Thursday, November 19, 2009

Gift It: Rub It On.


An old school Letraset transfer sheet of type.

Do you remember Letraset decals? Plastic sheets of "paper" printed with little graphics or text that you could rub onto other surfaces? Usually you used a coin or the back of a spoon to do the rubbings. I used to love them and I have a feeling anyone else who used to love them would still love them. The creative geniuses over at Third Drawer Down, which is an Australian company that is best known for having artists print fun things on tea towels, thinks you'll like them even if you don't remember them. Decalomania was a trend with the Surrealists back in the day. It's the process of printing, drawing, or painting images onto one surface that can eventually be applied through pressure, moisture, or heat (depending on the materials) onto another surface, usually paper or ceramics. It's kind of like rub-on tattoos for art purposes. In an attempt to reignite the craze, Three Drawers Down has a few versions on offer via their excellent web shop which are all done by artists with their own take on the tradition. At $12 a piece, I think the sheets of decals would make fine gifts for your crafty, artsy friends...or your friends who really like to rub things on other things. What? What? Don't you have friends like that?








These are sheets full of decals to rub on things. $12

If you'd like the gift to be a bit more substantial, you can purchase one of the rub-on books that's a coloring book of sorts with a sheet of decals all your own that you can go crazy rubbing on ($16). There's a really fun looking one where you get to but colorful undies on some scribbled dudes and dudettes.







It's like kidstuff for kids over the age of 18.

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