Imprinting Passion

You never truly appreciate the craft, unless you get in there and have a go…
Through the simple and sometimes complex task of “having a go,” you, not only ‘imprint’ your work onto a medium. But you’re imprinting yourself onto your work to be read and felt by the viewer.

On a side note, I don’t think I ever explained the Magni Studio logo itself. If not, it stemmed from my interests in experience, senses, and the overlooked. In the logo, my hand symbolises touching and reaching out, while the eye is seeing. The invisible senses, such as hearing, are symbolised in the logo through the hand seemingly covering an eye.

Throughout the development of ‘Young Man’, I loved every second of the making process. As the hook of this little post states, I have a far greater appreciation for illustrators, comic artists, and small publishers than I did before.

As Spoken about before perhaps, I love the experience of physical objects, from the architecture I work with in my day job to the comic drawing I did after it. It’s exciting to experience the sounds of pens, brushes and the smells of fresh paper and cardboard. I find how things go together and the process of making so interesting.

This simple packaging printing was just that for me, having a go.
However, I didn’t quite have the tools or time to build up the immense skill required to hand carve a wood block or lino sheet as skillfully as the Japanese carvers of the Edo, Meiji, Shin-hagia or contemporary prints I have hanging up on my wall.
I turned to the trusty and very accurate, although not as exciting CNC cutter, figuring out how to lay out a file and how it all works I found very interesting. However, learning proper wood block printing is definitely a goal of mine.

I had initially thought to use the same Zig comic ink I used on the comic; however, during testing. The both fun and, at times, frustrating aspects of creative work. The wood block levels paired with the ink’s thin nature, meant I couldn’t get a consistent or legible print.
You also needed to be very quick as the ink would dry or soak into the wood.

So, I started sanding to level the wood block and used a thicker medium, such as acrylic paint. Which I theorised might better bridge any gaps still in the wood and require more testing. I had a good result, with the unexpected bonus of the texture of the paint creating tactile bumps in the print that caught the light quite nicely.

I look forward to those of you who buy a copy at launch (Thank you, so much) being able to experience, and I hope you feel, the care and thoughtfulness imprinted both in the packaging and the book itself.