Author Archives: Justin Knopp

Letterpress ‘IEE’ poster for Public Service Broadcasting.

Public Service Broadcasting commissioned  Typoretum to design and letterpress print a limited edition (100 copies) poster, to accompany the launch of their debut album ‘Inform, Educate, Entertain’ (publicservicebroadcasting.net/inform-educate-entertain-out-now/) in May 2013. The posters were printed from antique Elongated Sans Serif wood type and Granby Light metal type onto high-quality 170gsm cartridge paper, signed and editioned […]

Typoretum: A Letterpress Workshop

Here is a great short film about  Typoretum. An opportunity to see our presses in action and the craft of letterpress printing. Irish graphic designer and letterpress printer  Jamie Murphy recently spent several months working here at  Typoretum, developing his knowledge of letterpress typesetting and printing. As a thank you for his time here, Jamie […]

‘The Wit & Wisdom of Leopold Bloom’ – a letterpress book project.

Fresh from his three-month placement at  Typoretum, Jamie Murphy, a Dublin-based designer and letterpress printer, is seeking funding for an exciting letterpress book project – a limited edition of The Works of Master Poldy. The book will be printed by hand from wooden and metal types at  The Distillers Press in Dublin, where Jamie is […]

Type Specimens from the Vincent Figgins Type Foundry – 1815.

The British punch-cutter and typefounder Vincent Figgins (1766-1844) ran a notable London typefoundry and is credited with designing the first Egyptian (slab serif) typeface, which he simply named ‘Antique’ and released in 1815. Figgins was originally apprenticed to the typefounder Joseph Jackson, a student of William Caslon I, and established his own typefoundry in Swan […]

‘For the Love of Letterpress’ film.

A short documentary by White House Films, filmed at the Distiller’s Press in Dublin, Ireland, featuring  Jamie Murphy who is currently here at Typoretum on a 3-month Leonardo da Vinci programme placement.

Pencil to Pixel – Exhibition of artifacts & artwork from the Monotype archive.

The history of  Monotype dates back to the late 19th Century, when it introduced groundbreaking new technology that revolutionised the production of metal type for letterpress printing.  Tolbert Lanston, the inventor of this technology and founder of The Lanston Monotype Machine Company, patented this mechanical typesetting system in 1887 and introduced the first hot metal […]

The Artists of Spitalfields Life exhibition.

We’re delighted to be exhibiting our ‘In the Midst of Life I Woke’ letterpress poster alongside fellow “Artists of Spitalfields Life” in a forthcoming exhibition at the  Ben Pentreath Shop in Bloomsbury, London. The exhibition runs from 7th-24th November and further details & opening times can be found here.

The London Centre for Book Arts

The London Centre for Book Arts is an open-access book arts studio, teaching facility and exhibition space in Fish Island, Hackney Wick, in East London. The first and only centre of its kind in the United Kingdom, LCBA provides access to specialist equipment and resources, including rare and historically important pieces, along with technical and […]

‘Letterpress: something to say’ conference at the St Bride Library.

On Friday 9th November 2012, the  St Bride Library will hold its’ third letterpress conference. The previous two conferences have been sell-outs and speakers include Anthony Burrill, Catherine Dixon, Ian Gabb (RCA), Thomas Gravemaker, Dylan Kendle (Tomato), Peter Nencini, and L’automatica (Barcelona) with further contributions anticipated from Prensa Libertad (Buenos Aires) and Vista Sans Wood […]

Jules Vernacular – collector of vernacular typography & lettering.

After ‘collecting’ some examples of French signage (an example of which can be seen above) whilst on a recent holiday, I discovered the online collection of vernacular typography, lettering & signage assembled on the  Jules Vernacular website. This collection has been carefully collected and assembled by  Jack Usine and is a complementary project of  Smeltery, […]