Born in Armenia, grew up between Russia and the Netherlands and now living in Belgium chasing my graphical madness.

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Proud to be a part of this series of designers portraits (Dutch-spoken), filmed by Sebastiaan Vandierendonck (Walbaum Brothers) at the Museum of Industry (Ghent) this summer. Here is my short story about being born in Yerevan (Armenia), moving to Moscow (Russia), spending my childhood at the Embassy of the Soviet Union in The Hague (Netherlands). Speaking four languages, having a stammer and which influence it had on my professional life (spoiler: it is OK ; ). About my graphical journey in Belgium where I live for the last 18 years, my graphic design heroes and the importance of typesetting with wood/metal type and letterpress printing for future graphic designers.

you might also like
Sunday type walks in Bookish Talks by iBookBinding
Get Impressed. The Revival of Letterpress and Handmade Type.
The Museum of Industry. Textile Posters.
Posters for the MIAT
Das es straffe kaffee
Nog een potse truust
Museum Night at the MIAT. 01.12.16
Letterpress Workshop by Thomas Gravemaker (LetterpressAmsterdam) at the MIAT
DRUKOPSTRAAT 7. 4-5.05.2019. Museum of Industry. Gent

David Armes. Artist's talk from the Museum of Industry in Ghent. Monday 06.12.2021.

For the coming week David Armes from Red Plate Press (UK) will be an artist in residence at the printing department of the Museum of Industry in Ghent. Discovering the collection and making some new work. Looking forward to see the results and enjoy the artist's talk David will be giving on Monday 6 December at 16 o’clock.

And here is the link to follow the talk online - link
(it is free, no registration is required).

DAVID ARMES

Biography
David Armes is a visual artist from the north of England working with print, language and geography. His work is frequently site-specific and considers how experience of place can be represented. He has been working primarily with letterpress printing on paper for over 10 years and the final forms can vary in shape and size from large sculptural paper installations to small artists’ books. Through using what was once an industrial print process, he is interested in where the multiple meets the unique, where the ephemeral meets the archival. His recent commissions include work for The Poetry Society, Nordic Summer University and the University of Oxford’s Centre for Digital Scholarship and he is a current Visiting Fellow at the British Library. He travels regularly for residencies in the UK, US and across Europe and his work is held in collections such as the Bodleian Library (University of Oxford), Museum für Druckkunst (Leipzig, Germany) and the Fine Art and Design Library, University of Bergen Library (Norway).

Why I’d like to come to the Industriemuseum and what my plans are
I visited the Industriemuseum in 2017 and was immediately struck by the powerful stories held within the collection and building. I knew this was a place I wanted to revisit one day on a longer residency. For the past few years I have been creating a print and artist's book series called ’Text Landscapes’: pieces of typographic art that are a record of my response to a place. I will create a new iteration of this series during my residency, pulling together sources of oral history, conversations with people and my observations and photographs of the city. The history, and the present day, of printing and graphic arts in Ghent will be a wonderful inspiration.

Links:
www.redplatepress.com
www.redplatepress.com/prints.html
Instagram / Twitter / Facebook: @redplatepress

you might also like
The Museum of Industry. Textile Posters.
Camiel Van Breedam in The Bibliotheca Wittockiana.
Visiting Chalcography department in Brussels. 11.07.19.
Visiting Bodoni Museum in Parma. 28.06.19.
Visiting Familia Plómez in Madrid
Trip to Amsterdam. Makers Match & GWA.
Museum 't Aloam
Zomertyposium 2017 / 2018
Letterpress Amsterdam
Print Me Baby One More Type or LpW 2017
Visiting the London College of Communication
St Bride Foundation Wayzgoose 2017
Trip to Barcelona. Part I. Lauren Press
Trip to Barcelona. Part II. BunkerType
Bookbinders' Fair. Sint- Niklaas, Belgium
event

Sunday type walks in Bookish Talks by iBookBinding.

Proud to be a part of this Bookish Talk by iBookBinding, discussing my 'unhealthy' interest for public lettering and typography. In case you are not familiar with it yet, iBookBinding is a podcast and blog about book arts and book history. They also have a shop offering a variety of tools.

Thank you Stepan & Pyotr for this opportunity to talk about my Sunday type walks in Ghent and abroad! Check out the video and enjoy the walks in the city of Ghent as I do ;)

Follow my Sunday type walks on Instagram
Video - link

Get Impressed. The Revival of Letterpress and Handmade Type.

Happy to have my work featured in this publication by Sandu Publishing Co., Ltd. from China. I’m looking forward to receiving the book and meeting old and new ‘faces’ on the pages filled with ink and wood type.

Here is a short info about the publication:

Get Impressed. The Revival of Letterpress and Handmade Type

Letterpress, an old-world invention, forever changed the face of communication and the speed in which information could pass from person to person. It gave birth to the “press”. Today letterpress is in a full-blown revival and widely used in printing books, posters, bespoke stationery like invitations, name cards, letterheads and so on. Letterpress designers carve out their names in the computer-generated design world with beautifully composed types.

190 mm × 250 mm, 240pp
Hardcover, English
ISBN: 978-84-17656-37-9 (Oversea market)
ISBN: 978-988-74493-5-5 (Chinese market)
Contact sales@sandupublishing.com to purchase

And a few impressions:

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My submission for this publication was the design for an LP sleeve (gatefold) and CD cover+booklet for the ‘Pockets Full of Change’ album by ‘People in Houses’ music band from Ghent. Together with the band we decided to use crafty approach: the illustrations were made from linocut, I printed and scanned the wood type to be used for the titles and the back side of the wood type for the textures. The letterpress printing took place at my studio Letterpress Corner and offset printing at Deepgrooves (NL).

Get Impressed
The Revival of Letterpress and Handmade Type
190 mm × 250 mm, 240pp
Hardcover, English
ISBN: 978-84-17656-37-9 (Oversea market)
ISBN: 978-988-74493-5-5 (Chinese market)
Contact sales@sandupublishing.com to purchase

you might also like
Reverting to Type 2020: Protest Posters.
From Futura to the Future. Leipzig.
25x25. Tipoteca 25.
The Museum of Industry. Textile Posters.
Visiting Chalcography department in Brussels. 11.07.19.
Visiting Bodoni Museum in Parma. 28.06.19.
Visiting Familia Plómez in Madrid
Trip to Amsterdam. Makers Match & GWA.
Museum 't Aloam
Zomertyposium 2017 / 2018
Letterpress Amsterdam
Print Me Baby One More Type or LpW 2017
Visiting the London College of Communication
St Bride Foundation Wayzgoose 2017
Trip to Barcelona. Part I. Lauren Press
Trip to Barcelona. Part II. BunkerType
Bookbinders' Fair. Sint- Niklaas, Belgium
event

HANDS-ON TYPE | typography event in Porto/Portugal | 14—17 September 2021

A series of workshops and conferences on the letterpress heritage, with three super-guests: Alan Kitching (UK) | The New Typography Workshop; Dafi Kühne (CH) | Babyinktwice; Rick Griffith (US) | Matter.

Alan Kitching (UK) | The New Typography Workshop — One of the world's leading typography and handprint designers (The New Typography Workshop), recognized for his expressive use of wood and metal types in the creation of his graphic works. He is an honorary member of The Royal College of Art, visiting professor at the University of the Arts London, and a member of the Alliance Graphique International.

Dafi Kühne (CH) | Babyinktwice — Designer, printer and professor, known for the wild mix of analogue and digital tools to produce posters for music, art and architecture, theatre, films and also products. He is the author of the publication True Pint (2016), the video series The Dafi Kühne Printing Show (2020) and the typographic project Wood Type Now! (2009).

Rick Griffith (US) | Matter — Designer, visual artist, printer, teacher, writer and activist. His creative practice results in a collage of form, color and grammar, with an autoethnographic focus. His works can be found all over the world, integrating museums and collections in the United States.

WORKSHOPS | 15—16 SEP [9:30 am–5:30 pm]

14 SEP | Alan Kitching (UK)
15 SEP | Dafi Kühne (CH)
16 SEP | Rick Griffith (US)

CONFERENCES | 17 SEP [10 am–06 pm]

11:00 am | Alan Kitching (UK)
02:30 pm | Dafi Kühne (CH)
04:00 pm | Rick Griffith (US)

REGISTRATIONS
handsontype.esad.pt

FEES
· workshops: 140€ (w/ lunch + goodie bag)
· conferences: 40€ (w/ lunch + goodie bag)
· pack 3 workshops + conferences: 400€ (w/ lunch + goodie bag)
· ESAD community: 30% discount

WHERE
ESAD/ Typography Workshop
ESAD/ Auditorium
Organisation: esadidea, Research in Design and Art + ESAD, College of Art and Design
Support: Direção-Geral das Artes
Partners: I2ADS, ID+, Imprensa Nacional–Casa da Moeda, uniMAD + Fedrigoni, Grafopel, Maiadouro, Tecnimprensa, Viarco