Jen Farrell

Metal type ornaments have been used to create elaborate illustrations for hundreds of years. Many of these clever images have been architectural, with details that lend themselves to representing the built environment. In this workshop, we’ll examine what various buildings in our neighborhoods look like and how to start breaking them down into elements that can be recreated with metal type. We’ll use the large collection of small ornaments in the Silver Buckle Press room to think critically about how representational materials come together, as well as the math behind developing successful type forms. Each participant will design and construct a building out of the ornaments available and pull prints of it. When all of the forms are perfected, we’ll then combine them to make a community print of all of the structures.

Since 1999, Jennifer Farrell has operated Starshaped Press in Chicago, with a focus on designing & printing everything from business cards to posters, as well as custom commissions, wholesale ephemera and limited edition prints & books. All work in the studio is created with metal and wood type, making Starshaped one of the few presses in the country producing commercial work while preserving antique type and related print materials. Jennifer’s work has been repeatedly recognized in books, magazines and design blogs, and has appeared in poster shows throughout the USA and Europe.

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