One of my last projects of the semester involved creating typo­graphic narra­tives that lived some­where out in the real world. As often happens to me with projects like this, I was way more inter­ested in the system of producing my pieces than I was in my ulti­mate message. I spent weeks devel­oping a method to make rubber molds so that I could make cast­ings of the nega­tive space around letter­forms, and finally came up with a process that I really liked:

1. Cut forms out..
   I used sheets of pink insu­la­tion foam (around $12 for a six foot sheet at Home Depot) because it was inex­pen­sive, easy to cut, and water resis­tant. I made a template in Illustrator, traced it out on the foam with marker, and then used a small jewelers saw to cut it out. I was going for a rough-hewn look, so the imper­fec­tions of this process were exactly what I wanted. Note that this is a posi­tive of the ulti­mate shape I want to cast.
   
   
2. Mount forms to a base.
   I built a shadowbox-style frame around the form, using “planks” cut from the same sheet of foam, and held together with masking tape.
   
3. Pour the mold!
   I used a mold-making rubber called OOMOO 30. I picked it because the supply store here on campus stocks it, and because of this video. If Martha can do it, I sure as hell can!
   
   
4. Make a cast!
   Now that you have a mold, you can pretty much pour what­ever you want in there. Plaster, concrete, wax, soap, water (make ice molds in the freezer!), jell-o, cupcake batter — you name it. Be super careful pulling out the hard­ened cast from the mold, espe­cially if your orig­inal has as many curves and under­cuts as mine did.
5. Play.
   Take your new mold outside and play with it!