On Tuesday, January 31, Ad2 Roanoke planned for a lunch-time tour of two of Roanoke’s finest printers’ shops, which we dubbed the “Brown Bag Series: The Fine Art of Printing.” Enter Press Press Merch and Appalachia Press. We were welcomed with open arms, warm smiles, pizza, and desserts by Hired Guns Creative‘s Erica and Patrick, along with Greg Szechenyi from Press Press and John Reburn from Appalachia Press.

Greg walked around their print shop, taking us through the production of a normal screen printing job, showing off their massive 10-station, 8-color automatic press and vacuum exposure unit. Later, Greg showed off their showroom, highlighting various printing techniques like soft-touch inks, 4-color printing, and discharge inks, which removes the pigment from the shirt in a non-toxic way. The whole time we were there, the Press Press crew was working seamlessly and professionally in the background, like there weren’t any strange people wondering around their shop.

John took over and led us a few feet through a doorway, bringing us into the Appalachia Press shop. There was a distinct smell of “Old Stuff™,” which should be a signature Appalachia Press candle scent. You’re welcome, John. Old presses, wood, steel, and iron. *Deep breath…ahhhhhh. What a lovely smell that is. As he led us through his workshop, John shared a brief history of how he got into letterpress, what he uses each piece of machinery for, and then explained the printing process for various letterpress jobs. There are some different processes that he goes through based on the type of job that comes in. Whether it involves hand-cut stencils, sending art out to be made into a block, or screen printing, every job always includes lots of hands-on work. Getting his hands dirty and lifting heavy equipment is how John stays fit. Having a new retail store in downtown Roanoke, a steady stream of online shoppers, and many resellers all over the country keeps Appalachia’s presses moving. John is working on plans to run a few workshops this summer, so stay in the loop on their Facebook page.

Thanks again to Press Press Merch and Appalachia Press’s hospitality. For those who couldn’t make it out, nanny nanny boo boo, stick your head in doo doo. You missed out.

Frank Chimero is a design god. There. I said it. What? He’s taking a hiatus from designing to write this book. (Watch the whole video. Seriously.)

He’s probably written some of the most compelling advice for students I’ve ever read, and in case you haven’t seen it before, we’re going to share some highlights here.

Look people in the eyes when you are talking or listening to them. The best teachers are the ones who treat their classrooms like a workplace, and the worst ones are the ones who treat their classroom like a classroom as we’ve come to expect it. Eat breakfast. Realize that you are learning a trade, so craft matters more than most say. Realize that design is also a liberal art. Quiet is always an option, even if everyone is yelling. Libraries are a good place. The books are free there, and it smells great.

And:

Don’t become dependent on having other people pull it out of you while you’re in school. If you do, you’re hosed once you graduate. Keep two books on your nightstand at all times: one fiction, one non-fiction.

But don’t forget:

Seeking advice is addicting and can become a proxy for action. Giving it can also be addicting in a potentially pretentious, soul-rotting sort of way, and can replace experimenting because you think you know how things work. Be suspicious of lists, advice, and lists of advice.

Read the full post here.

The always stunning Dan Cassero (@youngjerks) just completed a mural at the Ace Hotel in NY. Check out his original post for more photos, but be sure to watch the time-lapse video below. It’s precious.

Mural at The Ace Hotel from Daniel Cassaro on Vimeo.

It’s always exciting when designers get married, well, for the designers at least. Their printers tend to have a rough time with all of the expectations and demands, but this project shows that when everyone works together from the start, the results can be stunning and budget friendly. Click here for the original post and more pictures from Designer, J. Kenneth Rothermich.

No truer statement will you hear today.

Taken from Hyperactivitypography From A to Z, “an activity book for typographers illustrated in a nostalgic vintage style to give it a sweet and childlike look”, it’s the mantra they recommend cutting out and tacking up someplace you’ll see everyday. I’d suggest nothing less.

Click here to flip through the rest of the book, and don’t forget to visit it’s creators, Norway’s Studio 3.

[via Neatorama]

Here are some suggestions that I received…

How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Not Losing Your Soul – Adrian Shaughnessy http://bit.ly/1s46ko

Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far – Stefan Sagmeister http://bit.ly/pF5xx

100 Habits of Successful Graphic Designers – Josh Berger, Sarah Dougher http://bit.ly/279h8O

Hey Whipple, Squeeze This – Luke Sullivan http://bit.ly/sId7r

And David Ogilvy is so rockin’ awesome that these were suggested several times:

The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy

Ogilvy On Advertising – David Ogilvy http://bit.ly/1eP8v0

Confessions of an Advertising Man – David Ogilvy http://bit.ly/1gjwgN

Also see, David Airey’s blog on his favorite book: http://www.davidairey.com/whats-your-favourite-graphic-design-book

(Sidenote: I apologize to Brad and Patrick, since they responded to my query and unfortunately your answers were lost by a work email change-over. Sorry!)

Why is this new part of town with the new money trying so very hard to emulate what we’ve seen in so many other parts of so many other cities that are perceived as “upscale”? The truth is that this sort of perception works. This is where the marketing and fiduciary statistics works against the creative process. They see a product succeed and want that success for their product, so they mirror the design with hopes of mirroring the success.

Pablo Picaso famously said “Good artist copy. Great artist steal.” I often tell new designers that when they go to look through a magazine or on the web for inspiration to look at what makes the thing they like the thing they like. That is to say, find out what makes that great design great, whether it’s composition, color, the way it works in the space they’re given or even the way you interact with it, and then use that as a lesson to apply in they’re design. You’re not stealing or copying, you’re learning from what works. It’s definitely a step up from just outright “creative theft”.

Jeff Veen gives this 5 minute Ignite presentation that touches on all of this. I enjoyed his parallel between iPhone knock-offs and the “cargo cults” that developed after WWII.

So, if good artist copy and if great artist steal I submit the best artists (and in this case, designers) are the ones worth stealing from.