Category Archives: History

Printing and photographic history

Visiting Palomar’s 200-inch telescope

Posted on August 13, 2016 by Brian Lawler

After visiting Mt. Wilson’s two observatories in September, 2014, I began a reading marathon to learn as much as I could about the big telescopes that were used to usher-in the era of astrophysics. It was at the 100-inch Hooker … Continue reading →

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My brief visit to Mars

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Brian Lawler

I spent a couple of weeks on Mars earlier this year, on assignment to take some photos. There was no oxygen, so I had to hold my breath for two weeks. I did not run into Matt Damon. The work … Continue reading →

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100,000 Readers! Thank you

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Brian Lawler

It’s actually 101,759 readers. What started three and a half years ago on July 26, 2011 has now reached a major milestone in blogging for the graphic arts. The Blognosticator has reached and exceed the 100,000 reader mark. I started … Continue reading →

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CNC router owners: meet the quoin

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Brian Lawler

For centuries printers have been locking-up type inside a frame called a chase, then putting the chase into a printing press to complete letterpress printing projects. The method for doing the lock-up was originally done with wooden wedges which were … Continue reading →

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You wanted kerning! You get kerning!

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Brian Lawler

Last week I promised to write a blog about the next step in making my Lining Livermore typeface. I thought I was farther in the process than I was. Getting letters to fit adjacent to each other is a difficult … Continue reading →

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Drawing the lozenge for Lining Livermore

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Brian Lawler

…continued from yesterday’s blog I’m probably never going to need the lozenge character in any typographic project I do. Nonetheless, it’s there, ready for me, whenever I choose to use it. That’s exciting. The lonely lozenge. I don’t know what … Continue reading →

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Typographical archaeology for Lining Livermore

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Brian Lawler

Continued from yesterday’s blog… After I created the scan of my type proof, I opened it up in Adobe Photoshop and made some corrections (I rotated the G and the O), and I did some tonal clean-up to make the … Continue reading →

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Digging into history for a “new” digital type design

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Brian Lawler

I am the faculty advisor of the Shakespeare Press Museum at Cal Poly. The museum is a working collection of type and printing presses that collectively represent the history of relief printing from 1850 to 1950. This is one of … Continue reading →

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6804136

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Brian Lawler

When I was 17 years old I bought my first professional 35mm camera. It was a Nikon F. My high school friend Bill’s dad was a pilot for Braniff Airlines. His schedule took him from San Francisco to Tokyo every … Continue reading →

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Planning and preparation pay off

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Brian Lawler

How do you explain to students, children, associates, business partners – anyone – how important it is to plan? I am a pretty good planner, and I was especially careful to plan my photo exhibition that opened last Friday at … Continue reading →

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