18 July 2013

...making a good impression using letterpress

A change is as good as a rest they say, so when the opportunity to do a day of letterpress came up at Ink Spot Press, I thought this extended screen break would do me good. And I thought right!

Typesetting, using predominantly only a Mac for over a decade, can turn you into somewhat of an automaton. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. With the help of InDesign (and once-upon-a-time, QuarkXpress) I've been able to track, kern, lead and adjust type size at the drop of a keystroke. It's a modern privilege which has afforded me quickly and easily to hone my skills.


Having not touched letterpress since art school, I thought I'd forgotten everything involved. But from a heady combination of real ink smells and expert tutoring from lovely letterpress geek Sarah Bryant, the memories soon came back. If you've never had a go – and get the chance to – taking the time to compose metal type by hand and then seeing your work embossed with ink on to paper is BRILLIANT!



And as always, part of the process is all about making mistakes!