Today we’d like to introduce you to Craig Jobson.
Craig, Professor of Art and Design (now retired) transformed 22 years of art direction for design, books and magazines into a passion for the publication arts. Though born in Detroit Michigan, he spent his early life and college years in Austin, Texas. After graduating from the University of Texas in Austin, he began a graphic design career as an Art Director for the National Office of the American Heart Association in Dallas, Texas, then as Art Director for Tracy-Locke/BBDO Advertising also in Dallas, Texas, and later as Design Director for Holt, Rinehart and Winston in Austin, Texas and finally as Design Director for McDougal Littell Houghton Mifflin in Evanston, Illinois.
He holds a B.A. in English Literature and a B.F.A. in Printmaking and Graphic Design from the University of Texas at Austin, also an M.F.A. in Interdisciplinary Arts concentrating in Book and Paper Arts from Columbia College Chicago where he taught for 17 years. His studies about the Private Press movement in Britain and the United States, resulted in the purchase of a Vandercook press and the founding of Lark Sparrow Press – a private press dedicated to letterpress printing of works of contemporary short action and poetry. His published book and design work has won numerous awards and his books have been collected by many private and public institutions as well as book collectors. To date he has published 17 books.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Jobson struggles with time. “Time for any artist is always a problem. There’s never enough time for family, a demanding occupation and inspiring art. The struggle can be overwhelming at times. There is never a solution that provides happiness all around.
Finding cash to keep his press open and running, Jobson used barter for cash. To make sure he would have enough “cash” on hand, he published one 72-page, three-color, chap book with 100 copies. It required over 12,000 hand pulled impressions.
Lark Sparrow Press – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
At Lark Sparrow Press Jobson designs, illustrates, sets type by hand, letterpress prints and hand binds limited edition books. Hand work is a large part of what he does, but a computer and five or six programs is an essential part of his design work. He recognizes Book Arts are primarily a celebration of very imaginative structures. The kind of work he does at Lark Sparrow Press includes those efforts plus the inclusion of significant amount of text. In the last two books he printed, one is a 72-page book of six illustrated short stories by Chelsea Laine Wells and Lex Sonne. The text composition alone had over 120,000 movable pieces of typography. The second book he published was a 24-page, illustrated short story by Megan Stielstra. It had approximately 16,000 pieces of movable print. The explanation for his use of hand set type is “it makes each page a testimony of excellence for the writer’s work and each page becomes an indescribable work of art. You can see AND feel each paragraph.”
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
His proudest moment is a cumulative one. He is so happy to print, on an average, a book a year since he finished his MFA studies.
In addition, selling three of his most expensive and imaginative books to the University of Denver last year would be right up there with his proudest moment.
Pricing:
- The least expense hand made book on his book list are the chapbooks which start at $150.
- More expensive books that involve considerable construction ranged from $800 -$1,000.
Contact Info:
- Address: Craig Jobson
Lark Sparrow Press
1726 Ashland Ave.
Evanston
IL 60201-3546 - Website: larksparrowpress.com
- Phone: 847 869 0085
- Email: craig@ larksparrowpress.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craig.jobson.376
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-jobson-6a590610/
Image Credit:
All photos are © Lark Sparrow Press
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