East of the River – a Des Moines leather stamping study

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of stamping studies on real-world logos.

An August study.

Des Moines, Iowa keeps its oldest brick just east of the Des Moines River, beneath the gold dome of the state Capitol. We spent August pressing that geography into leather, from luggage tags down to a catchall tray, and we call the collection East of the River.

First, the design that named the study. An arrow crosses the current and lands on the far bank, EAST OF THE RIVER set beneath it – the old district's whole address in four words, and a journal is where its days get written down.

Black and white stamp artwork of an arrow crossing river currents for leather journals in the East of the River collection from Des Moines.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather – river navy and warm tan.

Two leather journals in navy and warm tan stamped with a river-crossing arrow for the East of the River collection from Des Moines.

Next, the view the neighborhood lives under. Five domes rise over a row of brick rooflines, GOLD ABOVE THE WORKSHOP – the Capitol keeps its gilding, and the streets below keep working. We ran it lengthwise along luggage tags in deep brick wine and pale limestone greige. The black tag carries the domes in gold foil – the one gilded thing in this study, same as in the city.

Black and white stamp artwork of five Capitol domes above brick roofs for leather luggage tags in the East of the River collection from Des Moines.

Three leather luggage tags stamped with Capitol domes in the East of the River collection from Des Moines, including one black tag in gold foil.

Then a pocket-sized ethic for the keychains. An axe head wears a thin fresh bevel along its bit, KEEP THE EDGE arched beneath – sharpen what you own and it outlives you.

Black and white axe-head stamp artwork for leather keychains in the East of the River collection from Des Moines.

Keychains with the little axe look just awesome too – deep espresso and golden tan.

Two leather keychains in espresso and golden tan stamped with an axe head for the East of the River collection from Des Moines.

For the dopp kits, we laid a course of running-bond brick with one brick gone and tallgrass rising through the gap – BUILT ON PRAIRIE. The warehouses went up on grassland, and the grass still finds the joints. It sits low in the corner of a two-bag stack, honeyed russet over deep espresso.

Black and white brick-and-tallgrass stamp artwork for leather dopp kits in the East of the River collection from Des Moines.

Two stacked leather dopp kits in honeyed russet and espresso stamped with brick and prairie grass for the East of the River collection from Des Moines.

And finally, the one we liked the most. Two rivers of current meet at a single star, WHERE THE RIVERS MEET arched over the water – the city sits at a confluence, and a catchall tray is a confluence too, the place everything in your pockets arrives by evening. We pressed it at generous size into the golden tan base.

Black and white confluence stamp artwork for a leather catchall tray in the East of the River collection from Des Moines.

It looks genuinely beautiful.

A golden tan leather catchall tray stamped with two meeting rivers for the East of the River collection from Des Moines.

We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this study is one of them, and we hope the feeling is mutual. Every image is a render – how we prototype before cutting a die.

If you'd like these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.