Pressing Letters

On Saturday I took a letterpress class in Union Square.  If you don't know much about letterpress, it is basically a form of relief printing that originated in the 15th century, invented by John Gutenburg.  It is crisper and cleaner than anything you could get from a laser printer.  When you run your fingers over the paper, you can feel the difference. There are no computers here, all the type is hand set and the final result is worth the effort.  Check out this link on Wikipedia for more information on the process and this short video on Youtube is very beautiful!  

The class itself was very informative and I found I really loved the process of setting each individual letter of type and learning to run the press.   It was all very therapeutic in a way that photography was for me in college, sitting in a darkroom, watching a blank piece of photo paper come to life.  Computers are much quicker and convenient, but there is something so beautiful about doing things by hand.   It saddens me that so many of these processes have been lost due to technology.  

Above are two of the three projects we did.  The quote was a group effort.  my camera doesn't do the embossing or crispness justice and letterpress must really be touched and seen with one's own eyes to really appreciate the beauty and craftmanship.  

The teacher of the class was a 40-something woman with a masters from NYU.  She somehow makes a living printing, designing and teaching this class without any outside income.  She owns the studio and presses.  She takes great pride in her craft, as she should.  She is a true fine artist which, she did not neglect to remind me of over and over throughout the class.   As we went around the room saying who we were, what we did for a living, why we wanted to to take the class, etc, I suddenly felt as though I was in college again.  I was made to feel inadequate because I chose a career that would put food on the table and money in my pocket as opposed to being a starving artist and drawing tourists' portraits on the streets of Times Square.  There are so many people out there that feel this way, that even a career in graphic design as opposed to being a painter or a sculptor is a cop out.  It's like I am a traitor to my artistic background.  So I told her that by day I work in television as an animator/ designer.  She proceded to tell me that TV graphics were annoying and busy (granted, they are a bit flashy, but that's just how TV works!).  I was looked down on for the the standard font we used because it was a "readability " font, in other words, nothing fancy or having much personality.  Of COURSE we use a readability font!  It is television!  It's on the air for three seconds before it is replaced by more information!  What?  Does she think we are going to use some intricate script font that people really have to concentrate on to understand?  This isn't print, these aren't wedding invitations!  I even told her the reason I started Petit Fig Tree was because I wanted to broaden my creativity.  Apparently, that meant nothing to her.   My favorite thing that she said, though, was that if she takes a designer's work to print and decides she doesn't like it, she refuses to do the work.  What a luxury it must be to refuse work or to argue with someone about their own tastes!  On the bright side, I made a friend who was also a graphic designer and got the same elitist vibe from her.  So, it wasn't just me!  Ok, rant over.

All in all, the learning experience was invaluable.  I'm currently looking online for presses, hand presses, not an electric one like the one we used in class.  In only a few projects, the press would pay for itself and the quality and beauty is unsurpassed.