I think I’ve found a new (expensive) hobby/career path—letterpress printing. It’s a process and technique I’ve always wanted to learn about, but have never been able to—until now.
Some may argue that letterpress, invented by Gutenberg way back when, was the pioneer of graphic design. Setting type, attention to detail, paper choice, color, precision, ink, craftsmanship—these important elements of letterpress are theories that are vital to graphic design today. And I was able to (finally) learn about these theories and practices first hand this weekend.
Coasters & Postcards from the Type Truck
Kyle Durrie, founder of the Moveable Type Truck Project has been traveling cross-country in a truck (similar to a food truck) that she has converted to a mobile home/letterpress shop. I came across her blog a while ago and was happy to see she would be making the DC leg of her adventure this past weekend. Unfortunately because of instances at work and the nightmare that is DC traffic, I got to the truck shortly before they were closing up. I didn’t get to stay as long as I would have liked, but it was really great to be able to work briefly with Kyle’s presses myself. She has two—both tabletop, one being a flatbed and the other an antique tabletop press (you’ll have to forgive me, I’m still trying to learn the terminology and ins and outs of this process, so I don’t know the specific names). We printed some postcards on the flatbed with some of her woodblock type and a coaster on the other one. I didn’t get to pick her brain as much as I would have liked, but it was still really fun to see the truck in person and distantly admire her gumption for doing something so bold with her skills.
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