Like many of the people that I know, or work with, I have been picking up the design annuals for years. This year has been no different and I have again taken great pleasure in looking at the fine work displayed in the pages of How, Print and Communication arts.
I continue to disappointed, though, at the lack of credit given to printers for the work that they are a part of. Obviously I’d like to get credit for the work that comes out of The Nomadic Press. But I’d also like to know the identities of the other printers (letterpress or otherwise) who have obviously worked hard and in concert with graphic designers to wring the best results out of the different mediums within which they work.
Almost all print production is collaborative. Without skilled and dedicated graphic designers most printing would look like crap. Without talented printers, most graphic design would not even see the light of day.
Let that be celebrated. And credited.
Magnetic letters stuck to the front of the refrigerator were the first contact that many a modern day letterpress printer had with movable type. Silly words, notes, love letters to one’s mother appeared in bright dimensional colors.
Within the history of letterpress printing there has been, at its heart, a struggle to ride the line between light and heavy impressions. Too light an impression and the ink will not transfer well to the paper, while too much impression damages metal type (which, ideally, is to be laid back into the case and used again and again).
I came across these at an antique store the other day. Someone has taken the time to collect, and cut up license plates. Then they sorted them by letter.