The brilliant, long running woodtype foundry the Hamilton Type Museum has had a busy couple of years. Open since 1880, the museum spent many years floundering, barely keeping the flame going and the doors open, the subject of which became the superb documentary Typeface. Following the release of Typeface, many changes have taken place - first in the form of new ownership and operations from the great Moran brothers, who brought fresh blood and vision to the struggling museum.
It seems that the Moran brothers resurrection is now going at full swing. Hamilton has now partnered with Target to create a clothing line for Fall. It is so cool to see old woodblocks, some over a hundred years old, used for a contemporary fashion line. This is living typography, living history in the true spirit of the museum itself. Awesome.
From Steven Heller:
Target's goal, however, was not to make wood type fashionable—"we just found the fashion within wood type," said Alexin, who asked designers to make hand-pressed prints at the museum, take them home, and then toy with scale, layering, and color, and after injecting wit, create the "eclectic collection of vintage graphic tees, hoodies, and more." Target's fall campaign, based on the conceit that "Cool Never Fades" and what was cool 25 or even 50 years ago will be cool again, builds on the notion that the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum "speaks to this growing affinity towards heritage and a resurgence of retro among our younger guests," Alexin said.
Check out Hamilton here. Check out Heller's full article here.
PS - Thanks Kelly for the heads up.
