Michael McDermott The act of translation is rarely a direct, one-to-one process. When transferring from one form to another, considerations must be made about the limitations and potential of the new form, as well as the concepts and ideas embedded in the original. What elements should remain unchanged? What can be adapted? How can the new form stay connected to the original? This presentation will explore these questions through the lens of designing and creating a variable width wood type for letterpress printing.
The project examines how digital objects, specifically variable fonts, can be translated into a physical space. This translation was guided by two key principles from digital variable fonts: their smaller file size and the ability for users to access the full range of a given variable, such as width.
In collaboration with type designer Cem Eskinazi, we designed a custom font, informed by a set of guidelines that influenced key aspects of the final design like waist height, terminals, and stroke weight. While the font itself is not specifically modular, we focused on how parts of the letterforms could be reused. This minimized the number of unique pieces to cut in wood and reduced the material used—essentially addressing the physical “file size”—while still allowing for maximum variation in the letterforms. The designs were then cut into end grain, hard maple boards using a CNC router.
This presentation will cover the design of the digital font, the production process of the wood type through traditional methods paired with contemporary tools, and showcase the final prints—both specimen sheets and abstract prints that evoke language but remain fragmented and unreadable. Additionally, lessons learned about type design, wood type fabrication, and letterpress printing will be shared as well as links to download the digital version of the font will be available.