Continuing our series of conversations with letterpress printers who participated in the Feedback Loop Notebook project, today we talk with Tony Zanni of Dock 2 Letterpress.
What was the inspiration for your design?
I was really drawn to the name of the organization “Design Ignites Change.” I wanted to keep with the theme that design equals change. Laura Walczak, our guest designer on this project, has great taste in music, and she had just heard the band The Swellers at the Warped Tour. The text on the cover of our notebook is lyrics from The Swellers song “The Iron.” The lyrics were the starting point. And we extended the back cover to create a detachable matching bookmark, which we perfed on our 1922 Miehle V36.
What were your considerations in selecting stocks?
We chose Loop Antique Vellum in 110# double-thick cover, hoping to get a nice bite on the cover without much show-through on the inside. There was a whole debate as to what color to go with, before we settled on Chili. After testing nine ink colors for the second color for the type, I started to wonder what the hell I was thinking. For the text pages, we chose the Loop 25% Cotton White with the cockle finish, which I felt would be nice for writing on.
What can you tell us about the printing of your notebook?
We used a 1937 Vandercook No.3 Proof Press to print this entire book. Don’t ask the number of impressions, because I lost track after 53. We also handset the entire notebook, going through 800-plus cases of type to set the cover and figure out what to use for texture and design elements. Every border, every line of type was handset from our collection of type and dingbats. We may have gone overboard with the insides — there are actually four versions of the inside sheets. The grasshopper is my favorite dingbat in there.
It took us five days to set and four to print, then a day to score and trim and a day to bind them by hand, and we’re still counting the days to put it all away.
How did you approach binding your notebook?
We had originally designed a perfect binding that didn’t need glue, using a couple of staples that would have been hidden when the cover was closed. However, Plan Number Two is what you see here, a Japanese stab-binding stitch that I had learned just weeks before from my good friend Christine Walker, who runs Concepcioun Handmade Journals. The waxed thread from Bolivia was a gift from Marisa Krol, a jewelry designer friend. So I hired a bunch of my most artistic friends, including Marisa, and had a bookbinding party the Monday these were all due to Mohawk. During the binding party, we left the iTunes shuffling bands, including The Swellers, The Black Keys and the Blakes. The help was paid — after the work was done — with beer and pizza.
What motivated you to participate in the Feedback Loop?
Two main reasons: First, I really like the work that Design ignites Change is doing with its School: by Design project. I am always looking for ways to change the world through design. Some day I might actually come up with something that does. Second, I really love the mentoring program, the idea of imparting wisdom and educating. We offer internships at the shop to college students and it’s just super-fulfilling to help someone understand something or to teach them something completely new.
Tony Zanni is the creative director at Dock 2 Letterpress in Webster, N.Y., one of the largest letterpress printshops Upstate, with 11 letterpresses on the floor and over 800 cases of lead and wood type. Zanni (which is pronounced zany) is also a splendid and candid raconteur. Check out, at the minimum, the shop history page of Dock 2’s website. An amazing tale, told almost without commas.
Just as a notebook is greater than the sum of its pages, the Feedback Loop project is greater than the sum of its partners — all of whom we thank for participating. (All limited edition notebooks are on sale now at Felt & Wire Shop in a special storefront to benefit School: by Design, an initiative by Design Ignites Change.)
