About Nomadic Press

On a sun-lit day at The Nomadic Press the light pours in through the large front windows and bathes a room full of cast iron printing presses in a promising warmth. The maple woodwork of the 1914 building lends a quiet atmosphere to the pressroom where proprietor Kent Aldrich creates the beautiful work that The Nomadic Press is known for.

Started in 1989, The Nomadic Press has, over 20 years, seen letterpress printing through the days when the craft seemed to be heading towards an irrelevant obsolescence and into a time when the tactile sensuality of the process and materials are at the apex of desirability.

As a small boy, in second grade, Kent was consciously designing type faces while others were learning how to write, he learned calligraphy in sixth grade and letterpress printing in ninth and went on to study at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design where all manner of materials and their relationships to one another were explored. When he began to pursue a life of letterpress printing in earnest Kent worked for the fledgling Minnesota Center for Book Arts where, on a daily basis he listened and watched as master printers, book binders and paper makers from around the world stopped in to share their knowledge and to inspire others.

Kent purchased his first printing press for fifty dollars and soon added more equipment as he proved to more and more clients that letterpress printing remained a tasty and dimensional option. In 1993, Kent and his wife Emily purchased the brick building that is still home to The Nomadic Press. They lived in the apartment above the shop for the next seven years where the friendly rumble of the presses resonated throughout the space at all hours. In the early days his young children joined in on many a client meeting.

Now, after decades of work in letterpress jobbing, Kent Aldrich continues the tradition of hand craft in his work at The Nomadic Press. Whether he is working on the printing of a small run of business cards, a multicolored piece of great complexity, or on the creation of a custom portfolio box, the experience of a lifetime of work goes into each piece. And in the end, when the job is delivered, the pleasure that Kent takes in his work is apparent in its quality and in the attention that has been paid to the details.