Leave a Margin – a leather collection for Prospect Heights, New York
From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of stamping studies.
An August study.
For Prospect Heights, New York – a small collection in leather, called Leave a Margin.
First, the design that names the collection. We ruled a page and let the lines bend around one round blank, the way the neighborhood's grid bends around Grand Army Plaza – the plaza is the margin the city left. We pressed it on two journals, one in gray sand, pale as the page, and one in black, dark as the ink.
It looks genuinely beautiful.
Next, the luggage tags. A fountain pen nib already carries the map: the slit is the avenue, and the breather hole is the plaza it runs to. PROSPECT HEIGHTS arches above, so the luggage always knows where home is. One tag in fountain pen ink navy, one in honeyed brownstone russet.
The black tag takes the stamp in gold – a gold nib, as a good pen deserves.
Then the toiletry bags. Vanderbilt Avenue walks under London planes, so we drew a plane leaf and ruled it like a lined page – a leaf in both senses. It is pressed into a stack of honeyed russet over dark espresso.
Looks great when stamped onto the leather.
Then the keychains. A single drawn line turns the corner, and the pencil that drew it is still on the line – home is around the corner. One fob in golden pencil tan; on the black fob the line goes down in gold, like the brass on a good desk.
And finally, the catchall tray, in golden tan. A stoop is where the neighborhood sets things down, so the tray got one – three steps that read TAKE YOUR TIME on the way down. Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped at full size.
We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this collection 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 anything here made real, or anything changed – say hello through our contact page.