Intro Letterpress Workshop - Context, Materials and Print (80 min)

Monday, October 7th, 2024

Book Arts Lab Room 086

McPherson Library

1-2:30pm

Letterpress printing is a form of relief printing that uses moveable blocks to create text forms. An analogue precursor to modern printing, letterpress offered a huge leap forward in the ease of disseminating the written word. In this workshop, we will explore the materials, typography, and limits of Letterpress to introduce students to the rich print quality and aesthetic possibilities of this historic print modality. 

The class will start with an overview of movable type, images and print terminology. Then students will participate in two stations, and then switch halfway through. The class will be split into an A and B group. One group will look through historic book materials as selected by special collections, chosen for their relevance to either book history, printmaking or artist book creation. The second group will be working on press to print a poem, poster or other ephemera, as selected and set by the technician. Each student will get to to print a copy to keep while getting guided through the lock-up, inking, printing and cleaning process. The groups will switch so every student gets both experiences.