In some book arts circles, letterpress is considered the “only” way to print. They are a very friendly bunch with a lot of advice and support. These programs give the public great access to equipment, presses, type, workshops and classes.

If you are putting together a print shop of your own, don’t neglect finding a very good paper cutter. They are harder to come by than a press.

Fortunately, in this digital world, the book has been elevated to an art form that relies on the oldest and best way to print. Check out artist like Julie Chen, Marnie Powers-Torrey, Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord, Mary Shihabuddin Laird.

Brings back happy memories of days in the 1950’s spent watching with fascination as our local printshop typeset the parish newsletter, which I would later put into envelopes and take to the post office.

The most recent item on my wishlist is a kelsey letterpress. They are so hard to come buy but I would love to complement a letterpress with my gocco machine (silk screen device).

I have contact the few printers around in the Santa Cruz area and they don’t feel like helping. Perhaps if I went in to talk to them. Who knows. I think art making knowledge should be shared, especially with a process that is dying out!

http://www.fiveroses.org/intro.htm
https://listserv.unb.ca/archives/letpress.html

Thanks to the bad influence of the folks involved with those sites, I now have an Intertype Model C and a 10x15 Kluge clanking away in my garage.

http://web.mac.com/andykeck/intertype.jpg

I was keen to get my hands on an adana to keep it up.

As it’s been said by a couple of you, it’s the hands on aspect of it, I think. With it being easier and easier to have a completely digital work flow for the graphic designer these days, it’s nice to be able to touch the type and feel it on your finger tips, than it is to just click the mouse a couple of times. Something about it being tactile just makes it that much more special and real, no?