Made in Witton #1

The Milner Initials typeface was commissioned by Witton's Kynoch's Press in about 1924. The designer was Donald Ewart Milner who was headmaster of the Aston School of Arts and Crafts at the time, so it has a real local connection. The Kynoch Press was world renowned, working as an in-house printer for Kynoch Ltd, and then ICI, and producing a body of work for outside commissions.





Historian Dr. Caroline Archer has written a book about the press, see here.
Donald Ewart Milner on the BBC Your Paintings website.

Tufnol's

I've been finding out about Tufnol's for the last couple of days, who have been in Perry Barr since 1916, originally as George Ellison's (see photo above). In 1926 Ellison's produced and patented Tufnol (tough phenol), used today in making a number of objects including circuit boards, pool balls, bakelite and adhesives. One use is in the making of epoxy resin, which Tufnol's (which still exist on Wellhead Lane in Perry Barr) produce; I have used this resin in making jewellery and art work as it encases objects in a clear, solid block. It made me think that it would be great if the artists working in the Witton and Perry Barr areas over the next year might think about using locally produced materials for their work, and number one on the list can be Tufnol's epoxy resin. If anyone can think of any other locally produced items that could be used in such a way, please leave your comments or get in touch.



Scrabble letters cast in resin.
You can find some more great images about resin casting here.
The history of Tufnol's can be found here.
Tufnol's current day website is here.
Thanks to Viv to telling me about this company.