National Paste-Up Day:

This day is celebrated to mark the prominence of paste-up artists. Earlier, when computers weren’t that popular, magazines and journals were compiled by hand. National Paste-Up day is annually observed on May 7th.

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Related: Other National Days Celebrated on May 7th:

National Roast Leg of Lamb Day

National Barrier Awareness Day

National Packaging Design Day

Why National Paste-Up Day?

Today with enormous technological up-gradation, every task is carried out with the help of machines like computers, etc.  However, almost all the tasks were handled manually earlier and ever recognized; wondered how magazines and journals were designed, approved, and published? There was a separate role assigned to do this task, and they were called paste-up artists.

The procedure for publishing a journal or magazine began with the first step, phototypesetting. Phototypesetting included drawing columns by scrolling down the paper to style the page. The outcome of this step was a clean paper with desired columns and design. In technical terms, “cold type” was put into the paper. This was later followed by arranging the stories over the paper from above. Layout artists or paste-up artists would cut them into sections and paste them on the paper whenever they didn’t fit the format. Layout artists would also align the headlines, main content, and other related graphics onto the page. They would use adhesives like rubber or cement-based gum, or wax-based materials. Later, they would arrange the pieces onto a whiteboard made with a rigid material. After completing all these steps, the page was put on an easel and picturized. This photograph was later turned into negatives which were printed and distributed.

These techniques were followed until the invention of Computers and graphical programs, which made the task easier. However, imagine following the above procedure in printing a journal today. It would be such a huge task and workload for any publisher. National Paste-Up day was observed well in advance when they were still serving. The state declared a holiday on May 7th annually in honor of paste-up artists. It was during the 1920s-30s that the day was first celebrated. Back then, the state honored a few artists who excelled in their work and celebrated along with them. Today, as technology has replaced this position, we remember the artists and remark on the day for their honorary contributions.

How can we celebrate National Paste-Up Day:

This is the day that we remember our journalist heroes, paste-up artists who were the reason for the publication of such wonderful magazines and journals. And there are various ways to celebrate this. Let’s have a look at them.

• People often felicitated artists with exemplary contributions on this day during the times when the profession still existed.
• You can make paste-up pages and mini magazines to remark on this day.
• Children are taught about the artists and are encouraged to create a few paste-up copies for their desired topics.
• You can paste some cutouts of letters and design a front or cover page. And for later pages, you can design some simple pages and add the script copies.
• You may browse some old newspapers and understand how the artists worked and reached the outcome.

It is the best opportunity for bringing out the creativity in you and making some beautiful magazines using the paste-up artist’s technique. You may click some pictures and post them on your various social media accounts under the hashtags #NationalPasteupDay and #pasteupday. This will encourage many others to join in and create awareness about this day and you will also enjoy doing this.

Interesting facts about National Paste-up Day:

Here are some interesting facts about this day that you’ll enjoy reading!

• Paste-up techniques preceded hot type and Cold Type techniques used for publishing journals.
• It was the most prominent technique in the 19th century which was later upgraded by desktop technologies.
• A few artists still use this technique. The best example is the street art of Madrid, Spain. An artist named Jimbo de la Ghetto uses the paste-up procedure to paint the street walls.
• There are various other regions where paste-up techniques are used for creating street arts, etc.
• Waxing became the most popular adhesive because of paste-up artists. There were several other adhesives used but then wax came out strong.

History of National Paste-up Day:

There is not much about the history of the paste-up day available but the tradition of celebration has been passed on over generations. The main aim of celebrating is to recognize the efforts of the artists and remark on their contributions.