Photos of my brand new type face designed just for the BookBeetle Press. I named it BookBlossom. The BookBeetle is very popular for use in schools and institutions, so I wanted to create materials which could be used with students without the danger of exposing them to lead.
Woodtype, as letterpress enthusiasts know, is very common in letterpress, but usually in larger sizes. My challenge with the type was to make something small enough that short sentences could be created, and basic enough that children could compose the type and create the lockup without needing much instruction.
The result is a 48pt type (“4-line” in wood type terminology). Most woodtype you will find is no smaller than 60pt. BookBlossom is what is called a monospaced font, all characters the exact same set width. I include wooden “M spaces” (full size spaces) and “N spaces” (half sized spaces) and 12 pt line spacing in two different lengths.
I think it is a very nice introduction to typesetting and letterpress printing for the beginner. I have included a photo of a sample of a type specimen sheet being printed with it.
The price for 140 pieces of type (a “5A” font), the letterspacing and the line spacing all in a nifty slide top wooden box I designed is $650.
Cutting BookBlossom type in endgrain beech with a CNC router. This is an all caps monospaced font designed for introducing students to typesetting. The type meets the exact specifications of standard letterpress woodtype and can be used interchangeably on any letterpress.
Example of lockup with BookBlossom type and a sample of its use for printing a small broadside.
BookBlossom comes in a specially made type box, easily stackable with additional type boxes.
The BookBlossom font comes with M space and N space letterspacing and two lengths of pica sized linespacing.