IS Projects Turns One

Immersed in a digital world, we still find enclaves of folks in search of something less ephemeral and more tangible. One year ago, Ingrid Schindall was printing posters in gold ink celebrating the grand opening of IS Projects, a collaborative print and book arts studio located in the FATVillage Arts District.

IS Projects provides printing services for everything from wedding invitations to business cards, but it also offers a place for artists, printmakers, and the community to learn and collaborate.

What comes out of these collaborations are works that require slow consumption and thoughtful consideration as opposed to the scrolling and skimming to which many of us have become accustomed.

Lara Stephenson | Wider Lens Photography

While corporate publishers are doing runs of 250,000 for their hopeful next best-seller and self-publishers are making millions selling e-books on A—-n, Schindall sees her work as “liberating book media from the burden of mass production.” The inability to churn out tens of thousands of copies at once makes each project expensive in both time and money, but it also makes each project special.

IS Projects is also home to Nocturnal Press, the boutique press and bindery founded by Schindall in Baltimore where she studied printmaking and book arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art. The letterpress printing creates color and texture that can’t be replicated with digital printing. The words and images are handset into a chase with vintage lead or wood type. The pages are hand-sewn into books that feel like something ancient and sacred between your hands.

It’s the connection between the object, its creator, and the consumer that remains intact when we choose not to mass produce–and it’s what many try to recreate through marketing. But IS Projects preserves this connection by providing a space and following a process that demands artistry and collaboration.

Credit Nick Rourke

Credit Nick Rourke

Credit Nick Rourke

IS Projects will celebrate its one-year anniversary during the FATVillage ArtWalk on Saturday September 26, 6pm-11pm in the studio space at 15 NW 5th Street in Fort Lauderdale. Schindall has been stashing paper confetti made years ago for just such an occasion, and you’ll be able to grab a letterpress party hat if you arrive early enough. Special edition anniversary posters will also be available for purchase. Learn more about IS Projects or sign up for a workshop at
http://www.is-projectsfl.com 

~ Jessica Chesler