Welcome to the world of Letterpress Printing

With all of its bells and whistles and crisp packaging, the technology used in current graphic processes can be sterile and lifeless.We tap plastic keys, sitting hour after hour in front of a screen, going through the same motions whether writing a letter, playing a game of solitaire or designing a four-color work of art. Our modern computer technology is a natural extension of the idea that speed and ease are the goals, and that getting your hands dirty is not a good thing.As Robert Pirsig notes in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, “When you want to hurry something, that means you no longer care about it and want to get on to other things.”

Letterpress, because it is a slow process, is something that allows its practitioners to care: every aspect of it is a labor of love, as the antique machinery is thoughtfully cleaned, oiled, and coaxed into producing fine-quality printed matter. Every gesture brings a closer connection with an historical reverence for craft, whether setting metal type letter by letter or preparing a computer file for making a plate; printers are driven by the need to get it right on the press, pulling the prints and examining them with a loupe until the smallest, finest details are perfect; even cleaning the press and putting away the type become more opportunities to express affection in this love affair with the machine and the stunning work it can produce. For those of us who uphold the tradition of letterpress, printing melds body and mind in an almost Zen-like experience, involving all the senses. The cycle becomes complete when the subtle tactile qualities of the relief process combine with visual appeal to create a more sensual response on the part of the reader.