Design and Print Your Unique Monogram

This in-person workshop is taught by Instructor Mirko Velimirovic and Instructor Ana Sofia Mariz.

During this two-weekend intensive workshop, students will go from drawing their own monogram by hand to printing two versions of it in on a personal card and an Ex Libris. In the first weekend students will learn how to take analog drawings of monograms and turn them into two optical size specific designs.

Concepts of optical scaling will be introduced and applied to this project. Students will be prompted to observe details of their artwork to understand how printing processes and scaling can impact their design. Optical sizes of letters require specific drawing techniques, and considerations. The instructors will use their background in digital typography, and analog letterpress to aid the students in understanding how to best attenuate their designs to the different scales.

At the end of the first weekend, students will have a laser printed B&W layout of their final designs. As homework they will have to add measurements to their layout in anticipation of printing letterpress as well as making a decision about the color of the final print. We intend to offer three different color options. Students will vote on the colors, with the possibility of card in one color and ex libris in a separate color.

During the second weekend students will have the experience of getting their design letterpress printed on the Vandercook presses at CBA. After a quick intro on the printing process, we will start by adjusting the photopolymer plates on the presses based on the measurements on their laser proofs. Join us to design and print your unique monogram at CBA!

Ana Sofia Mariz is a Russian-Brazilian typographer, type designer, letterpress printer, and consultant based in Brooklyn.

She graduated from ESDI, UERJ and earned her Master’s in Design from PUC-Rio. She started her career in the commercial book publishing industry in Brazil as an in-house designer and head of the Design Department at Record Publishing Group. In 2009 she co-founded an independent design studio, “Estúdio Versalete”, in Rio de Janeiro and continued specializing in working with typography for books and publications. She also taught typography courses in Universities and Colleges in Brazil and at Cornish College of the Arts in the US.

After relocating to Seattle in 2012, she has been invested in working with typography and type design for post-digital letterpress printing. She became an active member of the local letterpress community participating in exhibitions and events across the US. In recent years she has been specializing in typeface design, expanding her skills and education through programs such as the TDi at Reading University and The Practica Program, among other courses and workshops.