Category Archives: craft

Banging Out – Fleet Street Remembered.

A documentary film, by  www.digital-works.co.uk, based on oral history interviews with former printers and journalists. “There used to be a tradition in Fleet Street newspapers called “banging out”. It involved an employee, on the day he retired after a life-time’s stalwart service to his chosen rag, being walked by his colleagues through the presses in […]

Letterpress Workers 2014 International Summit

I have just returned from the third  Letterpress Workers International Summit, organised and hosted by  Officina Novepunti. Located at Leoncavallo, Milan, between the 18th to 22nd June, the event was attended by international letterpress designers and printers, from as far afield as Mexico. A large selection of printing presses and collection of wood type were […]

Los Ultimos – Letterpress printing in Argentina.

Endless Letterpress is a documentary about present of woodtype presses in Argentina, filmed by Nicolás Rodríguez Fuchs. Sadly I discovered this film after the fundraising effort had ended but more information can be found at fb.com/losultimosdoc “Buenos Aires deepest suburbs, July 2013. Three old print shops disputes the printing of cumbia and boxing posters. Second […]

I am the leaden army that conquers the world. I am type.

Of my earliest ancestry neither history nor relics remain. The wedge-shaped symbols impressed in plastic clay by Babylonian builders in the dim past foreshadowed me: from them, on through the hieroglyphs of the ancient Egyptians, down to the beautiful manuscript letters of the mediaeval scribes, I was in the making. With the golden vision of […]

Hand typecasting at the Atelier Press & Letterfoundry

The Atelier Press came into being in 1970 as the private press of Stan Nelson. Stan has been interested in printing since the age of nine, and formerly operated as the Nelson Job Shop and later as Norse Custom Printing. After becoming aware of the world of Fine Printing, Stan chose to name his press […]

A Cornucopia of Wooden Types.

Here at  Typoretum, we have embarked on an ambitious project to create a limited edition portfolio of experimental designs printed directly from wooden types. The book will be letterpress printed on Victorian printing machines and will feature over 200 individual wood type faces from the private collection of Justin Knopp, founder of  Typoretum. The estimated […]

Jesús Morentin’s Bunkertype typography & letterpress studio.

Over recent months I have greatly enjoyed following  Bunkertype on Pinterest –  http://pinterest.com/bunkertype/ – in part due to our common admiration and respect for the letterpress work of  H.N. Werkman. Based in Barcelona, Jesús Morentin’s  Bunkertype letterpress studio produces beautiful and experimental letterpress work in small editions manually from metal and wood types. Bunkertype on […]

Blackwater Polytechnic ‘Happy Days’ exhibition – 6th-14th July 2013.

We are currently exhibiting our letterpress work in the ‘Happy Days’ exhibition, curated by  Blackwater Polytechnic and hosted in Ben Coode-Adams & Freddie Robins’ award-winning Grand Designs barn here in North Essex, GB. ‘Happy Days’ is “an exhibition of exceptional construction in wood, textiles, ink, paint, metal & concrete made by men and women with […]

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 […]