ink&paper A short film about the last paper shop, and the last letterpress, in Los Angeles.
"There are days go by that there can be absolutely no business at all."
posted by OmieWise
on Dec 21, 2011 -
22 comments
Manila folders (the common paper good, not the
Filipino contortionists) are made from the fiber of the abacá plant. Sometimes called "Manila hemp" due to its
origin in the Philippines, it is not a true hemp because the fibers come from the
leaf petiole, not the
bast fibers (sourced from the phloem or inner bark) of the plant. The petiole layers, called "tuxies", are stripped off using a
tuxying knife and separated either by hand or mechanically. Abacá (
Musa textilis) is a relative of bananas and plaintains (both also
Musa species). Other than its utility for making the aforementioned common cream-colored office product (also available in non-folder form as "oak tag" or "tag board"), abacá is resistant to salt water and therefore
valued for cordage (especially
hawsers) and nets. It is also used to make a fabric called
Sinamay (often used to make hats) and other common products like rugs and twine (with the coarser outer fibers) and tea bags, filter paper, vacuum cleaner bags, and other papers (with the finer inner fibers.)
posted by nekton
on Oct 21, 2011 -
26 comments
How to build a newsroom time machine. Some pessimists predicted ALL ON PAPER would be an exercise in futility. It’s proven to be a lesson in humility – for both the student journalists struggling with the old tech for the first time, and for the veteran journalists trying to recall how it all worked a few decades ago. A college paper makes an issue the old-fashioned way.
[more inside]
posted by shakespeherian
on Aug 4, 2011 -
52 comments
These days, the term
Movable Type is more likely to make people think of a blogging platform than anything involving paper, but it used to refer to the letters, words, and graphics typically cast in an alloy of lead, tin and antimony or carved from wood, that could be rearranged by a letterpress printer for each individual job. In an environment where toner serves most of our current printing needs, the endangered art of letterpress printing now has a roving champion. Her name is Kyle Durrie, and she is the proprietor of
Power and Light Press in Portland, Oregon. Back in March
she bought herself a 1982 Chevy step van, gutted it, and then installed a work area and a couple of printing presses in the back. She stocked it with a variety of type and ornaments and she is now driving it all over the U.S. teaching folks about the joys of printing with pressure. Maybe if you ask nicely,
she'll stop by your neighborhood and show you how to print, just like
Bi Sheng first did over a thousand years ago.
posted by Toekneesan
on Jul 26, 2011 -
12 comments
In 1772, at the age of 73, Mrs. Mary Delany invented a new way of depicting flowers: with hundreds of small pieces of paper carefully cut out and placed. This method - which she called "paper mosaicks" and which later became known as (paper) collage - enchanted her friend Lady Portland, King George III and his queen, and natural historians, artists, collectors, and friends alike. They look like botanical paintings, but are constructed out of paper.
Browse the British Museum's collection.
[more inside]
posted by julen
on Jun 21, 2011 -
21 comments
Flottille by Etienne Cliquet. Exquisite moving origami powered by the capillary action of the paper.
posted by Plutor
on May 16, 2011 -
17 comments
Rock-Paper-Scissors: You vs. the Computer. "Computers mimic human reasoning by building on simple rules and statistical averages. Test your strategy against the computer in this rock-paper-scissors game illustrating basic artificial intelligence. Choose from two different modes: novice, where the computer learns to play from scratch, and veteran, where the computer pits over 200,000 rounds of previous experience against you."
posted by bwg
on Mar 6, 2011 -
74 comments
Take a stand for permanent paper. "Eight years ago we started to notice the shift in buying patterns from free-sheet Permanent Paper to groundwood paper for hardcover books. Groundwood is the type of paper used in newspapers and mass market paperbacks, and its production is such that it is much lower-quality and degrades more quickly than traditional book publishing paper."
What makes a book permanent? [more inside]
posted by stbalbach
on Jun 1, 2010 -
56 comments
Perhaps in your non-Metafilter time or during the occasional power outtage you indulge in that charmingly antiquated past-time of reading a newspaper made out of actual paper. But, once you've read it, you're left with blackened hands and the necessity for putting that fragment of a dead tree somewhere or other. Aside from putting it in the recycling bin, which is responsible but kind of obvious
(and therefore would not necessitate a MeFi FPP) what can you do? One option is to make
handmade paper. If you're an outdoors type, you could make
organic flower pots,
some kites, or a
dory. If you're more of a fashionista or home decorator, you could make a
purse or a
bead necklace, weave a
basket or
placemats, or make a
bird. If you're a spinster, you could make some newspaper yarn as
student Greetje van Tiem did for her Design Academy Eindhoven graduation show. The yarn can be woven into carpets, curtains and upholstery.
Here's a tutorial on how to make the yarn. Then there's always papier maché.
[more inside]
posted by orange swan
on Oct 13, 2008 -
27 comments
"
The Magazineer is a blog about magazine design and print culture, written by people who love, and make, magazines."
{The most recent entry is by Jess, actually.}
posted by dobbs
on Jun 6, 2008 -
8 comments
