Interested in popular culture, Spanish language and travel? You won’t get this kind of insight from any tourist guide. The streets of Mexico abound with hand-made lettering signs, as does this booklet about writing systems, literacy and everyday life in this chaotic—yet fascinating urban environment.
Five short stories in two languages, unusually illustrated through variations of a grid: it is up to the reader to find the images. Suggested for kids that are starting to read—plus their caregivers who’d like to practice their Spanish, and enjoy a challenge to the imagination.
Suggested for lovers of hand-made and artist books, who might be glad to take not of some words that they already know in Spanish—or English. Can be displayed as a broadside, viewed as an accordion book, or split into eight different postcards. Numbered edition.
This unusual and part-hand-made booklet contains a brief introduction to drawing letterforms in general—with a modular approach in particular. Together with illustrations, prompts and samples, it includes an acrylic stencil with geometric shapes and adhesive stickers to build characters from the outside in. Among other surprises, the set includes an assortment of paper printed with different grids.
Distinct expressions and personalities have inspired the creation of five outlined countenances. Certainly not your usual thank-you cards, this humorous groups promises to be anything but boring.
Concentration can be actually relaxing. There is an endless number of abstract compositions that can come up through pairing colors on the sides of these magnetic squares. It can be played as a group or individually; keep a score or be play just as a casual distraction—although it has a reputation for hooking people up!
Hands-on, two-days workshop, where we learn how to craft our own letterforms and transfer them to polymer plates (through a simple photographic method), for printing on a Vandercook #4 press. Our groups are small (max. six) and participants can learn and have a satisfying creative experience with like-minded people. Great for students building a portfolio, art instructors, artists looking into self-publishing, and type lovers.
Salted Caramel Books is a small publishing house, with the mission of fostering the pleasure of reading and learning among people of all ages. Our small-scale editions allow for a lot of interaction with like-minded artists and professionals, and we indulge in small editions that become production adventures.
We are involved exploring languages (usually two at the same time), alphabetic characters as forms (often referred to as “letterforms”…), funky lettering, experimental printing and—necessarily!—binding, boxes and other vessels. We like games and puzzles. We get involved in workshops and collaborative projects.
Lorena is a Mexican-American visual designer and instructor. She enjoys making books and ceramics, along with everything that can be found inside of both.
Patrick is in charge of giving the OK to most of our books. He likes dinosaurs and dragons and hopes to be a paleontologist when he grows up. Like the rest of our collaborators, he is a decided lover of ice cream.
Kate is our English expert. When not building sand castles on the beach with her daughter, she studies Spanish and teaches English literature. She has a secret wish to spend her days taste-testing ice cream.
Anselmo Guiú is a mysterious character: jealous guardian of the Spanish language, sporadic reporter, and voracious reader of everything that falls into his hands (including the coupon catalog).
