Lino Tile
"Although linoleum is a floor covering that dates to the 1860s, the linocut printing technique was used first by the artists of Die Brücke in Germany between 1905 and 1913, where it had been similarly used for wallpaper printing." - Wikipedia
"Linoleum printing is a form of relief printing, one of the easiest and most direct of all the printmaking methods. Linocuts can be simplistic and graphic, or as intricately detailed as you want. It's a subtractive process, meaning you cut away, or subtract, the areas you do not want to print."- Make
Initially we were tasked with getting Lino tiles to carve into with a chisel, we first had to take rubbings of natural/man made objects to use as a tessellated design. I chose to be more inspired by William Morris and decided to go with nature rather than industrialism. I tessellated my leaf design and traced the portion onto my tile with a pencil. I chose nature as it correlated with my brands theme and wanted the cards to be a thank you gift along with any purchase.
I then began to carve my tile using a relief technique, carving out the negative space to leave only the outlined leaf print. It took quite a long time and I had to be mindful not to cut myself with the sharp chisel. After I was done I tested the stamp with black ink. for this I had to place the ink on a clear board and roll over the ink to coat the roller in a thin layer of ink.
After this I began to print with various types of inks and experimented with colour.
In addition to the leaf print, I created my logo and typography based upon my brand.Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed.(2) I chose the second design.
I then pressed on with making the cards. The colours of pink and yellow were chosen for their contrast and link to the brand, their hues expressed happiness and welcoming warmth was inviting to me. The typography was to be done in black for it to stand out. I decided to mask the edge of one card and the other have a solid base. masking is the act of placing masking tape in places you don't want the ink and peeling away when dry to leave a clean edge. The coloured cards when dry were placed into the press with my stamps and were then complete. Over all I am very happy with how they came out. In the future Id mask the edge of both to neaten up the aesthetic and take more care on the typography to create a more professional and less rustic look.
