Creative Activities
Create a Printer’s Mark
A printer’s mark or logo was often printed on the title pages of Renaissance books. This early form of branding defined the printer’s expertise to differentiate from their competitors and build reader recognition.
For this activity, create your own printer’s mark!
It was crucial that the appearance of the printer’s marks was distinctive. Typesetting a company or family name, or creating a monogram from a company’s initial letters was popular. Decorative imagery or shapes which were meaningful to their brand would also be applied.
Firstly, download the Create a Printer’s Mark resource to see various design examples. Start with your name or initials and cut out individual letters from a Renaissance Type Alphabet. And think of an object, animal or shape which is part of your own family story or expertise and draw and colour.
Here's what you'll need
No access to a printer at home?
No problem! If you have access to Photoshop software, try this: open the Create a Printer’s Mark PDF and select page 2. In a separate tab, open the Type Alphabet PDF and select a page with your chosen type size. Select the individual letters that you require, crop, copy and paste into the decorative frame. Repeat that action to create multiple designs.
If you do not have access to Photoshop, display the images on your screen and sketch your letterforms.
Create a Printer’s Mark
Darren Leader
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