Art Deco

Among the many design passions I harbour is a long-standing and unshakable love for art deco. In particular, I'm enamoured with the symmetry and precise line work of art deco stained glass and architecture (it's no coincidence that my first stamp was the Chrysler building). It's the type of affection that made my first visit to the Empire State Building a divine (although, extremely crowded) experience.

However, my deepest love is reserved for the pure drama of art deco fonts and ever since I started experimenting with text stamps I've been plotting to make the perfect art deco print.

I was feeling particularly inspired last night, so I tracked down a gorgeous font sample and carved an art deco style stamp from one of my wood/lino-blocks. Because of the complicated design, I decided not to draw the initial image freehand (as I've done with all of my other stamps). Instead, I printed the text and scored along the key lines first. You just can't mess with the lines in a font like this.


I went pretty literal with the phrase art deco, but it just seemed so perfect that I couldn't resist. Now that I know how to replicate the font cleanly, I'm sure I'll be carving out some additional, card-appropriate phrases.

My first test print turned out so well that I actually shouted OOOHHHHHHH YEEEEAAAAHHHHHHHHH! and did what can only be described as a post-touchdown, end zone dance. I share this with you not because I like to ritually embarrass myself in front of my friends and readers, but because it's the clearest illustration of just how happy I was that the print turned out.

Up next: Determining if this new print plays well with the Chrysler building image!