Lab Report: Printing Workshop

On Saturday, March 11, we participated in a Printing Workshop in which we all chose type, set it, and then printed our lines on a 19th-century American iron press that's been automated and upgraded by Tom Davis, the owner of the Printing Workshop materials.

During this workshop, we extended our first discussion about Dickensian London - Silicon Valley, which asked:

Communicate in writing 1 sentence: our names are..... to someone in another country. How would you do that now and the 19th century. In a newspaper and on Twitter (and more). How long it would take? Who would be able to read it? What resources or technology would be involved?

For us, a Lab Report Links to an external site. is a new style of writing that entails providing specific details about the following:

They are typically assigned to enable you to:

• Conduct scientific research.
• Formulate a hypothesis(es) about a particular stimulus, event, and/or behaviour.
• Review relevant literature to justify your hypothesis.
• Allow someone to replicate your study by providing precise details.
• Apply statistics to test your hypothesis.
• Explore theoretical explanations.
• Evaluate research objectively and methodically.
• Communicate concisely Links to an external site. and precisely.

We're going to adapt this format in order to describe, assess, evaluate, and then discuss the Printing Workshop. In your Lab Report, provide details and images about the following:

1. Describe the line of text that you decided to use and why.
2. Describe the type (include the size) that you decided to use and why.
3. Describe the process of setting the type. How long did it take? What did you use to hold the type? Etc. (Ask Tom for details about terms and equipment.)
4. Describe the process of preparing the form for printing. What equipment was used? How did you ensure that the type was level?
5. How many lines of type are in the form? (Ask Tom about equipment names.)
6. How did you divide the lines? Based on what rules for printing? Did you add any embellishments or borders? Why or why not?
7. What is the process for testing the printed page? How long did it take? How many impressions were required to proof the page? Were there any other steps between approving the final proof and printing the final version? What are they?
8. Provide an image of the final page. Did it turn out as you had expected? What is conveyed by the typography and printed page? 
9. Where would this printed page be distributed and to whom?
10. Who is the "imagined community" in this instance?