If you’ve not seen the launch page and counter, then beware: Inksie is launching its official online shop on August 9th. We’re hosting a giveaway in celebration of this momentous occasion.

The Goods

• A T-shirt with the Ampersand Icon design. It is a gold-foil print on a black, jersey cotton American Apparel shirt.
• The Ampersand Icon on an 11″ × 17″ letterpress poster. It is a limited edition print on 80-pound cover stock (edition of 250).
• Three Inksie-brand Scout Books notebooks, useful for sketching or jotting down notes. One of each: lined, blank or grid paper.
• Gift card to Inksie’s online shop for $23 (redeemable for one tee with free domestic shipping).
• A mystery designer Inksie t-shirt on a jersey cotton American Apparel shirt.

How to Enter

Inksie will randomly pick twenty-three winners, each of whom will receive a complete giveaway package. You have four ways of entering: follow Inksie on Twitter, like Inksie on Facebook, subscribe to Inksie’s newsletter, or leave a comment mentioning your favorite Inksie blog post. Each method is worth one entry. You may increase your odds of winning by entering four times. If you are already engaged with Inksie through one or more of these mediums, you are automatically entered.

Selecting the Winners

Inksie will announce the winners on the shop launch date, August 2nd. We will randomly select from all entries through electronic means. Entries are valid until August 8th at 12:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time.

Upon Winning

We will contact winners via their method of entry (direct message on Twitter, message on Facebook, or email). If winners do not respond within 24 hours we will randomly select another winner. Please expect your packages within four to six weeks from the launch date.

About the Design

The ampersand tee and print was created by Colorcubic, a multidisciplinary design studio in Portland, Oregon. Inspired by typography, it incorporates Inksie’s four icons in the shape of Herb Lubalin’s famed ampersand.

15" × 19" posters printed by Nick Sherman to promote the documentary Typeface

Typeface, a new documentary film by Justine Nagan, tells the story of an extinct profession and reveals the world surrounding woodblock typography.

Wood type is shown through the lens of the Hamilton Type Museum, a once-famous type foundry. The film takes place in three different areas in the Northern United States: the Museum in Two Rivers, WI; Post Family artists’ collective in Chicago, IL, and; Purdue Univeristy in West Lafayette, IN. All play into Typeface’s story:

The museum’s … existence is critical to the worldwide design community who are passionate about the history of their craft and its function in the contemporary field. They believe the future of the industry may lie in the past.

Metal moveable type, by Willi Heidelbach. Taken from the Wikipedia Commons.

I had an interesting conversation with one of our designers (Michael John of colorcubic) about the dying art of letterpress. It’s something many of us at Inksie have been interested in for quite some time now, and we really hope to come up with an excuse to incorporate one into our business down the road (feel free to give suggestions).

It really got me thinking about how this is just one small niche of the many dying arts. There are so many wonderful and creative things that are going to die out within the next decade or two. So we thought we would take some time to highlight and give homage to the histories and futures of these artistic ventures in a series of posts. Stay tuned!