Creative Letterpress Printing

With the increase in the amount of exposure our society has had to digital and online media there has also developed a natural re-attraction, even yearning for physical items that look and feel hand crafted and traditionally produced. Be it for furnishings, jewellery or clothes; when time, labour and skill are applied the results can be fantastic and incomparable to work that is mass produced. The same applies to the print medium and arguably one of the best ways to achieve this result is through the letterpress finish.

Today modern letterpress relies on a mix of debossing (creating an indent) and purposefully distressed colours to create the distinctive craft style; however this was not always the desired result.  Letterpress was the main printing method for books and newspapers from the 1800s right up to the 1960s when the introduction of lithography became the most viable commercial process. Before this the deboss had to be avoided at all costs and the ink coverage solid and crisp. Only recently has the shift changed from a new artisanal interest in the process which now sees the deboss exaggerated with almost patchy ink to define what is now a luxury effect.

This new form has had a heavy revival which we were at the forefront of with our ‘All Under One Roof’ mailer and later our ‘Word Search’ mailer.

This style broke a lot of rules and is now very much a printing process that is in fashion. This is understandable as there is brilliant room for creativity with the infused effect of crisp deboss and the rich, intentionally faded colours of a design. Letterpress is also very durable and can achieve fantastic results with finer designs and sharper text.

The letterpress print process has evolved from a precise, strict convention to something with a wider and suddenly artistic scope, making it an incredibly durable print form. We think the process is brilliant and draw upon the styles that have developed over the years to create prints with visually striking features that continue to show the beauty of such a unique technique.

Monday, 7th July, 2014