The Art of Failing Well.

I'm a perfectionist. I never learned the art of failing well. So much so that when I was at school, one of my favorite professors pulled me aside after class one day to talk to me about it. That talk (about graphic design not being rocket science...of not making everything I create be so "precious"...about learning to let go and let the process happen) might have been one of the greatest lessons I learned as a designer. And has definitely spilled over into other areas of my life as well.

Yet, here I am. I've spent the last two weeks wrestling every day with my tiny little letterpress, trying to get it to do things that it just can't do. I've been frustrated. I've been ready to throw in the towel.

Then yesterday something clicked. I learned a bit more about how to get good prints off of my particular press. I've learned that not every letterpress item needs to have a deep impression to be beautiful. I've learned to accept it's limitations and go with it. I've learned that it's okay that the first 50 (or 100) prints I made weren't perfect.

I'm enjoying the process now.



And yes, that's a brayer and my ink laid out on a piece of glass. Why? Because one of the rollers is ruined and I can't get it replaced right now. So I'm improvising. Yup. Enjoying the process.