|
We thank contributing writer Stephanie Rexroth of On the Vine Creative for sharing her story with us. Photo credits: Rexroth, and adjunct faculty member Matt Griffin.
Descend multiple flights of stairs deep into the underbelly of Margaret Morrison and you might miss a treasure trove of wonder, if the door is closed—mistaking it as another classroom or storage closet. Stand in the threshold and discover that this dungeon is no dungeon at all; it is a cool temp, well-lit, organized and meticulously clean safe haven. Finally, enter and be transported back to another time/dimension; one where craft and creativity meet. Welcome to the AIGA Letterpress Workshop, hosted by Matt Griffin of Bearded Studio (and Design adjunct professor) at the School of Design’s Letterpress and Bookbinding Lab.  The master of this domain is pressman Joe Dicey, who (according to Matt Griffin) has forgotten more about Letterpress printing than most of us will ever know. Joe, Matt Griffin, and Matt Braun (designer and letterpress enthusiast, also with Bearded Studio) became our guides for the 11 person workshop as we first learned the bare-bone basics to the craft and then began exploring and experimenting.  My favorite thing about this studio experience was witnessing how much care was given to the craft and particularly the equipment. A consideration that’s completely foreign in our modern-day, consumer-driven society; each pressman treated all the pieces to this process with respect (press, gears, rollers, wooden/metal type, etc.) in an effort to consciously preserve each piece because once something breaks down or gets worn out, it’s probably gone for good. Another great full-circle phenomena of this workshop was seeing contemporary, new-school designers learning about this old-school craft. The best was when Griffin would use current terminology that we could relate to as designers—gradients or tint/transparency sliders in Photoshop—to help us understand this craft. We discovered the origins of most of the terminology that we use today; even seeing and using the leading used to space metal type and hold it in place during printing.  It’s no wonder that our graphic design forefathers were such great typographers. When you work this closely with each piece of type for an extended period of time, it’s hard not to become sensitive to the type’s form and interactions with each other. It’s reminiscent of working with a giant jigsaw puzzle. My team (Team Awesome, of course) came to this epiphany early on when we were searching through one set of type drawers (a row of about 20) for our letterpress project “ingredients.” There were so many to choose from that we started picking the unique forms of certain letter/numbers out of each type family (1-2 per drawer).  There were so many awe-inspiring collaborations of prints that kept us engaged throughout the day plus great conversations among fellow designers. I cannot think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon. After more than 6 hours of play, we each walked away with 20+ prints of our choosing. Now ... what to do with all those prints? A book, perhaps?  More than the great prints, my takeaway: I’ve caught the enthusiasm/passion of this craft and now want a letterpress workshop of my own. It will take years of searching and collecting, plus the need for a huge garage or basement. In the meantime, I can begin learning more about this craft, take more of such workshops, and seek out others in the field as mentors/guides. See more pics (via Matt Griffin) on Flicker: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45888901@N07/sets/72157624272691174/ Also check out Matt’s post on Bearded’s Blog: http://beardeds.com/blog/matt/2010/6/14/aiga-pittsburgh-letterpress-workshop More letterpress links and resources for further exploration (via Matt Griffin) Letterpress Resources: http://www.briarpress.org/ http://www.donblack.ca/ http://www.sterlingtype.com/ http://www.nagraph.com/ Type Foundries: http://www.mwbixler.com/ http://www.arionpress.com/mandh/index.htm http://www.skylinetype.com/ Posted on Jun 22, 2010 |  |
