Honest Ed's Show Card Sale

 

Toronto's favourite department store, Honest Ed's, will be having a sale of it show cards and advertisements on Monday, March 10, with proceeds going to charity. From the press release:

More than 1,000 of Honest Ed’s previous advertisements and (hand painted show card signs) will be sold (on a first come, first served basis). 

From 50 cents and up!

Since the announcement that honest ed’s will eventually close, many of the public have asked to purchase the colourful show card signs that are produced in the store. Some are now being offered.

Honest Ed’s has been using the method of show card writing since Honest Ed Mirvish founded the store in 1948. Show card writing is now considered a lost art.

Each item sold will be stamped with a “stamp of authenticity” and signed by Ed’s celebrity show card signwriters, or long time managers who will be in attendance at various times during the hours of the sale which will be held monday march 10th from 11 a.m. To 6 p.m. All monies received for the advertisements/show cards will be donated to a charitable cause.

Lino printing workshop

Christopher Rouleau and Tanya Roberts (of Snap + Tumble letterpress) will host a three-hour workshop on the basics of lino printing. During the course of the afternoon, you will learn the basics on transferring your design to lino, carving techniques, and the best ways to ink and press your work. Advanced printmakers may also have the opportunity to print their pieces on the Vandercook printing press, thanks to the help of our friend Kevin King, who works at Coach House.

We will be offering a supplies package at the cost of $25. Your kit will include:

·  one 4" x 6" lino tile (super soft or regular - you will specify in your RSVP) ·  10 sheets of 5" x 7" white printing paper (you may bring additional paper of your own) ·  access to black, water soluble ink and a brayer (roller) ·  1 Speedball lino carving tool (that you get to keep!) ·  access to other basic supplies (paper towels, wax paper, graphite paper, masking tape, envelopes, etc.)

Space for this workshop is limited! Please RSVP here no later than Friday, March 14. An email will follow with payment instructions.

We look forward to bringing your talents together, sharing knowledge with one another, and creating some new typographic work!

Book Review: Type - History of Typefaces

With winter seeming like it's never-ending lately, I've found that curling away with a good design book to be a nice distraction. With that being said, I was given a lovely and thoughtful gift for my birthday the other month: Type - A Visual History of Typefaces and Graphic Styles. Broken down into two volumes, each book explores the dynamics of type from 1628–1938. With beautiful design, the books flow from period to period, giving beautiful examples of the print evolution. I hate to say it but really, this is type-porn at its finest. A great collection of type specimens, with a focus on ornamental type. Another main focus throughout the book is on the artistic printing movement. The books also come with a CD, which allows readers to download hundreds of unrestricted type specimens. Um, awesome? Take a look below for a sneak peek! If anyone wants to take a look at it in person, let me know and I'll bring it along to the next Ligatures meeting :)

Although I found these volumes an enjoyable read, ilovetypography.com, did not. Take a look. It's an interesting read.

On another note, as we've mentioned before in our meetings, we'd love to create a greater sense of community by opening up the blog for discussions, reviews, pictures, etc. for all members. If you're interested in writing something for the site, please feel free to e-mail Chris, Kyle, or myself at ligaturesyyz@gmail.com. We'd love to get as many awesome posts as we can!

Linotype Film screening at Coach House

This event is now full! Please email us to get on the waiting list here.

February Meeting Nº4: Recap

With love in the air, gathering at one of Toronto’s famous chocolatiers seemed fitting. Ligature members came together the eve before Valentine’s Day to share their very own love (of) letters.

As always, it was great to see some old and new faces at this month’s meeting. We are so grateful that members are spreading the word about our little group. The more we get ourselves out there, the more we can plan for great events and activities that benefit all.

As the type enthusiasts took over the back half of SOMA, Chris and myself were able to share some exciting news with some of the new members. With lots of hard work and dedication, we’ve arranged for Type Camp to come to Toronto. This is a very exciting opportunity, as it’s the first time this workshop has come to Toronto. Sessions are being offered on Friday, April 25^th and Saturday, April 26^th with a focus on calligraphy and hand lettering, instructed by Dr. Shelley Gruendler & Carol Fountain Nix. Both classes are filling up fast, so if you’re interested, please sign-up soon! (Early bird pricing ends March 1.)

We had some great show-and-tells this month as well. Not only was it great to meet some new type fanatics, but also see some of the work they were producing. Tanya Roberts (of Snap + Tumble letterpress) brought some über sexy Valentine’s Day cards to share with the group. Another member, JR Lagacé, brought in some of his lino cut prints that he had been working on. Chris brought in further examples of his on going “12 Months of Type,” with some examples of script using acrylic on various mediums. As mentioned earlier, if you come to a meeting bringing work isn’t necessary. We’re just happy to have you there and contributing to the group!

Another very cool event that we discussed was a lino carving workshop, hosted Chris Rouleau & Tanya Roberts (of Snap + Tumble letterpress). On Sunday, March 23^rd or Sunday, March 30^th, these two talented individuals will host a three-hour workshop on the basics of lino printing. During the course of the afternoon, you will learn the basics on transferring your designs to lino, carving techniques, and the best ways to ink and press your work. The cost of this afternoon will be $25 and will include materials to get you through the afternoon. If you’d like to participate in this awesome event, please e-mail us at ligaturesyyz@gmail.com by Friday, February  21^st!

Next month, we’re looking forward to screening the Linotype film at Coach House Press. If you made it to the January meeting, you’ll know what a great location this place was, and how fitting it would be to screen this film. We’re still working on final date for the screening, so please watch for updates on the blog, site and social media. We’re super pumped about showing this film (you should be, too!).

All in all, it was a very successful meeting. Despite missing one of our co-founders (we miss you Kyle!), it was great to come together. Thanks again to all that came out to SOMA and we look forward to seeing you next month for our Linotype screening!

Lots of love to all of our members,

Chris & Leslie

Linocut workshop

Due to popular demand, we have decided to try out our first Ligatures workshop. Next month, we would like to host a lino carving & printmaking afternoon. At this point, nothing is set – we are trying to assess initial interest. Here are a few details:

-on either Sunday, March 23 or Sunday, March 30, Christopher Rouleau and Tanya Roberts (of Snap + Tumble letterpress) will host a three hour workshop on the basics of lino printing. During the course of the afternoon, you will learn the basics on transferring your design to lino, carving techniques, and the best ways to ink and press your work. -for the sake of consistency, we will offer a supplies package at the cost of $25. Your kit will include:

· one super soft 4" x 6" lino tile · 10 sheets of 5" x 7" white printing paper (you may bring your own paper if you'd like extra) · access to black, water soluble ink and a brayer (roller) · 1 Speedball lino carving tool (that you get to keep!) · access to other basic supplies (paper towels, wax paper, tape, etc.)

If you are interested in participating, please contact us no later than Friday, February 21st with:

· your preferred workshop date (if you can attend either date, please say so). We will choose whichever date is better for the majority of attendees. · any potential venue ideas - anywhere central with lots of natural light, big tables, and access to a sink.

Once we have this information, we will finalize the date, and then figure out the best way to set up the payment (which we would like to collect before the event to ensure attendance). We will have more details next week.

Please RSVP, and we'll get this rolling!

p.s. If you already have your own lino tools/supplies and would like to participate, please let us know, and we can make special pricing arrangements.

January Meeting Nº 3: Recap

With the craziness of Christmas behind, all of us here at Ligatures wanted to start the New Year off just right. With that in mind, Coach House became the spot for our first meeting of the year. Having only heard of CH, it was a great opportunity to check out one of Toronto’s historical printing houses.

Chris, Kyle, and myself arrived earlier and got a sneak peek at our new meeting spot. When various forms of printing machines surround you, how can you not feel inspired? An original Linotype machine shadows you as you enter the building and despite it not being in working order (unless you want to have hot metal shot at you), was pretty fantastic to see in person. Kevin King, who also works at CH, was kind enough to give everyone a tour of the building as well as demonstrations of some of the printing devices that are currently in use. Seeing the evolution of type through these machines was quite amazing. Moving from the wooden and metal type casts to the use of printing plates gave you a sense of how far we’ve come and further appreciation for lettering itself.

I must say, Ligatures had its best turn out yet! It was amazing to see some reoccurring faces but as well as some new type lovers. A majority of the evening was spent discussing people’s work and sharing some of our current projects. Paul Dotey, an illustrator, was kind enough to bring in samples of his family’s Christmas cards from decades past. Words cannot describe how beautiful these cards were. From the delicate illustrations to the intricate lettering, it gave most of us at the meeting inspiration to have the coolest Christmas cards next year.

One of the biggest moments from the night was some great news that we’ve been keeping hush-hush for the last little bit. With some hard work done on our end (especially by Chris), we’ve convinced Type Camp (typecamp.org) to make a visit to Toronto! This will be its’ first time hosting a meeting in this city, which is pretty awesome. This is a wonderful opportunity for all of us type lovers to get together and learn from the pros! If you’d like more information head to either ligatures.ca or check out www.typecamp.org/camps/toronto-2014/

Thank-you to all the people that made it out! It was wonderful to see such dedication to getting this group going and making a real impact on Toronto’s type scene.

Ligatures Meeting Nº 3

Please join us  Thursday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Toronto St. George Campus to chat about New Year's Resolutions! There will be an opportunity for everyone to share their type projects, lettering plans for the new year, and discuss how we can help each other reach these goals. The meeting will be hosted at Coach House Books, a Canadian type and printing landmark located 80 bpNichol Lane in downtown Toronto.

Space is filling up, please sign up as soon as you can. We have some really big type related news to share, including a future meeting that includes this guy right here.

No, it's not a transformer, it's a Linotype Machine.

If you're interested in helping get the word out, you can print out this poster.

Ligatures Meeting Nº 2: Recap

Gingerbread alphabet cookie decorating!

Ligatures Meeting Nº 1: Recap

 

Hand-lettered name placards at Ryan Edwards Studio.

Welcome Aboard

Ligatures is a destination. It’s where the creative and the obsessed intersect. It’s where innovation and initiative come together. It’s where the desire to learn comes to life. It’s a place to go. It’s a place to get things done. Ligatures welcomes you to a space for typographic-obsessed individuals whose devotion to all-things-type knows no bounds. Graphic designers, type designers and type lovers are invited to join our creative forum to discuss their work and receive feedback from their peers. Ligatures is built on creating a sense of community amongst its YYZ creatives through the sharing of information and resources. Embracing the art of conversation, Ligatures members meet in Toronto on the first Thursday of each month to discuss current projects, and have an opportunity to ‘show and tell’ their work. All skills levels and interests are welcome.

Join our fleet today!