Last Saturday at the International Printing Museum, a few of us docents (a group henceforth known as “The Night Shift”) decided to sink our teeth (and our type) into a new poster project. Alyssa put together a kick-ass collection of vintage advertising cuts, focusing on slogans and mostly generic taglines. There are some fantastic “perfume scripts,” brush lettering, workhorse gothics, and random bits of oddball vernacular personality. And every single cut is 100% authentic; no polymer used here!

After the composition was established, there was a ridiculous amount of make-ready to do in order to get everything relatively type-high. Our resident expert, Mike, helped Greg, Alyssa, and me to print this thing real professional-like.

By time we were done, we’d printed a limited run on several different stocks, including Neenah’s Eames paper, chipboard, and some oddball leftover stock that NASA’s Jet Propulsion lab had previously printed on. My personal favorite is the “club edition,” printed with orange ink on black stock, with just the right amount of impression. Looks great when the light hits it.

This print is available for sale in various flavors at the International Printing Museum’s Etsy store. Get yours before they’re all gone.