LETTERPRESS. karen taylor

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1 LETTERPRESS karen taylor department chair, graphic design and graphic communications EXTERNSHIP 2009 HATCH SHOW PRINT, nashville TN and the INTERNATIONAL PRINTING MUSEUM, carson CA

2 what is letterpress printing? Letterpress is one of the oldest and most beautiful printing techniques and dates back to the invention of the movable type by Johann Gutenberg. It began as an alternative to laborious hand-written calligraphy. Metal plates with the images raised are inked and then pressed against soft, cotton paper. Type was hand-cast and individual characters were hand-set into lines until machine set composition made the process easier. This technique is almost a form of art rather than science as no 2 pieces are exactly alike. Because the paper is run through an antique press dating back to the 1800s, each pieces is subtly unique. Today, not only do letters appear crisp on the heavy cotton paper, but you can feel the recessed texture around the type. This is a distinctive characteristic of letterpressing. From the look and feel of each piece, it stands out among other printing types found today. Pistachio Hill Letterpress Studio

3 Letterpress printing had almost become a thing of the past but is now enjoying a renaissance as people look beyond the mass produced in favor of the handmade. The boutique wedding invitation is responsible for a lot of this resurgence, but designers are turning and returning to the unique qualities that can only be found in a hand printed piece. The term 'letterpress' comes from the simple process that brings ink and paper together.

4 It can be used as a traditional, or a very contemporary medium

5 My goals with this externship were to see working letterpress shops in action, and to spend time learning more about the flat showcard presses we currently have at Saddleback, and the self-inking Vandercook #4 press that we re hoping to get. So in March I traveled to Hatch Show Print in Nashville, Tennessee, the oldest letterpress shop in the country, and then in April and May I spent two days at the International Printing Museum in Carson, California. The designers and craftsmen I met were inspiring and generous, and I m grateful for the opportunity to spend time learning from them. I learned a great deal of new technical and practical information to share at Saddleback. I also got to experience the history and the beauty of the artform of letterpress.

6 Hatch Show Print is the oldest letterpress in the country. They ve been printing posters for performers like Elvis Presley and Louis Armstrong, and now contemporary groups like The White Stripes, since the 1920s. Since 1992 they ve been supported by the Country Music Hall of Fame, and make a great number of re-strikes (reprinting of original posters) as well as new designs. Their philosophy is preservation through production - that by using and reusing historic blocks and equipment they serve as a forum for the preservation of the letterpress artform and an advocate for the continuation of its distinct and unique beauty.

7 Last year CNN hired Hatch to design and print posters for the presidential debates. The photo on the left is Jim Sherradan, who runs Hatch Show Print, with one of the posters. How does Jim explain the enthusiasm for letterpress in a world obsessed by the digital? "The computer is the best thing that ever happened to Hatch. We're the antiheroes of digital design," he says.

8 Here is one of their Vandercook presses being used

9 Vandercook 4 Precision Cylinder Proof Press The first Vandercook press was designed in 1908, and gave rise to an increasingly more sophisticated series of precision presses that lasted into the offset era. The most popular models, the #3, #4, Universal, and SP series, were designed for reproduction proofing of metal type to make masters for photo-offset printing, and for testing ink, paper, color, etc. These presses are the gold standard for high-quality modern letterpress work, and are what most "professional" letterpress art printers and private presses use today.

10 The International Printing Museum in Carson has one of the largest and most complete collections of presses and print machinery in the world. They re preserved as historical pieces, and used as working presses.

11 At the printing museum I was able to work in their letterpress facility, using their large collection of type and image cuts

12 Working on a small table top proof-press, like one of the presses we have at Saddleback

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14 And then composing and printing for the larger self-inking Vandercook press

15 I worked with Madeleine Zygarewicz. She received her BA in Book Arts at Mills College in Her work can be found in special collections around the country and has been exhibited internationally. She has her own imprint, Panorama Press, printing posters, cards and invitations as well as limited edition prints and artist books. She is also a letterpress printer at Two Piglets in Pasadena.

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17 The composed type, locked on the Vandercook press.

18 With the type locked up, and the press inked, we printed posters and cards that we had designed and set.

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