a to allow oneself to do things at a healthy pace.
As Milan Kundera says in "The Slowness" in 1996:
"When things happen so fast, no one can be sure of anything, of anything. no one can be sure of anything, of anything at all,
not even of oneself " one of the contemporary principles, the invalidation of the individual of the individual self.
Kundera, M. (1995). La lentitud (Revisado ed.). Francia, Francia: Harper Perennial.
Tradition & technique
Old printing media for contemporary usefull objects
Meta-typography, repetition, patterns, motifs. Sewing, modelling, body, wood, nature, environment, outline and interior.
Interaction of the message with the body, the social claim with the context and the imprementation
of dynamics that integrate nature into the intimate space.
What is it about?
Where does this traditional printing research starts?
Through technical experimentation, laser cutting, typographic design, references to history and fashion design,
objects for everyday use have been created. Using manual, sustainable and almost infinitely reusable techniques.
Technical Research
A dry stick typeface called "modular basics" has been designed, influenced by the Bauhaus movement,
the New Typography, the Swiss International
Movement and interwar posters. The movable type, as well as messages of integration and social reclamation,
have been laser-cut on local wooden boards for infinite printing.
Artistic experimentation
Objects, bags, clothes and home accessories were designed, woven, made and printed by hand and with sustainable materials.
The motifs generated seek expressiveness and communication with messages that highlight the social need for communion and union
with the natural world, the need for change. Personal artistic research has been accompanied by interviews with professionals,
studios and workshops in the printing and engraving sector using manual techniques.
Art direction and editorial design
The project has been carried out in an integrated and circular way. Each element has been referenced in theoretical, historical and causal research.
The photography, editorial design, video editing, pre-production and post-production have been carried out by a single person.
There is a rounded result, where the coherence and cohesion of the elements is fundamental.
Environmental thoughts
The entire project has been integrated into sustainable, environmentally friendly and non-polluting production dynamics.
To this end, research has been carried out into the inks, supports, fabrics and sustainable alternatives currently on the market.
Interviews were also carried out with recognised local entities, where similar issues were discussed.
Want to know more?
Project catalogue: La calma
Reutilización de medios tradicionales de imprenta. El tipo movil de madera, la expresividad y la calma en lo cotidiano
Thanks & mentions
In order to develop this work in a particularly difficult time marked by the confinement caused by the COVID-19,
which is part of the final project of the Master's Degree in Art Direction and Advertising at the University of Vigo, we have had the help of several agents:
- Marcos Dopico (designer and typographer) as Tutor.
- Montserrat Ceballos Rivera (physiotherapist) as model.
- Nicolás Ruedas Rodríguez (engineer and amateur photographer) as production assistant.
- Anne Heyvaert (artist) as graphic support.
- Gráficas Anduriña (printing proffesionals) as consultor
Some design and printing studios that were interviewed:
- El Calotipo - Zaragoza, Spain
- La seis cuatro - Valencia, Spain
- The counter press - London, UK
- Manchea - A Coruña, Spain
- The new north press - London, UK
- Virgin woodtype - NY, USA
- Bunkertype - BCN, Spain
- P98A - Berlin, Germany
Art direction & graphic design & editorial design
Handmade-creation, photography, video, post-creation
Slow graphic creation, responsive, environmentally friendly, sustainable, durable.