Edwin Jager

November 02, 2017

Iconometer #48

How It’s Made.
After #48 was mailed, John Deason (Subscriber 1998), asked me a couple of questions about how the issue was put together. I thought others might be interested in how the issue was put together, step by step.

You can link to the original blogpost here: https://edwinjager.blogspot.com/2017/02/edwin-jager-iconometer-48-look-what-i.html

The original photocopy that I received from Wendy Cain (Subscriber 1995).

It was folded in half with a small note attached and mailed in a 6x9 envelope.

The original document was seven, single-sided, 8.5x11" pages. The overall dimensions and number of pages were too large to fit into the scale of Iconometer so I reproduced the document at a smaller size with double-sided pages. The whole thing was then quarter-folded to be placed in an envelope.

Wendy’s note was made on some scrap paper, so I scanned and printed it double-sided, in color. It was scaled down to match the new proportions and tipped on with clear tape, similar to the original.

Everything was printed on either black and white or color laser printers with the exception of the envelope, which was printed on an inkjet printer.

I used an online template maker ( http://www.templatemaker.nl/ ) to make an envelope that would fit the dimensions of Iconometer. I hadn’t saved the original, so I improvised a bit in putting together the style and content of the new envelope.

I used a scoring board from Martha Stewart for the folds (http://www.joann.com/martha-stewart-crafts-scoring-board/10397198.html#prefn1=brand&prefv1=Martha%20Stewart%20Crafts&start=1 ).

For trimming custom shapes, I like to make templates out of used aluminum lithographic plates. It’s soft enough that I can use a knife and scissors to cut the initial shape but it holds up pretty well to fine x-acto knife blade.

I printed out a proof of the envelope and spray-mounted it to the back of the plate. This served as a guide for cutting out the initial template and also to register the template with the fold lines that were printed on the envelope flats.

Another tool I bought for this project was a new double-sided tape gun. It’s a bit unwieldy but it lays down a fairly narrow strip of thin, double-sided adhesive. I used this to apply tape to the envelope seams before I folded the flaps and assembled that part of the project.

I also used the tape gun to apply a strip of adhesive to the back of the last page, along the fold that had been previously scored. The last page is printed double-sided, 2-Up.

The pages were then cut out and tipped onto the envelope.

The covers for Iconometer are printed, 2-Up, on a special, laser-printer compatible, double-sided, frosted imaging film (mylar). I also use it for screen printing stencils ( http://www.grafixarts.com/products/impress-print-media/ ). Most importantly, this substrate allows me to print the graphics on the inside of the covers and prevent the toner from being damaged. For this issue, the cover graphics were modified with a QR code. An additional spine fold was added to accommodate the thickness of this issue. The head and tail of the covers were also trimmed at this time.