We have been waiting and waiting... The package from England finally arrived!
Last month, we decided it was time to replace our old and worn letters we use for custom typeset inscriptions. Because we emboss thousands of names every year, and the lead letters are somewhat soft, they eventually wear out and make uneven impressions. So we need to replace them about once a year. The Times new Roman font we have been using was also starting to look a bit clunky to me.
I did a little research into how we could break out of the cycle of replacing the letters so frequently, and I came across P & S Engraving who makes hand finishing tools, dies, and letter sets, all in brass, which is much harder and cleaner to work with.
From their website:
"Our brass type is made to the most rigorous standards from the same hard brass used for our other tools. The body is first machined to the exact point size and then ground accurately to the type height.
The characters are deeply engraved using special jigs to ensure perfect alignment and excellent definition on most surfaces, when used either by hand in a typeholder, or in a blocking press."
Needless to say, these top quality letters cost a whole lot more to purchase, and it was scary to make such a huge investment. But they should last us much longer. And it was so fun to open up the box and see a whole fresh new set of letters to work with. Everyone here went "oooh" and "aaah" because they are shiny gold color, it was like opening a jewelry box.
Shiny . Like jewelry.
Like a historical monument, right?
We made new storage trays for the new letters to live in.
Here's the first embossing job we did with the new letters. Three initials don't really show off all the best features, but you can see how crisp and clean the embossing is.
Wondering about the font? It is called Goudy Old Style, and is an antique style font, with graceful curves. I like to call it "Times New Roman's Sexy Sister"
Here's a comparison between Goudy Old Style and Times New Roman:
I am seriously in love with these new letters! It makes the daily typesetting so much fun!
What do you think? Do you prefer Goudy Old Style, as I do? Or do you disagree? If we were to add another font set, what font should it be?
Let me know in the comments section below.
