About
Designer, website developer, student of letterpress printing and traditional hot-metal typecasting, bass player.
I turn up in odd places, sometimes:
- Drink the Long Draught, a band
- Find me on MySpace and be my friend!
- Against Type
- Lancaster New Era, Antique and Collectibles feature story, October 12, 2007
- Amalgamated Printers Association website
- with an example of my lettepress work
- Central Penn Business Journal
- upon my hire at Develisys
- Galley Gab
- a photo of me at the Monotype OA (Orphan Annie) typecaster.
- CPBJ annual awards gala
- Develisys was a finalist for emerging business of the year
- _______
- in a photo from the American Typecasting Fellowship Conference in Terra Alta, WV
My Current Situation
There are many things that I like to do. Design is my profession: it is how I get along in the world. My thirteen years of graphic design experience cover a number of areas including print and broadcast advertising, packaging, marketing collateral, web design, and identity and brand development.
During this same period of time, I have continued to explore a personal interest in typography and type design—a discovery process which has ultimately lead me to letterpress printing and the allied practices of intaglio printmaking (specifically linoleum and wood engraving) and type founding (the manufacture of metal printing type). It has now been nearly six years since I established The Private Press of Ian Schaefer. Alas, the demand for this type of work—combined with the urgent and endless desire to acquire presses and type and paper—creates a scenario wherein the notion of “private press” may not be appropriate, at least among fine printers and bibliophiles. That is to say, I sometimes get paid to print.
Meanwhile, I continue to be employed as Art Director and Technical Coordinator for Ritter, Inc., a strategic marketing and advertising firm in the Philadelphia area. In fact, I am responsible for (among many other things) the design and development of the Ritter, Inc. web site, and have been deeply involved in many of the projects you’ll see there.
Dateline: Hummelstown, PA, August 22, 2005. I’ve joined Aaron Sherrick at Develisys (http://www.develisys.com). This exciting change has put me in the thick of web design and development—a welcome shift in my situation. Develisys provides highly customized websites, web applications, and targeted marketing for a wide array of clients. My goal is to lead creative development while maintaining a focus on standards-based, accessible web experiences and related marketing communications that create real value for our clients. Check out the press release, in case you missed it in the Central Penn Business Journal.