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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 8h

Everyone wants Cooper Black for Open House Chicago next week. Come and get a print.

Letterpress type form showing curves of type that say ‘Chicago forever’ above and below wood 6-pointed stars.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

LOVE that you work with us locals for new designs every year!

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Built 12 tiny Chicago-styles homes. Marathon printing to commence ahead of Open House Chicago. #letterpress @chiarchitecture.bsky.social

Close up of metal type form, showing modular ornaments in the shape of a small house.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Mitering a Linotype border slide that will be used to create a tiny roof line for one of 12 house prints made of metal type ornaments. (Hopefully) all on display for Open House Chicago. #letterpress

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Trinial goes hard… two sizes with mortised alt characters to mix and match. The dream of the 1890s is alive in the shop today (well, every day). #letterpress

Straight shot of metal typefaces in wooden tray.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

@dansinker.com out here saying what we’re all feeling. Here’s a gem of his from last year. Thanks, friend. #letterpress

Print with Dan Sinker quote: Write it down. I mean that literally. Get a pen get a notebook use your hands. There is something visceral about using your hands and nobody can delete ink on paper with a keystroke. Write it down.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The form will still be set for Open House Chicago if you want to check it out.

Type form for the print on press with a sheet of paper freshly printed.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Sweated through five colors of this print, The City is My Religion, an homage to Chicago and its architectural history. Entirely made from metal type & ornament, with a little help from linoleum and wood. More here: www.starshaped.com/blog/2026/9/...

Print entitled ‘the city is my religion’. Multi colored image resembling a church but made from buildings and structures indicative of Chicago.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Was old enough for shingles shot this year and I need to check the press schedule before a booster because it felt like my arm had been wrenched out for days!

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Another poster for Liz & Dan’s (Ida) duo tour of living rooms & intimate spaces this fall. Entirely printed from metal type & ornaments and meant to resemble a warm quilt. Which is how one feels hearing them play in these settings. #letterpress

Poster resting on typecases for Ida Duo Living Room Tour. Meant to resemble quilt patterns.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I barely post there anymore. It’s the dumb Olympics and no one reads.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Yes! I love bouncing between metal and wood each year to show the strengths of both.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Something sexy about having nearly 200 stars lined up in the shop, about to head out the door.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

9/18 is Type High Day in the letterpress world as .918” is the height of metal & wood type. Print Club members who’ve been in the club for a full year (Sept to Sept) get a piece of type designed by me. This year it was laser cut by Moore Wood Type.

Wood type shooting stars sitting on top of packaged ones that say ‘print club type high day’.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I made the posters. Letterpress indeed!

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Took these ‘web’ ornaments out for a run, combining them with a corner kitty and unique catchword. All 19th century metal type. #letterpress

Metal type form showing a frame around text that says ‘it’s the most pur-felt time of the year’. Little cat ornament in the corner.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

It’s always FR season in our house

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Come print with me today, Chicago. 11-6, and Sunday, too.

Holding a print by press with list of adjectives from Carl Sandburgs ‘Chicago’.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Little sneak peek of The City is my Religion print, available this weekend at the Ravenswood Art Walk. The form is also still set to see. #letterpress

Close up of reprint of City is my Religion print with multiple colors resembling stained glass and architectural snippets of Chicago.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Here’s the postcard that showcases the tiny envelopes.

Hand holding chipboard postcard with text that says ‘sent with love’ surrounded by tiny envelope ornaments.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Designed these letter ornaments that were then cast by @bowerbox.com. Love seeing them lined up like a little army of snail mail. #letterpress

Close up of metal type ornaments that look like the back of envelopes.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Thanks. It’s the first of two colors on a postcard that’ll be ready next week if you like the final version.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Printing a small project (to be trimmed) and loved this piece as the Arches watermark is top notch. #letterpress

Hand holding a small, printed piece of paper that’s held up to show the Arches watermark.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

No type foundry cast ornaments directly inspired by Louis Sullivan which is a crime in my book. Maybe someday I can con @bowerbox.com into collaborating with me to rectify this! 10 years ago, I designed a set cast by a friend to honor Chicago’s ornamental architecture. It’s a start.

Flat lay shot of boxes of ‘the Chicago Collection’ of metal type ornaments sitting on top of a galley filled with said ornaments.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Back on angle duty again. This form is about 14x18” and weighs a whole lot.

Angled overhead shot of large metal type form on press with pale green ink.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Registration is live and filling fast: www.wayzgooseord.com

wayzgooseord.com

WORD 2026

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

You are always welcome in Chicago when it’s safe to travel.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Registration for WORD, a new Chicago-style wayzgoose for printers, opens Tuesday Sept 1st at noon. Wayzgooseord.com is the site if you want to check out details.

Reversed image of inked wood type in a composing stick that says WORD with a Chicago star and colors.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

The ‘paper’ here isn’t a typeface. It’s built from printing rule.

Multi colored ad for a paper company using artistic printing techniques.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

No. These samples are from 1893-1894 and I focus more on the illustrative printing techniques.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Love an entire modular system that creates a watery scene.

Specimen page showing a modular set of elements to form a scene involving people, animals, buildings and water.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

This one page went through a press 12 times to show the ink options available.

Page showing different inks available to printers.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I’ve seen this… it was nice to find the stripped down version.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

One of my fave features is a sort of 1890s ‘who wore it best’, where a less-than piece of job work is redesigned to be more pleasing to the eye.

Side by side ads showing a redesign of the left side.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Real banger of rule work here, which is bending straight lines of type metal or brass into all sorts of configurations to create imagery.

Boston Type Foundry specimen of line work with a small press in the center of optical circles and columns.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Who wants to go down a rabbit hole of type foundry specimens from 1890s Inland Printers today?

Ad for Mackellar Smiths & Jordan in the Inland Printer c. 1890 showing artistic printing.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

5 nights of awesome William Castle films at @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social has not only made August bearable but taught me questionable doctors have been saying this for a long time.

Black print with silver text that says ‘it’s all in your head’ with wood type and circles in the shape of a skull.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Happy National Dog Day to the smallest breeds in the shop, these 12 pt 19th century ornaments from the Cleveland Type Foundry.

Close up of 12 pt metal type ornaments with dog faces in them.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Printing the key layer of my ‘The City is my Religion’, a church built from depictions of meaningful spaces in Chicago. There are 4 more colors that’ll give it stained glass vibes; these are translucent enough to print after the black as they don’t compete with it.

Type form for ‘city is my religion’ on press bed with printed paper running through it.

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Starshaped Press @starshapedpress.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Yes… it’s all metal type made for letterpress printing and it can fit together, Tetris-style, to create whatever you want. Then it gets locked together to print on a press.

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