A design kit in patina and print

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The scotch rule

Printers have long set a thick line and a thin one side by side. In this kit that pair opens every section.

A scotch rule is a pair of lines, one thick and one thin, set close together and read as one. It is an old device from the printer’s case, and it suits a page with a strict grid, because it adds a little ceremony without adding any new shape.

How the kit draws it

The kit has three lines. The scotch rule opens a section. An ink hairline heads a list or a card. A thin, pale rule separates rows, with none after the last one.

Why not more

A rule is structure, not decoration. If every block had its own frame, none would stand out, so the fleuron break and the plate frame are each kept to once a page.