I had two main goals for my VSWTP print. First, to center it around the sport of baseball, and secondly, to use as many of my typefaces as possible. I did some research on baseball quotes and it was surprisingly hard to find one that included the word “touch” I finally found one by Babe Ruth that was perfect; “I had only one superstition. I made sure to touch all the bases when I hit a home run.” After some tweaks to the quote itself to make it easier to plan out, it was time to lay out the print. I managed to cram in 6 of my fonts on top of the “touch” letters, which I considered a major victory, considering most of my type is quite large. I was delighted at the chance to have such a large sheet size to work with and really utilize the unique fonts I’ve collected. It was important to me to show a wide range of typeface design to contrast with the Vista Sans type. The Grecian type used for “Bases” has a particularly special connection to this project, as it has some rather unconventional beginnings. This font was carved by hand, possibly in an attempt to recreate a lead typeface at a larger size, so I made sure to include it on this project. I chose the other typeface based on size, available letters, and level of contrast to the Vista Sans type. I particularly loved how the Tuscan slab paired of with the Vista Sans.
I used the entire sheet size without trimming because hey, go big or go home. I was in the MFA program at MICA when I received the type, so I had the pleasure and honor of working with Bob Cicero, of Globe Poster fame when I was printing this project. The next challenge was to battle for press time at the end of a frantic semester at MICA. I wanted the poster to be printed in two layers, in the same color, to play with a more subtle interaction of color and shape. Baseball is a quiet yet dramatic sport, and I wanted the print to reflect that. I settled on a lovely, pure blue because it reminded me of summer days and baseball. So, I locked everything up on the absolutely perfect machine that is the Vandercook SP-20 and got to printing. After I finished the first layer of the print I put a little more black into the blue ink to give it a little more punch and insure it didn’t get lost on top of the very heavy initial layer. It was important to me that the Vista Sans type be printed not just on the paper itself, but over other inked letters, to see how the grain would look in both contexts. The type printed beautifully and I think the overall marriage of Vista Sans type and the fonts from my collection were quite successful.
