Experimenting with stamps

As my design concept involved that of a stamp of approval I decided to explore ways in which a stamp may be possessed. As my friend Beth was doing a rubber stamp, she suggested that I should do one also to experiment with ways in which they may be produced. After doing this I decided to explore other ways in which a stamp may be produced without affecting the environment, from this I decided to explore with a potato stamp. 

The above images depict the stamps in which I formed manually. I found that the rubber stamp was far easier to imprint than that of the potato. I also found that the potato was less durable, as I had to repeat the process numerous times before developing the stamp.

A range of approaches were developed in which all appear unique to myself. Although not mimicking my logo precisely I felt that the general structure was repeated.

I found that the debossed potato worked far more effectively than that of the embossed, as the stampings appeared much clearer. Due to the starch present within the potato the general consistency of the paint had to differ from that of the stamp, a factor in which I found difficult to maneuver at first. The potato stamps also expressed a texture, something in which I feel gave the designs a personal advantage over that of the rubber. Although I enjoyed developing these designs I do not feel that they could be effectively used in mass print due to the durability of the stamps. The rubber lasted far longer than that of the potato, in which completely deterred by the end of this process. This meaning that the stamp may only of be used approximately 40 times before it becomes unusable.

I am glad that I experimented with this process but feel that other methods such as screen printing may be able to express my desire to be involved with tradional printing much more effectively.