Traditional letterpress printing as a contrast to the “perfect” look of today’s laser-printing enjoys a growing interest over the past decade. Unfortunately much of the letterpress’s traditional technology was lost over the last 30 years and what’s left fetches premium collector prices. LetterMpress is an interesting kickstarter project committed to recreate the experience of authentic-looking letterpress design and print in a virtual environment released first on the iPad.
In a time where most typography is created digitally, designers, artists, and printmakers can draw a lot of inspiration from the handcrafted appearance of traditional letterpress printing. A real luminary in this field is Alan Kitching. Having worked as graphic designer, typographer, letterpress printmaker and teacher, Kitching is internationally renowned for his expressive use of letterpress type, process and materials in creating typographic designs for publishing, advertising and his own limited edition prints and ‘Broadside’ publications.
Photo: Celia Stothard