Entomology of Tenderness

Inspired by the heart-shaped mark on the thorax of the Western Conifer Seed Bug, this entomology pressure print explores the significance of self-acceptance and embracing all facets of ourselves, including the uneasy ones.

Project Scope
Letterpress, Layout Design, Illustration

Step one: the pressure print.
To create the pressure-printed layer of this piece, I die-cut sticker paper with a laser cutter before carefully stacking the cutouts for color variation (thicker stacks lead to darker saturation). Using the Montana State University Vandercook letterpress, I then printed multiples of the image seen directly above. One of the joys of pressure printing is the characteristic smoked-out blur quality it brings to designs. The haziness produced imbues the prints with a lovely romantic quality that really suits the compassionate theme of the final composition.

Step two: adding the typography and lines. 
To create typography layouts with metal type, individual letters and spacing pieces are arranged on composing sticks to form words and sentences. Due to how letterpresses function, type must be set upside down and backwards for it to read right side up and left to right on the final composition. Once the type is successfully set, small pieces of metal and wood (aka, leading) are used to separate sections and prevent the type from falling over during the printing process. Though time-consuming, typesetting by hand is very meditative. 

The finished piece is an entomology of tenderness, cataloging the parts of us that are difficult but still deserving of love.