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literaturegeek.bsky.social
Amanda Wyatt! Visconti
@literaturegeek.bsky.social
9K followers 5K following 1.3K posts
@ScholarsLab Director ✨💻📚🏳️‍🌈 (personal acct 🙃)
Just+joyful, critical+creative tech & culture

*DIY scholcom: letterpress+zine+blog+code
*Book-adjacent data+making
*Experimental/DH+library futures+community

3 !s in a hoodie
Dr! 🏳️‍⚧️ They/Them
AmandaVisconti.com
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literaturegeek.bsky.social
Goudy, goudy! New printshop typecase labels & type finder I created (a 15-page list of just type distributed in standard job cases, not even all the type Virginia Book Arts has?!) have landed (thanks to VBA colleagues for applying labels & helping proof inventory updates):
This photo shows just cases labeled for the "Goudy" font, which is why I made a "goody"/"Goudy" pun in my tweet. Photo of a cabinet full of letterpress wooden typecases, with eye levels dating the font, size, and cabinet/case ID. Photo of a spread of laminated pages listing Virginia Book Arts' type collection in a table showing font, size, and cabinet/case IDs for where to find them. Photo of a cabinet full of letterpress wooden and metal typecases, with eye levels dating the font, size, and cabinet/case ID. Fonts shown include Belair, Thompson Quill, and Futura. Photo of a cabinet full of letterpress wooden and metal typecases, with eye levels dating the font, size, and cabinet/case ID. Fonts shown include Centaur, Arrighi, and Shaded.
November 14, 2025 at 1:06 PM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
In the spirit of #DHfails, I also made an acrylic plate showing a Vandercook press w/melt+noise+likely won't print well. The acrylic triangles I cut (for gluing to a board to print confetti texture backgrounds for letterpress) are pretty, though, bc neon translucent acrylic is always pretty
Photo of a laser etched acrylic sheet showing the image of a Vandercook press, with some melting and uneven areas that will probably make it print badly Photo of a hand holding a baggie full of tiny neon shards (acrylic triangles cut with a lasercutter from neon transparent acrylic in various colors)
November 13, 2025 at 11:34 PM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
More lasercut print blocks I made: historical dancing skeleton! Beckoning Luddite leaders! #DHmakes
Photo of a wood block cut so an image of a historical "danse macabre" style dancing skeleton cavorts, raised from its surface, for printing Photo of two 9" tall bamboo boards that have each been lasercut to show a historical image of a beckoning Luddite leader; one is raised from the surface and one is inset
November 13, 2025 at 11:34 PM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
Thanks also to @elikaortega.bsky.social for helping us display the cover of her book "Binding Media: Hybrid print-digital literature from across the Americas"! Élika gave a fantastic talk for @scholarslab.bsky.social in '22 on literary & material experimentations via hybrid print-digital books.
A large poster version of the cover of Élika Ortega's book "Binding Media: Hybrid print-digital literature from across the Americas", on a white background with a large, pixelated, gradient yellow to red to purple mouse cursor series on top Photo of a wall hung with multiple posters and a banner. A large black cotton banner created by Francis Osid has appliqued felt letters, each in a different color creating an overall gradient effect. The letters spell "Make your pride part of history". The posters are the cover of Élika Ortega's book "Binding Media: Hybrid print-digital literature from across the Americas", on a white background with a large, pixelated, gradient yellow to red to purple mouse cursor series on top; the cover of the "Digital Futures of Graduate Studies in the Humanities" volume; and last year's Praxis Fellows research poster on analyzing archival university satire magazines.
November 13, 2025 at 5:34 PM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
New art in @scholarslab.bsky.social's Text Aisle! Huge thanks to #DHmakes colleague @fosis.bsky.social for letting us exhibit his bright & strong "Pride" banner in our public space ("Make your pride part of history"🌈):
Photo of a wall hung with multiple posters and a banner. A large black cotton banner created by Francis Osid has appliqued felt letters, each in a different color creating an overall gradient effect. The letters spell "Make your pride part of history". The posters are the cover of Élika Ortega's book "Binding Media: Hybrid print-digital literature from across the Americas", on a white background with a large, pixelated, gradient yellow to red to purple mouse cursor series on top; the cover of the "Digital Futures of Graduate Studies in the Humanities" volume; and last year's Praxis Fellows research poster on analyzing archival university satire magazines. Closeup photo on a large black cotton banner created by Francis Osid has appliqued felt letters, each in a different color creating an overall gradient effect. The letters spell "Make your pride part of history". Photo of a museum exhibit label that says: "Pride 2025 Francis Osis, queer archivist & artist living in Glasgow, Scotland Materials: felt & cotton Methods: hand appliqué & machine sewing This banner was made in a feverish last minute scramble for West Lothian's 10th anniversary Pride, which the West Lothian Council Museums & Archives Services attended to engage with the local community & to encourage donations to the service so their history could be told. In addition to his archival expertise, Francis Osis holds a Ph.D. in history of medicine, and creates textile and fibre based art including clothes, quilts, and embroideries."
November 13, 2025 at 5:34 PM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
Seen at @virginiabookarts.bsky.social, Liz Schneiders & students' printing using just tetrapaks (eg broth & oat milks cartons!) & tiny plastic Sizzix craft/scrapbooker presses or etching presses #DHmakes
Photo of a red brick wall displaying a 4 x 4 grid of small (about 3" square) aqua and black art prints of trees, sea creatures, and more, under a title print that says "TetraPak Prints" Photo of a red brick wall displaying a long strip of material printed in aqua and black with the backwards words "TetraPak Prints"; a tab at the bottom of the strip says "LIFT to see back of printing plate" Photo of a red brick wall displaying a long strip of material printed in aqua and black with the backwards words "TetraPak Prints"; a tab at the bottom of the strip says "LIFT to see back of printing plate" and has been lifted to show the back of that printing plate is just a strip of chicken broth carton material Photo of an exhibit label on a red brick wall. It says "Tetra Pak Printmaking The following sampling of prints were made by visitors to our Book Arts Demonstration Day held during the Virginia Festival of the Book in March of 2025. We made printing plates cut out of Tetra Pak, a material commonly used for packaging food such as broth, oat milk, soups and more. Guests were invited to "draw" on a piece of Tetra Pak with a pointed awl. Each plate was then inked, wiped clean of excess ink, and run through a small etching press with a dampened sheet of watercolor paper to produce a print. Tetra Pak printing has become quite popular as a fast, affordable and eco-friendly method of printmaking. Look for classes and demos at Virginia Book Arts in the coming year."
November 13, 2025 at 11:07 AM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
Making things. (Lasercut two 9" tall Luddite printing blocks on bamboo wood; acrylic triangles to glue randomly across a wood board, for printing textured letterpress backgrounds
Closeup photo of a laser-etched image on a stripey bamboo wood plank; the image is from the historical watercolor of the "General of the Luddites", a man in a bonnet and dress gesturing as if to encourage others onward Photo of a lasercutter bed with three 3"x3" squares of orange, green, and blue transparent neon acrylic; the green square has been cut into many small regularly sized triangles
November 12, 2025 at 11:39 PM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
You may have seen Fritton's "Just because something ends doesn't mean it wasn't good" print in @scholarslab.bsky.social's space, paired with @ryancordell.org @elikaortega.bsky.social @quinnanya.me's "There is nothing more ephemeral than a website" project.
Photo of two white-framed, roughly 12 inches by 18 inches prints. First print is by Ryan Cordell's Skeumorph press, in white-silver ink on a dark navy paper, with an image of a computer in front of a packed bookshelf. Around the image, the print says print "'Nothing is more ephemeral than a website' - Élika Ortega". The second print is by Chris Fritton, aka Itinerant Printer. It says "Just because something ends doesn't mean it wasn't good" in all caps, black inked text, on a colorful mixed pink, yellow, orange, and mint green background.
November 12, 2025 at 11:19 AM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
I ran across this while researching dayglo letterpress inks & I think this is ZineBakery.com's goal aesthetic 😂🌈 (Letterpress ink is so interesting re:pigments, opacity; most are translucent, so e.g. for a opaque black there's actual silver *metal*—not dye—to achieve that opacity.)
Screenshot of a very bright, colorful, Lisa-Frank-esque pattern resembling tiger stripes made of purple, pink, yellow, teal, and blue. Those colors also appear below separated out, with their web hex codes written on them
November 12, 2025 at 11:14 AM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
Printed a version of this for nonbookmaker folks ("our community says" instead of "bookmakers & binders say"), with a neon green border under black ink:
Photo of a letterpress print made with wood and lead type on white paper, and a black ink overlaid on neon green so just an edge of green showed around the black. It says "Our community says / all you fascists bound to lose / Justice hinges on us gathering / bind us together / leave no one behind". The word "hinges" is set diagonally off the word "justice" to look like it's hinging Photo of a letterpress print made with wood and lead type on white paper, and a black ink overlaid on neon green so just an edge of green showed around the black. It says "Our community says / all you fascists bound to lose / Justice hinges on us gathering / bind us together / leave no one behind". The word "hinges" is set diagonally off the word "justice" to look like it's hinging. The green edging is narrower on this print than on the print in the previous photo.
November 10, 2025 at 10:14 PM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
I got one of the wood lasercut blocks of @queermedieval.bsky.social's to print better: "We can be soft & brave / silly & right" and "hope comes from us" #DHmakes
Photo of a letterpress print on cream paper with bright green ink. It says "we can be / SOFT & BRAVE / SiLLY & RIGHT" over an image printed using a lasercut wood block made from @queermedieval.bsky.social's drawing of the Portland Frog standing up to evil government agents. Photo of a letterpress print on white paper with bright green ink. It says "HOPE comes from us." over an image printed using a lasercut wood block made from @queermedieval.bsky.social's drawing of the Portland Frog standing up to evil government agents. Photo of a letterpress press bed with a print at one end on white paper with bright green ink. It says "HOPE comes from us." over an image printed using a lasercut wood block made from @queermedieval.bsky.social's drawing of the Portland Frog standing up to evil government agents. At the other end of the press you can see the rollers and wood type that made the print inked in green. Closeup photo of a letterpress print on cream paper with bright green ink. It shows an image printed using a lasercut wood block made from @queermedieval.bsky.social's drawing of the Portland Frog standing up to evil government agents.
November 10, 2025 at 10:01 PM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
The weather is beautiful & I am printing with The Danger Ink*

(*Not actually dangerous; I put scissors through the tube when opening the packaging, so duct tape+🤞?)
Photo of a tube of printing ink that's been wrapped all around with yellow-and-black diagonal striped ("caution" pattern) duct tape. An ink knife with some neon green ink sits on the glass next to the tube.
November 10, 2025 at 5:53 PM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
More from @josefbeery.bsky.social's zine+letterpress event @uvalibrary.bsky.social Zines Now! series last week w/some of his innovations w/movable lasercut acrylic shapes, which can be used for patterns (pic 2) or as pieces of movable type (pic 3 says "Zine Zone" printed); +his BookBlossom wood type
Photo of a group of people clustered around a table where Josef Beery is demonstrating how to print with a BookBeetle press Photo of a printing block by Josef Beery; it's many clear acrylic t-shaped bits, arranged into a repeating pattern covering an acrylic sheet, that can be inked and printed on paper. Held up to show the light coming through. Photo of a printing block by Josef Beery; it's clear acrylic small shapes, arranged into a an artistic layout of the words "zine zone" (backwards so it prints readably), that can be inked and printed on paper. Held up to show the light coming through. Closeup photo of rounded wood letterpress type (Josef Beery's BookBlossom)
November 10, 2025 at 9:52 AM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
If you dig this pre-digital "ASCII style" typed art (historical memes!), check out @ryancordell.org's "Programmable Type: the Craft of Printing, the Craft of Code" which includes many examples, including his ID of this early memed "The Dude" art below (1883!) ryancordell.org/research/pro...
Ryan Cordell's newspaper page scan of the first reprinting of "The Dude" that he found, in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat (13 July 1883). It's an ASCII art style figure of a person in a hat, arms akimbo, legs bowed, all made with letterpress-printed letters
November 10, 2025 at 9:20 AM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
Yes please! I need to get back into baking, but my last good loaf was this #DHbakes
Photo of a round boule of just-baked bread, with crispy split crust and everything seasoning baked into the crust
November 7, 2025 at 10:33 PM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
Oops, this photo!
Photo of a printer smiling while holding up a print: a white piece of paper for a zine cover, covered with green and yellow patterning; and the words "Value Drift" printed in red ink on top using wood type
November 7, 2025 at 10:22 AM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
Bad week for trans folks re:reduced rights, folks w/trans loved ones, queer folks & allies in this together. 💜 you all.
Photo (digitally flipped for readability) of letterpress wood type arranged on a metal printing press bed with gradient blue-pink (trans pride flag) ink on the press rollers and type. The type says "I love my trans friends
November 7, 2025 at 10:07 AM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
Photos by @josefbeery.bsky.social w/some nice SLab things too: @claudiaeberger.bsky.social data quilt, James Ascher+Sarah Berkowitz manuscript lightbox, @elikaortega.bsky.social @ryancordell.org @quinnanya.me print, 2nd of 2 zine racks; students, community members, staff from across library printing
Photo of a printer smiling while holding up a print: a white piece of paper for a zine cover, covered with green and yellow patterning; and the words "Value Drift" printed in red ink on top using wood type Photo of folks at a zine letterpress workshop printnig on 2 of multiple tabletop wood BookBeetle presses, while others in the background work at tables cutting craft foam and inking it for printing Photo of a printer smiling while holding up a print: a white piece of paper for a zine cover, covered with orange striping in wavy and fiery shapes; and the words "Value Drift" printed in red ink on top using wood type
November 6, 2025 at 8:11 PM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
QT'd 🧵 on the value & urgency of slow tech, pre-digital tech, non-digital craft & making for a critical & ethical digital humanities:
Image of an Adobe Illustrator design intended for creating a letterpress printing block by cutting via lasercutter onto wood, to use to print the image to paper with ink; to achieve this, the black & white colors are inverted. The image will also need to be horizontally flipped, so that when the block is pressed to paper the inked image is legible; but for social media viewing I have left it unflipped. The design shows a historical drawing of “the general of the Luddites” edited to be easier to print from a letterpress block, next to the text “critical tech forever! / no 'innovations' serving profit over people.” in antique broadside-style font. Photo of a block of wood in a lasercutter, being cut to show a historical illustration of a Luddite, and the text "critical tech! no 'innovation' serving profit over people". Photo is from after 5 total lasercutter passes. Photo digitally flipped for readability.
November 6, 2025 at 2:36 PM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
Printed some antifascist book arts puns inspired by "All you fascists bound to lose". #DHmakes
Photo of a letterpress print made with wood and lead type on light brown chipboard, and a gradient of red yellow orange ink for the text. It says "Bookmakers & binders say all you fascists bound to lose / Justice hinges on us gathering / bind us together / leave no one behind". The word "hinges" is set diagonally off the word "justice" to look like a book hinging open Photo, digitally flipped for readability, of wood and lead letterpress type on a metal printing press bed, and a gradient of red yellow orange ink on the press rollers.The type says "Bookmakers & binders say all you fascists bound to lose / Justice hinges on us gathering / bind us together / leave no one behind". The word "hinges" is set diagonally off the word "justice" to look like a book hinging open
November 4, 2025 at 10:14 AM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
To will be relieved to know that the local letterpress shop's lead safety info has landed safely in its traditional location, the printshop bathroom:
Photo of a laminated packet of xeroxed pages from a book, titled "LEAD SAFETY" in, hanging from the rail next to a toilet and toilet paper holder in a single stall restroom.
November 3, 2025 at 8:56 AM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
Letterpressy responses to AI hype/harm: @markalanmattes.bsky.social's new series (QT'd); got @starshapedpress.bsky.social's "made with human intelligence" postcard club print this past week (bsky.app/profile/star...) & @umdbooklab.bsky.social's "small language models made here" back in May #DHmakes
Photo of a framed letterpress print in silver ink on black paper that says "small language models made here (a plaintext press publication from BookLab at UMD" Artist's photo of Starshaped Press' "made with human intelligence" ornate typography postcard
November 2, 2025 at 7:44 AM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
Today in Serious Letterpress, I was doing some test prints to see how some wood type looked when aligned staggered across the paper, for a project that'll include the word "HOPE". Rotated 90 degrees & reprinted on same paper (to conserve). It... says "POOP" in the middle
Photo of a rough letters test print in dark red ink on cream paper. It has the word "HOPE" in 3.5" tall serif font, which eas then rotated 90 degrees and printed again over the top of that. The result has the word "POOP" in the middle (if you read the letters in one possible order), accidentally.
November 1, 2025 at 11:56 AM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
Staff statement=response to Hamilton writing Southern Graphics Council International, after that respected group made a public statement condemning Hamilton's actions (www.sgcinternational.org/letterpress-...) +
Screenshot of Instagram post by abslovesmuseums, textheavy with annotations on a statement by Hamilton Museum: "This is patently untrue. No staff member made "unauthorized commitments" as evidenced by submitted board reports & staff meeting notes. Staff had the capacity & desire to honor our commitments. The cancellations were a method of control & punishment for programming staff. The Board scheduled the month of August for candidate visits to the museum. We knew it was imperative that a small staff, the recruiter, and search committee volunteers have the resources needed to complete recruitment well and finish the transition during a time when we did not have an executive on staff. Our organization had unauthorized commitments made on its behalf for August, including plans for artists' visits which we weren't informed of in time to cancel gracefully. As a result, the museum had to do last-minute communications work. We reached out to those affected and tried to explain our perspective, but our decision is still being characterized by some as something it was not. The Exec Comm did "not* reach out to affected artists but instead delegated that miserable task to staff. Staff were fighting to protect programming, like BIWOC residencies, a planned LGBTQIA+ residency & a gathering for printers of color at Wayzgoose. The Exec Comm did not support these programs." Screenshot of Instagram post by abslovesmuseums, textheavy with part of a Hamilton Museum staffer's statement about Hamilton's actions: "What's happening at Hamilton is not unique, especially right now. But at a time when many of us feel overwhelmed & pessimistic, taking direct action to help keep Hamilton the place we all fell in love with is something you can & should do. What has happened at Hamilton is wrong. Damage has been done & trust has been lost. But repair is possible with humility, hard work & difficult conversations. When we gather at the museum, we're still imagining a radically inclusive Hamilton. We're still hopeful & ready to work. THIS IS MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AT HAMILTON. MY VIEWPOINTS SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN AS REPRESENTING ALL STAFF OR THE INSTITUTION ITSELF."
November 1, 2025 at 8:58 AM
literaturegeek.bsky.social
More recent printing for @virginiabookarts.bsky.social's opening events next week, including finally using some of the "tiny gesticulating men" dingbats. "The public approves of printing at Virginia Book Arts"; "'Fall' in love with book arts at VBA"
Photo (digitally flipped for readability) of a letterpress lockup: various lead type, and copper and lead cuts (graphic printing blocks), secured in place on the press bed using leading (thin strips of lead), furniture (wood blocks), and magnets. It says "the public approves of printing at Virginia Book Arts", decorated by various images of clapping and pointing hands, and several pointing tiny dudes. Photo of a letterpress print in teal and green inks on cream paper. It says "'Fall' in love with book arts at VBA", inside an L-shaped border showing a detailed autumnal forest lake scene Photo of a drying line full of paper letterpress prints on white and cream parker and brown chipboard, hung using wood clothespins. Some letterpress typecases, flat files, and an exposed red brick wall are in the background. Photo of a small square box holding light blue foam and 21 small letterpress lead printing images (dingbats) of a tiny suited man gesturing in various posture
November 1, 2025 at 7:57 AM