The Value of Letterpress Printing in Design Education

Hands—on Type: Learning From Letterpress Heritage
Authors/Editors Rúben Dias and Sofia Meira
2022

“When harnessing the power of the press as an instrument of visual communication, students transfer the skills and thinking to knowledge, discovering parallel experiences between physical and digital design. Students discover the unique qualities of hand-printed elements and learn to manipulate and apply them in their digital design work. They gain an appreciation of the history and contemporary aspects of the craft. The use of letterpress printing is taught to advance designers’ skills and thinking, not for nostalgia, to introduce a range of crucial learning outcomes. Students make their own connections with the design process, gaining tacit knowledge and experiencing the intangible benefits for wellness.”

Characters: A letterpress journey

Erin Beckloff & Katherine Fries

The Ephemerist Summer 2022 issue Nº 197

“Physical type are travelers through time. They have existed for decades, passed through many hands, and delivered many messages through paper and ink. Type are active, dynamic, and, through their continued use, shape a new and renewed power of the press. Yet so often the unsung heroes of this story are both the pieces of type and their guardians—people like our mentor David W. Peat who, when industry decided to discard these marvels, collected, cared for, and shared. them, thus ensuring their life and travels would continue.”

Digital Fabrication: Expanding Access to and Preservation of Letterpress

Post-digital Letterpress Printing: Research, Education & Practice
Edited by Pedro Amado, Ana Catarina Silva, Vítor Quelhas
2022

“Qualitative analysis of interviews conducted in 2020 with leading American letterpress designers and craftsmen, Brad Vetter, Scott Moore, Ryan Molloy and Steve Garst reveal similar motivations and philosophies for using digital fabrication in their work. Their knowledge developed through a combination of their prior experience, inspiration from printing history, access to machinery through makerspaces, and the willingness to learn from and share new manufacturing technology with others. Digital fabrication tools are helping expand accessibility to materials and equipment, which increases the enriched growth and preservation of letterpress printing in both education and practice.”

Education

Long Primer: Reverting to Type 2020 catalogue
New North Press, London

“Letterpress printing has transitioned from a tool of trade to a technology of craft, art and design and a method for experiential learning, exploration and expression. With these shifts, over the last 30-plus years, higher education institutions have created or revitalised existing letterpress studios at an increasing rate. Community workshops have been established offering learning opportunities, from introductory to advanced levels and membership-based studio access. Printing museums and archives have embraced the active use of historic equipment and reference materials to educate and engage the public. The various educational models share the value of the tactile experience through which the craft is being preserved for future generations of learners.”