Contemporary Hand-Made Printing

Laurence King Publishing

LAURENCE KING

Published in 2013 by
Laurence King Publishing Ltd
361–363 City Road, London,
EC1V 1LR, United Kingdom
T +44 (0)20 7841 6900
F + 44 (0)20 7841 6910
enquiries@laurenceking.com
www.laurenceking.com

Text © 2013 Caspar Williamson

Caspar Williamson has asserted his right under the

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified
as the author of this work.

This book was produced by Laurence King Publishing Ltd,

London

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission from the publisher.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the

British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78067-297-7

Design by StudioAparte, Barcelona

Cover design by Pentagram

Printed in China
Foreword 4
Introduction 5

Chapter 1: Screenprinting 6
A History of Screenprinting 7
The Process in Brief 10
Portfolios 14
Screenprinting in Focus –
Chicha Posters (Peru) 62

Chapter 2: Letterpress 66
A History of Letterpress 67
The Process in Brief 70
Portfolios 74
Letterpress in Focus –
Lambe-Lambe (Brazil) 124

Chapter 3: Relief Printing 128

A History of Relief Printing 129
The Process in Brief 132
Portfolios 136

Chapter 4: Other Printing Methods 176

Portfolios 177
Other Printing Methods in Focus –
Print Gocco & Risography
(Japan/Worldwide) 198

Glossary 214
Resources 216
Contacts 218
Index 220
Credits and Acknowledgements 224
Foreword
I first connected with the author of Low-Tech Print had to do, producing some torturous office materials.
when our paths crossed along the digital byway. It seems Keith and I would collaborate on more interesting
Caspar Williamson and I are kindred spirits of sorts. I projects when possible but time had caught up with the
had recently finished curating a book on a similar subject, old place. At the turn of the twenty-first century it was
titled Push Print, and we both make our living as creative looking like the dire predictions about print’s demise just
professionals. The difference is Caspar was born in 1984, might come true.
the same year Apple launched the Macintosh, while Well, it turns out Keith was never that into the glossy
I began my career well before any digital wizardry was print work after all. All the time the modernization was
practised by most designers or art directors. supposedly taking place, he was secretly buying antique
I moved from Ohio to New York City in 1984 for my printing gear. He began with what amounted to a working
first big city job. Once I arrived, it wasn’t just the bright museum and then made it his hobby, adding pieces to
lights that dazzled me: I remember getting the first brief the collection. He even acquired a Heidelberg Windmill
and the creative director telling me we could use six- letterpress like the one he had sold years before and
colour digital printing. I’d never even heard of such a placed it in the exact spot where the old machine had sat.
thing and couldn’t imagine what these magical fifth and Luckily Keith didn’t just acquire, hoist, shine and
sixth colours might actually look like! It was production grease his hefty mechanical marvels. He also spent years
shock and awe with a slickness and scale befitting the learning the tricks and techniques of the historic trade.
products we were pushing. After much counseling I convinced him that maybe it
The very same year my brother Keith also set out would be a good idea to share his personal playground
on a new adventure. He left his job in a printing firm’s with others who might also benefit from the cool toys. So
pre-press department to buy a little print shop that had we agreed that he get rid of anything even remotely new
been in small-town Salem, Ohio, since 1938. He longed (except the Mac) and run a dedicated letterpress studio.
to run his own place and be on-press instead of stuck There was always something very appealing about
in a darkroom all day. It was his dream, but the timing the gritty, raw, tactile graphics of real ink on real paper.
was not ideal with desktop publishing taking away more Who wouldn’t love seeing their work in glorious spot
and more of the projects that were the lifeblood of local colour? It turns out a lot of people agree and we find
printers. ourselves in the middle of a traditional print revival.
During visits to my hometown I would always stop This book will introduce you to some of today’s top
by the shop to see how things were going. To me it was printmaking practitioners and explore the tools and
like stepping into some kind of Terry Gilliam fantasy techniques they use to produce beautiful contemporary
land with a smell that was part paint thinner and part work. You’ll get an intimate look at the craft, culture
century-old wood. The vintage iron Chandler & Price and inspiring examples of art prints done through a
platen letterpress and other strange and dangerous- variety of processes. Nothing fancy, just low tech at its
looking contraptions were fascinating. It felt like I’d highest form.
discovered an ancient civilization that had been frozen in
time by a volcano or other cataclysmic event. Jamie Berger
As time went on, things became increasingly difficult Creative Partner, Cranky Pressman
for small-town printing shops. The shop did what it Salem, Ohio, USA

4
Introduction
Instantly accessible, yet infinitely complex, printmaking During the 12 months involved in the research and
is an art form that opens its arms to anyone, yet defies writing of this book, I have continually been blown away
limits with the breadth of its capabilities. not only by the beautiful and varied range of material I
Low-Tech Print is an exploration of handmade print- have discovered, but also by the inspirational stories of
making techniques and the cultures they exist in today. It the people behind the work. From each continent of the
is an examination of the evolution of traditional printing Earth, the stories have a common thread; in an over-
disciplines, and how this has lead to a huge resurgence in saturated digital age, these most traditional of methods
the popularity of printmaking in recent years. Designers have allowed people to reconnect with the physical pro-
and creatives of all kinds are rediscovering – and discov- cess of print that they have been pining for.
ering for the first time – the artistic opportunities on offer. Many will argue that modern printmaking – with or
This book documents printmaking work from all over without the aid of digital processes – is far from ‘low-tech’.
the globe that not only showcases eye-catching examples No other art form provides such effective and instant
from the craft’s most exciting and influential practition- results, allowing a printmaker to produce entire editions
ers, but also delves into the backgrounds and histories in a single afternoon. However, it takes many years of failed
of traditional printmaking techniques, and the influences attempts, moments of frustration and countless blistered
that have led to new developments in printing methods. fingers to perfect the mediums. Any veteran print techni-
Artists, designers and creatives around the world cian will tell you that they still learn new things every day,
have adapted traditional printmaking methods to suit and that there is always a way to achieve better printing.
their own modern-day purposes. Beside technical im- But it is this that keeps people drawn to printmaking –
provements leading to more efficient use of presses and the unpredictable and unique nature of mediums that can
materials, the methods and mechanics of printmaking offer infinite surprises.
machinery have remained unchanged for generations. With digital print-production techniques dominat-
Many of the machines used today outdate one, if not ing the design world, digital technology is now part of the
two World Wars – either passed down from friends or DNA of printmaking evolution. The computer has be-
relatives, or discovered and restored to their former, fully come simply another tool in the printmaker’s proverbial
functioning glory. A new generation of printmakers is tool belt. An example of this can be seen in the world of
contributing to the preservation of our printing history. letterpress, which has been transformed dramatically in
By continuing to use traditional printing techniques and the past decade by the wider use of computer-generated
machinery, they are ensuring that the medium will be graphics and photopolymer plates. Viewed by certain
around for the next generation to appreciate. letterpress purists as the downfall of the use of tradition-
But what can explain the large increase in awareness ally hand-set type, polymer is welcomed by the ‘new
of and demand for printmaking? The internet without wave’ of letterpress studios and enthusiasts – both for
doubt is the source of a lot of the answers to this question. speeding up the process and allowing many more people
Sites such as Etsy, Folksy and eBay provide a platform to enjoy the medium.
for individuals worldwide to sell and promote their work, For me, it is the low-tech and textural nature of print-
giving worldwide exposure to the artistic diversity gen- making that has led me to fall in love with these disci-
erated by traditional techniques. At the click of a mouse plines. I get an unexplained buzz every time I see that
button, anyone can enjoy and educate themselves about someone has made that decision to use a form of print-
once niche and specialist craft forms. Self-promotion making in their design, marketing or promotional mate-
and learning have never been more accessible, and craft- rial – people standing up and asking for more, not simply
centred communities have never been so open and easy to settling for what has become ‘the norm’ of a purely digi-
join. Furthermore, relief printing, letterpress and screen- tally printed product.
printing, mediums widely used in craft and textiles, have
also been embraced by leading graphic designers and Caspar Williamson
artists worldwide. London, UK

5
Screen
printing
The evolution of screenprinting as a discipline is both varied and eclectic.
The huge resurgence in the popularity of printmaking and the revival of
screenprinting as a medium in recent years has demonstrated that people
are eager to express their creativity in new and versatile ways. The tactile
nature of the process and its ever-evolving methods have allowed artists,
designers – and indeed anyone – to embrace the handmade aesthetic
that has become so revered and synonymous with the medium. This
has allowed the world of screenprinting to be placed into a revitalized
and modern context, responsible for creating some of the most beautiful
examples of contemporary art around today.
A History of device based on Samuel Simon’s method. By

Screenprinting combining several different stencils and using

a number of different screens and multiple col-
ours, he was able to produce vibrant, multi-
SILK SCREENING AND THE coloured imagery in editions.
ORIGINS OF THE MEDIUM This period also saw the development of the
It was not until the eighteenth century that a pro- ‘squeegee’, a flat, rigid board with a flexible rub-
cess was developed in Japan and China that used ber edge that was designed to force printing ink
silk held between two pieces of strong, stencil- through the screen. The squeegee allowed for far
cut waterproof paper. The paper was glued to- more efficiency and uniformity in printing than
gether, leaving the silk exposed to allow the paint was attainable with the stiff brushes previously
to flow through. This is believed to be the first used with Samuel Simon’s method.
example of a silk screen ever developed. The In the 1930s, the development of flatbed
process evolved further during the nineteenth screenprinting in Lyon, France, extended
century. However, it remained a simple and screen­printing techniques into textile design. In
somewhat basic technique. the flatbed process, textile printers applied lac-
quer to a mesh to create a stencil. The frame was
THE PROCESS AS WE KNOW IT TODAY placed on the fabric and a squeegee was used to
Samuel Simon, a sign painter working in the early force a dye paste through the unlacquered areas
1900s in Manchester, England, is widely acknowl- of the mesh.
edged as the pioneer of screenprinting as we
know it today. Inspired by the need to discover a
faster way of producing his signs, Simon realized
that if he could develop a method of applying the
silk-screen technique to his daily work, he could
revolutionize his business. He began perfecting
a basic wooden-frame method, developing an
emulsion that could be painted onto the silk to
block out the images or stencils. Then, using a
stiff brush, inks were forced through the screen.
This simple process allowed Simon to print signs
continuously, rather than hand-painting them
individually. This new process was soon being
described as ‘silk-screening’, and in 1907 Simon
was rewarded a patent for what was to become
the first screenprinting process.
It would not be long before screenprinting
began to attract the attention of the art world. In
1914 San Francisco–based artist and printmaker
John Pilsworth recognized the benefits of this
process and began experimenting. Pilsworth
took out a patent for a multicolour printing

Screenprinted silk crêpe dress fabric, designed and made by François Ducharne,
Lyon, France, 1937.

7
 SERIGRAPHS AND THE EVOLUTION synthetic product also produced infinitely more
FROM SILK SCREEN TO SCREENPRINT durable screens. Thus, the screen in a screen-
The term ‘serigraph’ was created in the hope printing frame is no longer made from the tradi-
that it would distinguish the ‘creative art’ in silk- tional silk or organdie of its origins. Terylene and
screening from the commercial or reproductive nylon, as well as polyester, are now widely used.
uses of the process. Carl Zigrosser, founding
member of the National Serigraphic Society, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL INFLUENCE
coined the term by combining the Latin word In the 1940s, the Hollywood film industry be-
for silk, seri, with the Greek word for ‘to draw’, gan to realize the benefits of this new printing
graphein. Today, many artists and galleries still method, and thousands of movie posters were
refer to fine-art screenprints as serigraphs – the screenprinted and hung in film theatres across
term arguably evoking a sense of ‘high art’. America every week. It wasn’t long before other
Today the term ‘silk screen’ is not widely industries took advantage of the process. Sports,
used because it no longer describes the disci- music, theatre and travel companies began
pline accurately. Post-war developments in new recruiting artists to produce designs that would
plastics saw the silk used in parachutes replaced go on to be screenprinted. Poster campaigns like
by polyester, which proved to be far more reli- that designed by Otl Aicher for the 1972 Munich
able than silk and much cheaper to make, as Olympics became commonplace. Screenprinting
well as being much stronger and reusable. This is still as influential in political and social move-
ments as it has ever been. Both the music and
fashion industries rely heavily on the medium to
produce garments, T-shirts, and merchandise.
The screenprinted gig poster and art-print scene
has never been more prominent on either side
of the Atlantic. The DIY methods of screen-
printing were embraced in the heyday of punk
in the 1970s, and became a driving force behind
the movement.

PUSHING IT – THE EVOLUTION

OF THE DISCIPLINE
Andy Warhol is associated with the artistic side
of screenprinting and was responsible for popu-
larizing the discipline. By introducing serigraphy
to the United States during the Pop art movement
of the 1960s, Warhol opened the eyes of many
of his contemporaries. Artists, particularly in
Pop art, found its potentially large scale and
solid, bright colours perfect for expressing the
ideas of the time. Jackson Pollock and Robert
Rauschenberg in the USA, and Eduardo Paolozzi
and Joe Tilson in the UK, helped make the tech-

Otl Aicher, Munich Olympics poster, c. 1972. Screenprint.

8 Screenprinting—A History of Screenprinting

nique familiar. Warhol is particularly identified
with his garishly coloured screenprint portraits
of cultural icons of the time, including Elvis
Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali.
Today, screenprinting has become a so-
phisticated process. As industrial applications
have grown, better machinery, such as vacuum
beds and exposure units, has been developed,
enabling more elaborate and expertly printed
editions to be made. More importantly, much
finer and thinner oil-based inks, along with the
introduction of water-based non-toxic inks, have
revolutionized the medium, allowing for longer
print runs and safer working environments.

SCREENPRINTING AND THE ART

WORLD TODAY
To meet the rise in popularity of screenprint-
ing in recent years, many artists’ studios, such
as New York’s Lower East Side Printshop and
the UK’s Print Club London, are now allow-
ing public access to equipment in exchange for
a nominal membership fee. Galleries and art
fairs worldwide are recognizing the demand
for screenprinted work, with new screenprint-
specific events appearing every year.
Andy Warhol, Muhammad Ali #182, c. 1978. Screenprint.

9
The continuous movement to achieve a

Process smooth, thin coat of emulsion. The

process is repeated on the reverse
in Brief MATERIALS
AND TOOLS
side, and any drips or excess emul-
sion are removed with a piece of card
Screenprints can be created in Certain essential equipment or a plastic spreader. As the emulsion
many different ways. Traditionally is needed to screenprint: is light sensitive, the screen is left to
either an emulsion or ‘block’ would –Screen dry in a dark room or an area without
be painted directly on the screen –Squeegee any UV light.
and left to harden – leaving only the –Coating trough
negative space for the ink to pass –Photo emulsion
through. The integration of hand- –Water-resistant tape
cut patterns and other layers to –Masking tape
form stencils further allows highly –Mixing sticks/palette knives
detailed multiples to be produced. –Inks and mediums
Many leading practitioners still –Stencil strip.
favour the hand-cut method; how-
ever, the most commonly used and
versatile method in practice today
uses photo emulsion and computer-
generated artwork. This method
enables the printing of fine line COATING
drawings, small and detailed type, THE SCREEN
and photographic imagery. First, the screen must be coated
with light-sensitive photo emulsion
using a coating trough. Starting at
the bottom and working upwards,
the screen is coated in one firm,

PREPARING
ARTWORK AND
‘POSITIVES’
Before an image can be exposed
onto the screen, a design must be
produced and a ‘positive’ must be
created.

10 Screenprinting—The Process in Brief

 entire image area.When the screen
is dry, it is checked for any holes
or open areas that may have oc-
curred during the exposure process.
The screen is laid on a lightbox and
screen filler is used to block these ar-
eas so no ink will pass through them
during printing. Finally all four inner
edges of the screen are masked off
with waterproof tape to make sure
no ink bleeds through the frame, and
the screen is ready to print.

A ‘positive’ is an opaque image

(usually black), on a transparent
or translucent surface. Transparent
film, OHP film or acetate can be used,
as can tracing paper. Each separa-
tion must be printed out as a solid
opaque layer.

EXPOSING,
WASHING OUT
AND SPOTTING IN
Most open studios have industrial
exposure units with a vacuum that
sucks the screen down flat during
exposure.
The positives are secured to the
screen using clear tape to ensure
they do not move. They are then ex-
posed to UV light.
Once your screen has been ex-
posed it must be washed out or
‘blasted out’ in a washout area. A
hose with a forceful spray attach-
ment, or ideally a power hose is used
to spray both sides of the screen
with cold water, moving the jet of wa-
ter over the entire image. Where the
opaque parts of the positive were
exposed, the image starts to fall out.
This process is continued until the
emulsion has been washed out of the

11
 registration. The guides are taped in with a flat surface are used to check
place and the frame is lowered in to that the image is printing with clarity.
the printing position. The test paper is placed in position
PRINTING Newsprint or unwanted old prints and the screen is lowered into print-
There are numerous premixed inks ing position. A generous amount of
available to screenprint with. Paper ink is then scooped out at the end of
printing inks are more commonly the screen nearest to the printer.
water-based, or water soluble inks, The screen is lifted slightly so it
that can be bought either premixed is not in contact with the bed or the
or unmixed. The base ingredient of paper, and the ink is then ‘flooded’
these unmixed inks is acrylic paint, evenly and smoothly away from the
which must be mixed with screen- printer with the squeegee.
print medium before printing. The With the screen lowered into
medium acts as a retarder and en- printing position, both hands are
sures the acrylic does not ‘dry in’ on
the screen and block your image.
The majority of prints created to-
day are done so on vacuum beds, de-
signed to suck air through tiny holes
during printing to ensure the paper is
held down flat. The screen is fastened
into the frame of the vacuum bed and
the screws are tightened on all four
corners to ensure the screen does
not move during printing.
The bed is marked at each edge
to indicate where the paper should
be placed and rectangular pieces of
cardboard are cut for registration
guides. These ensure that the image
is printed in the exact same posi-
tion with every sheet of paper used.
If multiple colours are being print-
ed, guides are pivotal for accurate

used to pull the ink forward in one

firm movement, keeping the squee-
gee at a 45-degree angle.
The screen is then lifted up,
and the ink is again flooded back
to ensure the screen does not
dry in. When the test print has

12 Screenprinting—The Process in Brief

 CLEANING DOWN
All water-soluble ink can be cleaned
with water. To remove the emulsion
from the screen, a solution called
stencil strip is used. Once the screen
has been cleaned of ink and while
it is still wet, a generous amount
of stencil strip must be applied to
the entire screen, front and back.
A brush or sponge is often used to
work the stencil strip into the emul-
sion and cover all areas. This is left
for a few minutes to break the emul-
sion down. A high-pressured hose or
power hose is then used to blast out
all the emulsion until the screen is
completely clear.

been checked, the first print can replaced and the print run is started
be pulled onto the final stock. again. This process is repeated with
The print is then removed and placed each colour separation until the fin-
in the drying rack, and the process ished image is complete.
is repeated until the run is complete.
If multiple colours are being print-
ed, the next colour must be correctly
registered. To do this a piece of clear
plastic film or acetate is taped down
and laid flat over the paper.
The second colour is then printed
directly onto the plastic. This allows
the paper with the first colour to be
positioned so that it lines up correct-
ly with the new layer
When the printer is confident
in the registration, the guides are

13
Le Dernier Cri
Marseille, France

14 Screenprinting—Portfolios
Tarot de Mars: 21-card tarot box set, illustrated by Quentin Faucompré. Cards are printed in seven colours and the box in four, with
water-based Unico ink. The box is created from die-cut flat sheets that are folded and assembled by hand. Limited edition of 200.

Le Dernier Cri was founded in the early 1990s by Pakito How do you go about choosing who you work with for
Bolino and Caroline Sury in a studio/squat in Paris. In titles you produce? Do you hunt out the talent or do people
1996 the studio moved to Marseille, where it found its approach you?
autonomy. Since its inception, Le Dernier Cri has pro- Artists submit a project, then in some cases we adapt it for
duced more than 300 silk-screened books. During almost screenprinting and make it. Other times the artists come to
20 years of existence, it has become a meeting place for the studio and make the designs or colours directly on the
alternative art from all over the world. transparencies we use during the exposure process.

What drew you to publishing? Can you tell us a little about Publishing is an expensive business. How do you balance
what you were doing before you started Le Dernier Cri? the production costs with staying true to the visual aesthetic
Before Le Dernier Cri I made drawings for record covers. you are trying to produce?
I came from an art school where I learned not to do what they By underpaying ourselves for years in comparison to the
wanted me to do. Being an author myself, it was the lack of amount of work we produced. Do it yourself means do it
worthy publishers that led me to start Le Dernier Cri. yourself, and that you don’t become rich.

You specialize in producing screenprinted publications. What Pakito Bolino

warrants a decision to make a project entirely handmade? Le Dernier Cri
Mostly we silk-screen, but sometimes we use offset. Silk-
screening allows us to run small quantities with prints of
good artistic quality that can be easily checked.

15
Yokaï: 32-page book of drawings by French artist Céline Guichard, printed in 14 colours. Edition of 200.

16 Screenprinting—Portfolios
Jason Munn
Oakland, California, USA

17
One of the most respected and prolific artists working Yes, most of the work I get hired to do is based on clients
in the poster scene today, Jason Munn began making having seen my posters. A good amount of my work now
posters ten years ago for local venues and independ- is non-music-related, but the majority is still poster-related.
ent musicians under the pseudonym The Small Stakes.
Now working under his own name, Munn continues You have been a regular featuring artist at screenprint-
to focus on posters, as well as design and illustration specific events such as FLATSTOCK (see p. 58). What has
commissions. been the main benefit of being involved with events like this
that promote and encourage the medium?
How did you get into the screenprinted gig poster scene? FLATSTOCK was and is really important for me. I have
Friends of mine started booking shows at a small venue in attended most of the shows and early on it was definitely a
Berkeley, California, called The Ramp. I was asked to make way for me to get my work seen, but also, more importantly,
posters to promote the shows. I had made a couple of posters to learn from others involved in the same craft.
beforehand, but this is how I began producing work on a
regular basis. Many of your designs would translate just as well as digital
prints. What continues to draw you back to screenprinting as
Would you say that your client base has expanded outside a medium of choice?
the music industry due to your involvement in the handmade Screenprinting is cost effective for creating small runs, which
gig poster boom of the last decade? is important, but more so the craft of screenprinting is very

18 Screenprinting—Portfolios
attractive to me. Knowing that you will be outputting and T-shirts, tote bags, pocket-sized sketchbooks and mugs.
building the designs back up one colour at a time greatly ‘After showing early sketches that included a paintbrush
informs my choices during the design process. I appreciate painting a blue eye, the museum gravitated toward this
working within those built-in limitations. concept and I was asked to expand on this idea and cre-
ate a different eye for each category of the SFMOMA
You have recently reverted to your own name from your collection,’ Munn explains. The images were created us-
previous moniker The Small Stakes. Is this signalling a new ing representative elements of each department: the red,
chapter for you? green and blue of the RGB colour model for Media Arts;
It is more a reflection of my desire to keep things simple. a template and a pencil for Architecture and Design; a
camera for Photography; and a mobile with a paintbrush
Jason Munn for Painting and Sculpture.

After a selection of his posters were chosen to be part of

the permanent collections at the San Francisco Museum
of Modern Art and Denver Art Museum, Munn was
commissioned to create the four images in the SFMOMA
Artist Series shown here. The images started out as post-
ers but were then used on a number of products, such as

19
Nobrow Press
London, UK

20 Screenprinting—Portfolios
Nobrow Press was founded by Sam Arthur and Alex The concertina format allows the characters to unfold
Spiro in 2008. Nobrow works with talented illustrators before the viewer’s eyes, to a full length of around 104 cm
and graphic artists from around the world to produce (41 in). Painstakingly screenprinted on 280gsm Rives BFK
books, prints and other fine collectable objects, while tan-coloured paper, a layer of white was underprinted
Nobrow Small Press produces limited-edition screen- throughout the artwork. This not only enabled the white
printed projects. to stand out from the paper colour, but also provided
The project shown here, entitled Leggy Stunnerz, is a a glossy substrate to give extra punch to the vibrant
collaboration between contemporary artist Jock Mooney orange and pink. The book folds down and is secured
and animator/film maker Alasdair Brotherston. Aiming to with a neon pink bellyband. The limited edition of 50 is
produce a tactile object that best conveyed the carnival- signed, numbered and embossed with the Nobrow Small
like procession in Mooney and Brotherston’s drawings, Press seal.
the challenge was to create something that used the
screenprinting process to its full potential.

21
55 Hi’s
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA
55 Hi’s founder Ross Moody began curating designs for All prints in the collection were hand printed in-
the first edition of the Ampersand Collection in October house using a one-colour hydraulic press. Designs were
of 2011. Requests were sent out to nine fellow aspiring de- printed two to a 31.8 x 48.3 cm (12½ x 19 in) sheet of paper,
signers to create a custom ampersand. The only restric- then trimmed down to complete the limited-edition run of
tions were dimensions of 22.9 x 22.9 cm (9 x 9 in) and 200 packs.
use of two colours only. The designers were allowed their
own choice of stock from French Paper Co.

22 Screenprinting—Portfolios
Jamie Winder
London, UK
Designer Jamie Winder created this poster for a 2011 Lon- The composition of Winder’s poster Bones was as-
don exhibition entitled ‘Artcrank’. The show featured sembled from the many sad-looking ‘bones’ of vandalized
bicycle-inspired poster artwork and aimed to change how bicycles, some with parts stolen from them, that can be
people look at and think about bicycles, while support- seen chained and hanging from posts, fences and bike
ing the cycling community. It also introduced people to stands around London. Winder both designed and print-
talented local artists and sent them home with affordable, ed the five-colour poster, making use of clever overprinting
original works of art. to create extra tones. It was printed in an edition of 25.

23
Whitespace
Hong Kong, China

24 Screenprinting—Portfolios
Whitespace is a design consultancy that provides crea- Whitespace to launch a project called ‘Eye Wear, There-
tive direction, branding and interactive services across fore I Am,’ based on the idea of visionaries. The poster
various platforms. After a decade in New York, founder series, designed by Janet Lai, depicts four famous icons
Danielle Huthart returned to Hong Kong and founded from the film, music, fashion and design industries;
Whitespace in 2005. Recognized for a modern sensi- Whitespace chose Woody Allen, John Lennon, Yves
bility combined with strong ideas, the current team of Saint Laurent and Andy Warhol.
eight planners, designers and developers has established ‘We both agreed that we wanted these posters to be
Whitespace as one of the leading creative firms in Asia. collectable, and to us that meant it had to be something
The screenprints shown here were created to com- done by hand,’ explains Danielle Huthart. As valuable
memorate the fiftieth anniversary of Hong Kong–based and original as the vintage eyewear, the posters are hand-
eyewear company AOC1961. To make 2011 a year to re- screenprinted and produced in a limited edition of 400,
member, Martin Leung of AOC1961 joined forces with each measuring 43.2 x 60 cm (17 x 23 5⁄8 in).

25
Crispin Finn
London, UK

26 Screenprinting—Portfolios
Crispin Finn, aka Anna Fidalgo and Roger Kelly, is a movie. The posters are an open edition, printed in lim-
London-based duo creating design, illustration and ited batches of around 60–70 per run, hand-pulled on
ephemera exclusively in red, white and blue. 315gsm Heritage Wood Free paper.
One of the ongoing themes in Crispin Finn’s work is The Know Your Condiments screenprinted tea towel
exploring how groups of everyday objects can create dia- (opposite) was created in response to a brief from
logues when situated together. With this in mind, the goal Burgerac to design a burger-themed exhibition of prints
for the movie posters shown above (for Jaws, Breakfast and ephemera. Crispin Finn reduced the distinct shapes
at Tiffany’s and Annie Hall ) was to try to bring together of condiment bottles and labels to icon-like images, which
the key items that featured in each movie to find a unique, led to a layout that plays on the idea of an identification
alternative way of reading the narrative. Each print comes chart, with the answers placed discreetly enough around
with an accompanying card that specifies the precise mo- the edge of the design for it to be played as a simple game
ment when each of the objects depicted appears in the of recognition.

27
Mike McQuade
Chicago, Illinois, USA

28 Screenprinting—Portfolios
The Area Code Project is Chicago-based designer Mike resonate with them. ‘Area codes stand as an archaic sys-
McQuade’s ongoing venture to catalogue all the area tem in a modern world. Ask someone from Los Angeles
codes in the United States. After World War II ended, about the difference between 310 and 818. Ask a Manhat-
area codes were added to US telephone numbers to help tanite why he wants a 212. Have someone from Peoria
expedite long-distance phone service. Big cities were giv- tell you about 309. There’s power in the pride of place,’
en area codes lower on the rotary dial, such as 212 or 310, McQuade explains.
which were faster and easier to dial, while rural America Specific area-code posters are sold through the
got higher numbers. website, along with screen-printed canvas smartphone
Starting with his native Illinois and moving into cases (top) and flags (above) and other art ventures.
New York, Pennsylvania, California, Michigan, Ohio The hand-pulled, one-colour serigraphs (see opposite)
and Texas, McQuade invited people to write in via the measure 45.7 x 61 cm (18 x 24 in) and are printed on
Area Code Project website and share why their numbers French Paper Co. 100lb black cover stock.

29
The Heads
of State
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

30 Screenprinting—Portfolios
 Travel Series: art direction and design by Dustin Summers and
Jason Kernevich, illustrations by Dustin Summers.

Jason Kernevich and Dustin Summers began working feel familiar and warm, yet special and crisp: ‘We settled
together in 2002, making silk-screen posters for Phila- on screenprinting. We worked to reduce them down to
delphia’s independent music scene. Under the name their simplest forms and layered the imagery in such a
The Heads of State, they now run a full-service design way to achieve the maximum benefit from the colour
and illustration operation. Taking iconic elements from separations,’ Kernevich explains.
across the United States, the duo set out to create a series Posters for Chicago, Washington DC, Miami,
of vintage-inspired travel posters with a modern stylistic New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Seattle and San Fran-
twist. Represented places include the beaches of Miami, cisco were produced as an open-edition 35.6 x 61 cm
New York’s Statue of Liberty, and the Washington Monu- (14 x 24 in) screenprint, or an oversized 61 x 106.7 cm
ment in Washington DC. (24 x 42 in) archival print. They were printed in-house on
As the set of eight came together, the question of how 100% cotton, 190gsm watercolour stock.
to produce them became the main obstacle. They had to

31
Sonnenzimmer
Chicago, Illinois, USA

32 Screenprinting—Portfolios
 Free Jazz Bitmaps Vol. 1: co-released
by Hometapes and Sonnenzimmer.
Art and design by Sonnenzimmer.

Sonnenzimmer is a Chicago-based art and screenprint- chipboard sleeve and accompanied by an art print, also
ing studio run by Nadine Nakanishi and Nick Butcher. screenprinted, constructed from the art from the lathe-
Beginning life as a shared painting studio equipped with cut 7-inch series. ‘With the art print only partially visible
industrial screenprinting equipment, the venture quickly through the window, and the die-cut sleeve obscuring the
morphed into a design and print studio specializing in title of the record, our intention was to walk as closely
hand-crafted posters and design work for some of Chi- as possible to the line separating representation and
cago’s most recognized cultural institutions. abstraction, a characteristic common in free jazz music,’
Free Jazz Bitmaps Vol. 1 collects original electronic explains Butcher. When the art print is removed, a cleanly
music by Nick Butcher with reinterpretations by Chica- typeset LP dust sleeve is revealed, featuring text written
go-based jazz musicians Jason Adasiewicz, Tim Daisy, by each of the seven musicians involved. When the dust
Keefe Jackson, Mike Reed, Jason Roebke and Jason sleeve is removed from the chipboard sleeve, additional
Stein. The LP is packed in a die-cut screenprinted text becomes visible.

33
Stefan Hoffman
Rotterdam, The Netherlands

34 Screenprinting—Portfolios
‘Brand New (2)’ project at the Museum for Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto. The graphics are adapted from the museum’s logo and signage.

Stefan Hoffman uses a print process he has termed situation. He created a new graphic for the Centre for
‘vertical screenprinting’ to create site-specific projects Visual Arts in Utrecht by adapting fire alarm signage and
based on existing graphic material (signs, logos, adver- an exit sign found in the entrance of the centre (opposite).
tisements) from in and around the working location. The graphic was printed in two colours on the windows
With Dutch visual arts being hit hard by budget of the centre, with a protective extra sheet of glass added.
cuts, Hoffman wanted to find a way to focus on this

35
Les Tontons
Racleurs
Brussels, Belgium

36 Screenprinting—Portfolios
 La vie rustique: work by Maud Dallemagne, Pierre-Phillipe Duchâtelet,
Nicolas Belayew, Anne Brugni and McCloud Zicmuse of Les Tontons
Racleurs and Hôtel Rustique. Created and printed at Recyclart Art Centre
in Brussels, Belgium, in 2011.

During a residency at Recyclart Art Centre in Brussels, tent. The idea was to build a comfortable shelter where
screenprint collective Les Tontons Racleurs invited the people could get some rest from the noise and agitation
art collective Hôtel Rustique to collaborate with them. of the city.
The team first made a cabin out of reclaimed wood col- Anne Brugni and McCloud Zicmuse from Hôtel
lected from around the city. Everything that went inside Rustique designed the patterns. All the elements were
was then screenprinted: wallpaper, wooden floor, fabric printed with water-based inks.
used to make a tent, and even sheets for the bed inside the

37
Tind
Athens, Greece

38 Screenprinting—Portfolios
Manolis Angelakis, aka Tind, lives and works in Athens, What You See Is What You Get (opposite) and Die Rakete
Greece. A second-generation silk-screen printer, he learned (above). Both prints are 50 x 70 cm (195⁄8 x 27½ in),
by working as his father’s apprentice from a very early printed on different papers using glow-in-the-dark phos-
age. They currently share their working studio and learn phorescent and fluorescent UV-reactive inks, and manu-
different aspects of the trade from each other. factured glue to which, after printing, gold, glitter and
Tind uses a plethora of materials and new and old other materials can be applied.
methods to create prints such as the two shown here:

39
Tom Rowe
London, UK

40 Screenprinting—Portfolios
London Design Museum commissioned Tom Rowe to With Power in Numbers (above), Rowe set out to
create a series of screenprinted posters promoting and illustrate a series of obsolete calculators, with the aim of
celebrating the work of the prolific designer Kenneth producing prints that could be sold individually or as one
Grange (opposite). The project began by sifting through large poster. After researching images of old calculators,
hundreds of Grange’s designs and creating a shortlist. he decided on a five-colour scheme for the screenprint –
The shortlisted designs were illustrated in great detail by one of which being a transparent high gloss, which
Rowe, then processed and artworked for screenprinting. gave an added shine to the buttons and screens. The
All the prints were produced using oil-based ink over the large prints, measuring 102 x 72 cm (401⁄8 x 283⁄8 in), were
top of acrylic ink to give a much crisper finish. Printing produced in a signed edition of 50.
was by Bob Eight Pop in London.

41
Landland
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

42 Screenprinting—Portfolios
The two prints shown here, 84535 (no horsehead, no stop- This shows up in the grit and grain of the black layer once
lights) (opposite) and 84535 (this town ain’t big enough the final colour separations are built and printed out for
for the any of us) (above), were illustrated, designed and exposure; it is a key feature of Black’s visual style. The
printed by Dan Black and Jessica Seamans of Landland shades and tones are achieved with halftone dots of vary-
for the ‘Devil Town’ exhibition at Gallery 1988 in Venice, ing sizes, the same way photos are reproduced in news-
California, curated by fellow illustrator and poster artist papers and magazines. Both works were printed in five
Daniel Danger. colours (cyan, magenta, yellow, black and a transparent
Black starts his design process with pencil drawings. metallic silver) on French Paper Co. 100lb cover stock.
Compositions come together almost accidentally before The prints measure 45.7 x 61 cm (18 x 24 in) and are
being laboured over, with lots of erasing and redrawing. signed and numbered in variant editions.

43
Atelier Deux-Mille
Toulouse, France

44 Screenprinting—Portfolios
 (Opposite and above left) Enjoy Chaos 1, 2 and 3:
two-colour screenprints, 30 x 45 cm (113⁄4 x 173⁄4 in).

(Above right) Enjoy Chaos 4: three-colour screen-

print, 30 x 45 cm (113⁄4 x 173⁄4 in).

All prints by Nicolas Delpech, Atelier Deux-Mille.

This self-initiated project by Atelier Deux-Mille, Enjoy

Chaos, uses a CMY (cyan, magenta, yellow) sequence to
create ‘geometrical chaos’ with overlaying transparencies.
‘The frame-game appears by subtracting stripes in this
“photo-souvenir” of the Réunion Island. This progressive
series deals with mixing exotic melancholy with the
coldest abstraction,’ says Atelier’s Nicolas Delpech.

45
Kick Ass: illustration by John Remeter Junior, creative Mesrine: illustration and art direction by Paul Willoughby.
direction by Paul Willoughby. Printed in fluorescent ink with Printed on Paperback Cyclus Offset stock with spot varnish.
spot varnish on GF Smith Colorplan stock. Limited edition. Limited edition.

The Church
of London
London, UK
London creative agency The Church of London publish These striking pieces of artwork are further cele­
a bi-monthly independent movie magazine called Little brated in their own right by being reproduced as tactile,
White Lies featuring cutting-edge writing, illustration and limited-edition prints. Materials and finish vary per issue,
photography aimed to get under the skin of cinema. Each using unique elements such as spot gloss varnishes and
issue of the magazine takes a new film as the thematic lead fluorescent and glow-in-the-dark inks.
for its visual aesthetic, and The Church of London com-
missions an illustrator to produce a portrait of the film’s
main character.

46 Screenprinting—Portfolios
 (Top left) Arcade Fire United
States 2011 tour poster, #2
of 4.

(Top right) Arcade Fire Hyde

Park, June 30, 2011, concert
poster.

(Bottom left) Arcade Fire

Europe 2010 tour poster.

(Bottom right) Arcade Fire

Spain 2010 tour poster.

Burlesque of
North America
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Wes Winship and the team at Burlesque of North This resulted in a surreal collage of both supplied and
America designed and created 27 posters for Canadian self-interpreted images. The 48.3 x 61 cm (19 x 24 in)
band Arcade Fire’s 15-month run of shows supporting prints were created using the four-colour CMYK pro-
their Grammy-winning album The Suburbs. The set of cess, and sold in editions of 50 each.
four posters shown here worked in correlation with the
release of a short film directed by Spike Jonze made dur-
ing the tour. Winship was given a large number of black-
and-white images from Jonze’s film set to play with.

47
Hot Water Music band poster:
hand-printed in two colours
on 280gsm Metaphor Cream
paper, A2 (233⁄8 x 161⁄2 in).
Edition of 70.

London, UK

48 Screenprinting—Portfolios
Run by Bobby Evans, Telegramme Studio is an ongoing experts Herb Lester Associates. More than 40 of the
series of collaborations inspired by music, people, unique East End’s most appealing businesses are illustrated in
ideas and beautiful things. Evans’s energy is directed into a style influenced by traditional London signage. A three-
illustration and design and art direction, working with a colour hand-printed screenprint on A2 (59.4 x 42 cm/
host of clients from lifestyle store Habitat to publisher 233⁄8 x 16½ in) 280gsm Metaphor Cream stock was print-
Random House as well as producing work for various ed in a run of 250, each one numbered and signed.
bands and record labels.
A Pictorial Guide to East London (above) was a col-
laboration between Telegramme and local guide-map

49
 The National, Columbia: design and
illustration created by Dan Kuhlken and
Nathan Golman. Four-colour screenprint
on 80lb French Paper Co. Speckletone
Sand stock, 61 x 45.7 cm (24 x 18 in).

DKNG
Santa Monica, California, USA

50 Screenprinting—Portfolios
27 Club: design and illustration created by Dan Kuhlken and
Nathan Goldman. Set of four-colour screenprints, each 11.8 x
13.7 cm (45⁄8 x 53⁄8 in). Edition of 200. Sold in a jewel case that
also acts as a desktop frame.

51
Doe Eyed
Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

52 Screenprinting—Portfolios
 (Opposite) Heroes and Villains HD:
illustration and art direction by Eric
Nyffeler, printing by InkTank.com.

(Above) Garth Marenghi’s DARKPLACE:

illustration, art direction and copy by
Eric Nyffeler, printing by ScreenInk.com.
Three-colour process CMYK screenprint
on heavy white French Paper Co. stock.
Edition of 50.

The first release of Doe Eyed’s Heroes & Villains design it as a much larger 45.7 x 61 cm (18 x 24 in) version. The
comprised two smaller prints, each focusing on various designs were printed in four-colour process CMYK on
computer-game heroes or villains separately. For Heroes heavy white French Paper Co. stock, in an edition of 150.
& Villains HD (opposite), Doe Eyed brought them all
together, added a bunch of new characters, and released

53
Two Arms Inc.
Brooklyn, New York, USA

54 Screenprinting—Portfolios
 (Opposite) Ra Ra Riot 2011 Fall Tour poster:
three-colour screenprint on French Paper Co.
Natural stock, 45.7 x 61 cm (18 x 24 in).
Edition of 100.

(Below, left) Continental (Book) Shelf: three-

colour screenprint on French Paper Co. Kraft
stock, 45.7 x 61 cm (18 x 24 in). Limited edition.

(Below, right) Bridges Print: three-colour

screenprint on French Paper Co. Kraft
Speckletone stock, 45.7 x 61 cm (18 x 24 in).
Limited edition.

Two Arms Inc. is Michael Tabie and Karen Goheen, an and illustration. Their passion for serigraphy is reflected
illustration and design team best known for their gritty in their practice; their design studio also operates as a
screenprinted rock posters. Having previously spent six print shop, producing their designs as limited-edition art
years gaining experience in both small and large agencies, prints and rock posters.
Two Arms’ diverse portfolio showcases projects ranging
from high-end fragrance packaging to custom lettering

55
We Three Club
Cambridge, UK

56 Screenprinting—Portfolios
 Poster for Band Of Skulls concert at Leeds Uni: design by We Three Club. Two-colour screenprint, A2 (161⁄2 x 23 in). Limited edition of 100.

Cambridge-based We Three Club consists of Alex White commemorate shows within the festival. Having worked
and her husband Chris White, who together produce a with the band Blood Red Shoes since 2008, We Three
range of different projects mainly linked to music-based Club was commissioned to create a design that would
design and illustration. fit in with the promotional material for the band’s new
We Three Club put on an annual exhibition at the album (opposite). They were asked to look at the film
Camden Crawl Festival called ‘Poster Roast’, showcasing Paris, Texas, and combined references from it with
gig-poster artists from the UK. As part of this exhibition, imagery of the two band members shot by photographer
each year some of the artists create one-off posters to Anton Coene.

57
FLATSTOCK /
American Poster
Institute
North America / Europe

58 Screenprinting—Portfolios
FLATSTOCK 2012 at SXSW, Austin, Texas.

FLATSTOCK is a poster show presented by the Ameri- The first FLATSTOCK show was held in San
can Poster Institute, a nonprofit corporation dedicated Francisco in the autumn of 2002 and was a critical and
to serving poster artists and promoting the art form. The commercial success. FLATSTOCK 2 was presented in
API was formed in 2002 by a small group of poster artists March 2003 as part of the SXSW Music Conference in
and supporters; its ranks have since swelled to include Austin, Texas. Later that year the event became an on-
hundreds of artists and supporters worldwide. going part of the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, and in
The event is a true example of an artistic movement 2006 expanded to the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago and
developing its own community and culture – pushing the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, Germany.
the boundaries of an art form that for decades was seen FLATSTOCK features the work of some of the most
purely as a fine-art medium. The seeds of FLATSTOCK popular concert-poster artists working today, represent-
were sown when poster artist Frank Kozik started a con- ing a broad range of styles, regions and generations. Be-
versation on influential screenprint website gigposters cause the best concert posters have always captured both
.com about hosting a poster show in San Francisco. the essence of the music they promoted and the spirit of
Through the course of organizing that first show, Kozik, the time in which they were produced, FLATSTOCK
along with fellow poster artists Geoff Pevito, Jeff Klein- is an ideal venue for music fans and poster collectors to
smith, Jay Ryan, Nels Jacobson, Rene Debos and Clay meet the best artists in the business and pick up the art
Hayes, formed the American Poster Institute to facilitate they create.
future shows. FLATSTOCK co-founder Geoff Pevito
now acts as president of the API.

59
 Dexter, season 1–6: designed by Ty
Mattson. Three-colour screenprints on
black archival paper, each 45.7 x 61 cm
(18 x 24 in). Edition of 100 per season,
individually signed and numbered.

Mattson Creative
Irvine, California, USA

60 Screenprinting—Portfolios
 Minn. State Motto: by Steady Co.,
Erik A. Hamline. Two-colour process
screenprint on French Paper Co. 100lb
Construction Whitewash paper, 27.2 x
35.6 cm (11 x 14 in). Edition of 25.

Steady Co.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

61
Screenprinting in Focus

Chicha Posters
Lima, Peru

62 Screenprinting—Screenprinting in Focus
Making Chicha posters for the Equipo Plástico collective at Publicidad Viusa, the Urcuhuaranga family print shop, Peru.

Elliot Tupac is a name that has become synonymous with keen on traditional advertising methods, Tupac and his
the world of Chicha music – a popular Peruvian style that brothers began to refine a design process by creating
mixes Colombian Cumbia music with Andean Huayno distorted and hand-drawn fonts. These were printed
and rock beats. An established street artist in his own using a vibrant mix of fluorescent colour blends and solid
right, Tupac’s artistic talent and use of vibrant colours blacks. The fluorescent colours are a direct influence of
are direct influences from his father’s teachings. Tupac the embroideries and handicrafts from Huanca textiles
(born Elliot Urcuhuaranga) started to design posters for his father produced and sold. These colourways are seen
his father’s business at the young age of 11. The company throughout the Andean region.
started in the 1990s when his father was promoting Local music groups and musicians began to notice
cultural events and required advertising, so he turned these events posters at the fairs and markets and began
to his two young sons to produce these posters. Never to commission the family to produce further posters.

63
The finished Equipo Plástico posters drying after printing.

The format of these posters began as fairly standard 80 x design. Tupac is very aware that design trends within
60 cm (31½ x 235⁄8 in) prints; however, as their popularity the music industry have limited lifespans, and because of
increased, the Urcuhuaranga family became sought after this is keen to shift his focus from working solely with
by the country’s top Chicha and Cumbia bands, who musicians to working with visual artists – directing the
requested large-scale banners spanning four or five sheets. art form his family have created towards other creative
The family-run business produces everything from circles. This has led to collaborations with established
their print shop Publicidad Viusa, 13 kilometres (8 miles) street artists and collectives.
outside Lima, Peru. The posters are designed and Spanish street artist Eltono, aside from his personal
sketched out by hand on plain white butcher’s paper. work, is part of the Equipo Plástico art collective, which
Each typographic element is cut out and fixed directly also includes artists Nuria Mora, Nano4814 and Sixe. For
onto the screen to make a stencil. There is no use of their first show in Lima, the collective were inspired by
chemicals and no photographic processes; the hand- the many Chicha posters they saw pasted around the city,
cut paper stencils clog the mesh of the screen. Once and decided to use this style to make their own posters to
the print is completed, nothing remains of the original incorporate into the exhibition.

64 Screenprinting—Screenprinting in Focus
 Eltono: Cuadrimetria Chicha.

‘The Equipo Plástico projects are based on the They then simply handed over to Tupac and his brothers
observation of the city in which we are having an artistic a rough working of the text they wanted to appear on the
residency. The Chicha posters were one of the first stimuli posters, and let Tupac dictate the design.
we noticed and since the very first day we arrived in Lima A few days prior to the opening of the Equipo
we wanted to work with the medium. The curator of our Plástico exhibition, the four artists took their own Chicha
show, Jules Bay, found the contact of the Tupac Brothers’ posters and pasted them around the city.
studio and we went there to have our own Chicha posters Eltono also made an individual poster that was
done,’ explains Eltono. ‘We didn’t want to interfere in purely self-promotional. Cuadrimetria Chicha (above)
the design of the posters and were more interested in is printed in a signed and numbered edition of 25
observing the result than orienting it.’ on Canson paper in a five-colour blend, measuring 100 x
Each of the four members of the collective developed 70 cm (393⁄8 x 27½ in).
a poster from a satirical standpoint, based around a
topic that attracted their attention in Lima: the food, the
weather, the submerged economy and the filthy traffic.

65
Letter
press
Not many art forms could claim to be responsible for the greatest socio-
political changes in history. However, the invention of movable type is
arguably the reason we live in the world we do today.
A History of and relatively low price of the Gutenberg Bible

Letterpress aided the spread of education and literacy across

Europe. Printing was carried rapidly from Ger-
many by emigrating German printers and by
JOHANNES GUTENBERG AND THE foreign apprentices based in Germany returning
INVENTION OF MOVABLE TYPE home. The first copies of the Gutenberg Bible
Early books used hand-written forms of typog- appeared in the 1450s; by the mid-1500s, less
raphy. Because of the intensive labour involved than 100 years from its inception, Gutenberg’s
in producing books, they became a luxury avail- movable-type printing method had spread
able only to the very rich. Without books, a vital worldwide and more than 15 million books ex-
source of education, the majority of the global isted in the world.
population remained illiterate, often relying
on the word of institutions such as churches to DEVELOPMENT AND THE
provide them with knowledge. But things began INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
to change with the invention of movable-type Hand-fed platen presses were widely used and
printing in Europe. remained virtually unchanged for more than
German printer Johannes Gutenberg is cred- 300 years. Developments saw Gutenberg’s
ited with inventing the first movable-type printing screw mechanism replaced by the more effec-
press, with individual pieces of type that could be tive knuckle-and-lever system. The greatest
used repeatedly. Gutenberg made his own type step forward of this period was the invention
from an alloy of lead, tin and antimony, using of self-inking rollers. With advances in indus-
skills he had learned as an apprentice goldsmith. trial mechanisms, new presses featuring auto-
Gutenberg lived in Mainz, the heart of Ger- matic feed and delivery were introduced, such
many’s wine-making region. Having observed as the Heidelberg Windmill and Kluge presses.
local winemakers pressing grapes, he began Print-press engineers improved on the weight-
developing the screw mechanism found in the ing and leverage needed to create an imprint
wine presses into the first ‘platen’ printing press. on the page. Models such as the popular Adana
In this wooden hand-press, the type surface tabletop press capitalized on the combination
was manually inked before a piece of paper was of advanced engineering and automatic ink-
placed on top. This paper would then be covered ing, opening the door to bespoke small presses,
with a padded surface and the threaded press
mechanism would be used to apply pressure,
resulting in an impression of the text. Guten-
berg’s high-quality printing method proved to
be more suitable for printing books than any of
the methods previously developed in East Asia.

THE GUTENBERG BIBLE

Gutenberg’s most famous work is the Gutenberg
Bible – a printed version of the Bible regarded as
the first major book to be produced on a printing
press anywhere in the world. The high quality

Gutenberg Bible, printed by Johannes Gutenberg, c. 1455.

67
 stationers and hobby printers. These presses are THE DEMISE OF LETTERPRESS
still favoured by today’s ‘new wave’ of printers. PRINTING
Larger machines such as the Golding Jobber and Cylinder presses also brought about the devel-
Chandler & Price presses became the backbone opment of offset lithography – putting an end to
of fast-turnaround and high-volume newspaper commercial letterpress by the 1960s. The offset
printing. technique borrowed many elements from let-
terpress yet capitalized on the method by having
FLATBED AND CYLINDER PRESSES the inked image transferred from the plate to a
The 1930s saw cylinder presses being widely rubber cylinder, and then to the printing surface.
used by commercial printers. These presses Letterpress could not compete with the faster
were the first of their kind. Differing from the turnaround, superior registration and increased
platen printing press, the type is carried on a flat ease of full-colour printing. This resulted in a
bed under a cylinder that holds paper and rolls rapid fall in the use of letterpress as a commer-
over the type. These popular presses, such as the cially viable printing method. The majority of
famous Vandercook proofing press, had the abil- letterpress printers were forced to convert to the
ity to handle very large print runs. Further devel- offset method, with many machines cast aside
opments led to automatic cylinder presses such and destined for the scrapheap.
as the motorized flatbed press.
INTRODUCTION OF PHOTOPOLYMER –
THE SAVIOUR OF MODERN
LETTERPRESS
During the 1980s, print technicians began to see
the advantage of using photopolymer, a poly-
mer that changes its properties when exposed
to ultraviolet (UV) light. These technicians set
about developing new plates to suit the needs
of letterpress. These ‘flexographic’ plates, now
widely available, have a transparent base, greatly
increasing the ease of registration of different
plates when mounted to a type-high base with
grid lines on it.
The combination of this new technology
and advances in computer programs allowed a
greater variety of imagery and text to be com-
bined and output as artwork. This sped up the
process immensely, effectively doing away with
the most time-consuming element of letterpress
printing – typesetting. Photopolymer soon be-
came the industry favourite.

(Top) Chandler & Price platen press at Starshaped Press, Chicago.

(Above) Korrex cylinder press at Cliché Studio, Penza, Russia.

68 Letterpress—A History of Letterpress

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
LETTERPRESS REVOLUTION
The development of photopolymer printing has
broadened ideas of what is deemed acceptable
and desirable, and has allowed a new genera-
tion of letterpress enthusiasts to perfect the art
on their terms. Due to the internet, more widely
affordable equipment and greater educational
resources, letterpress has had a kind of revolu-
tion in the twenty-first century. An abundance
of ‘small press’ printers have set up shop in both
North America and Europe, each aiming to pro-
duce high-quality art and fine letterpress work.
Letterpress printing allows a large variety of
choices when it comes to using paper stock.
Handmade, wood-free and 100% cotton papers
are favoured by today’s printers due to the deep
‘bite’ than can be impressed into the soft stock.
This provides the printer with greater visual def-
inition to the type and artwork. It is this aesthetic
that has now become the industry standard. In
stark contrast, letterpress printers of a century
ago would aim for a ‘kiss’ on the page, with lit-
tle or no indentation wanted when producing
broadsheets and notifications. Printing would
almost always be done on thin, newsprint-weight
stock in order to achieve an even and consistent
print. The resurgence of letterpress printing has
been accompanied by a greater awareness of en-
vironmental concerns and sustainability issues.
A number of larger print shops, such as Boxcar
Press in Syracuse, New York, use wind-generated
electricity to drive their presses and plant equip-
ment. Many others have opted to use only solar
power. The potentially damaging nature of the
solvents used to clean traditional oil-based inks
has led to the development of soy-based inks.
The widespread use of these inks means that
printers can opt for a system that can be cleaned
without the use of damaging substances.
(Top) A polymer plate in use at Cliché Studio, Penza, Russia.
(Above) Platen presses at Boxcar Press, Syracuse, New York.

69
The
Process
in Brief MATERIAL
AND TOOLS
THE PROCESS
The design to be printed must first
Photopolymer plates have their Essential equipment includes: be composed digitally. This file can
birth in a commercial process –A printing press (this can be either then be output digitally as a negative
called flexographic printing. The a flatbed cylinder press, like a Van- (black backgrounds with clear type).
plates used for ‘flexo’ printing are dercook, or a platen press) Negatives should be made profes-
made from photo-sensitive polymer –Polymer plate of the design you are sionally, and may be inkjet-printed
plastic. Similar to the acid-etched printing on acetate, or better still, digitally
zinc and magnesium plates –A polymer plate base (this brings output onto photographic, silver-
previously used for printing images, your design up to ‘type high’, a work​ based lith film.
these are exposed photographically able printing surface that is common-
and then etched with water to ly 2.33 cm or 0.918 in. There are many
develop a raised printing surface. styles and thicknesses of photo​ -
While printers of yesteryear would polymer plates, each with its own
commonly hand-set metal type matching base. Be sure the plate and
to accompany their images, most base you are using work together)
printers today prefer to create –Ink
their type on the computer and –Paper for printing
reproduce the design, both type –Cleaning solvents and rags
and images, as a single polymer –Gloves.
plate for printing. If you are making your own polymer
plates, you will need: These films are used to expose a
–Access to a polymer plate maker or polymer plate. The plates are pho-
UV exposure unit tosensitive and what is exposed to
–A film of your design light will polymerize and harden. Any
–Unexposed polymer plate. part of the plate that is not exposed
to light will remain water-soluble.
To develop the image, the exposed
plate is washed in a water bath and
scrubbed with soft brushes, and
unexposed polymer will break down
and then wash away. The hardened
polymer, in the shape of the design
on the film, will remain attached to
the plastic or metal plate backing,
and become the matrix for the print.

70 Letterpress—The Process in Brief

HANDLING
PLATES
Photopolymer plates are UV sensi-
tive. While they may not be affected
quickly by common indoor lighting,
they should always be kept in light-
tight conditions, and taken out only
when needed. Exposure to sunlight
should be avoided.

exposure unit, the clear protective

PLATEMAKING film is removed from the emulsion-
While it is not necessary to use an side of the plate and the plate is
all-in-one exposure unit, a machine placed emulsion side up on the
intended specifically for exposing exposure bed. The film negative is
and developing polymer plates, they then placed emulsion side down di-
do produce the best results. That rectly onto the plate (such that the
said, it is possible to expose your text or image is now being viewed
plates on other UV exposure units backwards through the film). A soft
and hand-wash your image after ex- plastic covering called kreene is
posure. Be warned that this can pro- rolled over the film and plate, and a
duce unpredictable results. vacuum pump is used to pull out any
air under the kreene, ensuring tight
contact and a clean exposure of the
film to the plate.
This bed is then rolled under the
UV bulbs, and the image from the
film is hardened into the polymer
plate. Exposure times will vary be-
tween exposure units.
After exposure, the plate is re-
moved and placed onto a rotating

washout platen. When closed, a

motor will turn the washout platen
against soft brushes in a water bath.
Unexposed polymer will soften in
the water and wash away. Hardened
polymer will retain the shape of the
design as a raised surface.
After washout, the plate is dried
All-in-one exposure units are capable to remove all water, and then re-
of exposing a plate, washing, drying, turned to the exposure bed for a post-
and the post-exposure, all the parts exposure of UV light. This will help to
of the platemaking process. ensure that all the polymer is fully
To make plates on an all-in-one hardened before printing.

71
PRINTING
Polymer plates produce very reliable
results when used correctly for print-
ing. To print from a polymer plate, it
must first be attached to a polymer
plate base, and this base must be
locked into the press. Some polymer
plates are backed with steel, and
their corresponding bases are mag-
netic. Non-magnetic, plastic-backed
polymer plates are attached to a
smooth, non-magnetic base with a
double-sided adhesive sheet. The
process of printing from a polymer
plate is no different from printing is then pressed onto the plate with be exposed and developed. After
from any other type-high form or pressure. The image is transferred printing the first colour’s design, the
matrix on the same press. In a single from the plate to the sheet and the plates are changed out, the press is
cycle, the ink rollers will pass over process begins again. cleaned and re-inked in a new col-
the raised surface of the plate. With If the design is being printed in our, and the process begins again.
the surface inked, a sheet of paper two colours, a second plate must Careful alignment of both the poly-
mer plates and of each sheet being
fed through the press is necessary
for consistent registration of each
colour.

72 Letterpress—The Process in Brief

 Similar to cleaning the plates, for you from your digital files. This
lint-free rags should be used to clean can be a large company that ships
the press. Each ink roller must be worldwide or a local shop across
CLEANING DOWN wiped completely free of ink using town. Ask around to see what’s most
AND STORAGE mineral spirits or commercial-grade convenient for you.
When printing is finished, each roller wash to fully clean the press
plate should be wiped down care- rollers. Kyle Van Horn
fully with a lint-free rag. Sometimes a Some printing jobs require more Baltimore Print Studios
little solvent is necessary for help- troubleshooting than others. Thicker www.baltimoreprintstudios.com
ing to clean ink from areas with fine papers require a different amount of
details. Gloves should be worn, and packing and pressure than thinner
recommended safety precautions papers, and smooth sheets of paper
should be followed in accordance will require a different quantity of ink
with the solvent in use. Adhesive and produce different results from a
backed plates will have a protective pillowy cotton rag paper.
peel-off backing that can be replaced Additionally, every style, brand,
for plate storage. Metal backed and model of printing press is unique
plates have no protective backing. in its own way. Taking time to learn
Both plates should be stored in an the specific details of your particu-
airtight zip-top bag and pressed lar press is critical for producing
flat between heavy cardboard to quality prints.
prevent curling and preserve lon- It should also be noted that all-
gevity. Properly cared for, polymer in-one platemakers are a costly
plates may be reused dozens of investment. If you are interested in
times and can produce thousands experimenting with polymer plates,
of impressions. many companies will make plates

73
Studio on Fire
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

74 Letterpress—Portfolios
 Air Kraft, French Paper
Co. promotion: printed
by Studio on Fire for
Charles S. Anderson
Design.

Studio on Fire’s daily mission is to create outstanding design background of our shop. We understand the hours
work featuring best-in-class print design, letterpress that go into producing great design. I personally came to let-
printing and specialty finishing methods. Since their terpress as a graphic designer who was missing my shop
shop opened over a decade ago with a single press in time. Now, working with other designers and being attentive
founder Ben Levitz’s basement, they’ve acquired over to their premium print expectations is where we excel.
a dozen well-oiled vintage presses and are staffed with
technicians dedicated to the craft of exceptional print How do you choose which press will best suit the job?
production. Our Heidelberg presses complete 95 per cent of our jobs. We
choose a 10 x 15 in (25.4 x 38.1 cm) platen press for smaller
Studio on Fire provides in-house design services as well sheet sizes or smaller artwork area. Any die-cutting or foil-
as printing services. Did you come to letterpress through stamping work is done with our 13 x 18 in (33 x 45.7 cm)
graphic design or the other way around? platens. Our cylinder presses are used for larger sheet
We are great printers for designers because of the strong sizes and artwork that requires more impression area.

75
(Right) Howler magazine
business cards: designed
by Priest and Grace,
printed by Studio on Fire.

(Below) Buzzed and

Fuzzed: designed and
printed by Studio on Fire.
Set of two prints, printed
in three inks (brown,
yellow and a tonal warm
grey) on Wausau Royal
Compliments Natural
White 100c paper,
each 32.1 x 24.4 cm
(125⁄8 x 95⁄8 in).

Cylinders are our favourites and are ideal for fitting mul- What are the main difficulties you find yourself handling on
tiple pieces on the same press sheet and for longer runs. a day-to-day basis in the workshop?
We keep our hand-feed presses like the Gietz and Vander- The biggest difficulty on any given day is the shrinking
cooks handy for difficult-to-feed objects and small-run jobs. knowledge about print production. Digital media and digital
printing are now the mainstays for designers. We hear
Letterpress has been transformed dramatically in the past from designers every day that have a fantastic design they
decade due to the wider use of photopolymer plates. What is want us to print, but it is often completely inappropriate
your view on photopolymer? for letterpress. Then comes the education process. The
Polymer has brought with it the ability to letterpress-print a learning curve of potential clients can be very steep when
wider array of design aesthetics than ever before. But plates they have no previous print experience to draw from. And
are still just a means to an end. It still requires craft to image usually there’s some shock at what they have proposed.
film, expose correctly, make ready on press and finally to
print well. We think polymer is a great way to control our Ben Levitz
whole process in-house and get exceptional final projects. Principal, Studio on Fire

76 Letterpress—Portfolios
 Sunshine:
designed and
printed by Studio
on Fire using a
tri-colour split
fountain that
fades from red to
orange to purple,
30.5 x 40.6 cm
(12 x 16 in).
Limited edition
of 150 hand-
numbered prints.

French Paper Co. have had a longstanding relationship printed for Howler magazine, a quarterly publication for
with Charles S. Anderson Design in Minneapolis, USA, soccer enthusiasts in North America. When something
that has fueled and produced some of the most visual is printed blind, as an impression only, it relies solely on
ephemera to promote paper in the last decade. Studio good lighting conditions to be legible. Studio on Fire’s
on Fire were excited to be a part of that legacy with the solution to this problem was to print using tonal ink,
latest French Paper Co. promotion – a paper ‘Air Kraft’ which creates just enough contrast between the artwork
(see pp. 74–75). and the paper to make the contact information visible.
Working closely with the designers at CSA to finalize
the production, the sheets were letterpress-printed in two
colours on French Paper Co. Speckletone Kraft 140lbC
stock. The Air Krafts are flight-worthy once they have
been assembled according to the instructions, with a coin
taped into the nose of the plane for a good glide.
The business cards shown opposite (top) were

77
The Hungry
Workshop
Melbourne, Australia

78 Letterpress—Portfolios
 Creative Women’s Circle bookmarks: letterpress-
printed in two colours (a hand-mixed blue to
match the cover of the CWC’s book Conversa-
tions with Creative Women and a double hit of
silver) on Crane’s Lettra 300gsm, 100% cotton,
tree-free stock. Designed and printed by The
Hungry Workshop, Simon and Jenna Hipgrave.

Simon and Jenna Hipgrave started their letterpress studio You are a husband and wife team and have both enjoyed
The Hungry Workshop as a way of challenging their successful careers in graphic design. What made you give it
creative output outside work hours. Coming from a small all up for a handmade independent venture?
design studio, Jenna’s extremely detail-oriented aesthetic The reason we started out in creative careers in the first
complemented Simon’s more conceptually minded, place was because we liked making things, but it felt like
broader ideas, which he gained through his time work- that process of making had been lost along the way due to
ing as an art director. After the success of designing and technical advances and the immediacy of digital. It’s rare
printing their wedding invitations, the pair became heavi- that you are in complete control of your own output, as it’s
ly involved in letterpress in early 2011, when they founded often sent out for external production: to a developer, printer,
The Hungry Workshop. photographer, director, etc. The moment when something
you’ve conceived in its entirety (from taking the brief, to
creating the concept, to building the design, to mixing the ink,

79
 Promotional giveaway for The Rabbit
Hole Ideation Café: printed in two
colours (fluorescent green and a
double hit of silver) on 390gsm Beer
Mat Board. The die-cut shapes can be
put together to create a stylized rabbit.
Designed and printed by The Hungry
Workshop, Simon and Jenna Hipgrave.

to the physicality of the print process) lands in the delivery against slick, mass-produced products. In a world of touch
and has come together just as well as you had planned is a screens, emails, status updates, likes and text messages,
pretty incredible and satisfying experience. It wasn’t long the contrast of a personal, tactile and hand-delivered piece of
before we were hooked on that process and decided that it communication is just that much stronger.
was important for us to pursue it as a career.
How do you balance your printing duties with your in-house
We have seen a huge resurgence in the handmade aesthetic design duties?
and printmaking movements in both the UK and USA. How It’s a bit of a mix – we tend to treat both projects very
would you describe the scene in Australia? similarly because we take a creative approach to the print
The scene is certainly picking up. Australia has a genuine process as well as our design projects. It’s very hard for us to
interest in locally produced and handcrafted products, and differentiate between the two. Both tend to be a relief, though:
has for a long time. Hard work, like shearing sheep, is part of when a project finally hits the press it feels great to get off
our national identity and letterpress printing carries some of the desk, roll up our sleeves and get to work. The presses are
that charm. The resurgence is also due, in part, to a backlash quite rhythmic and even though it’s quite physical, it’s very

80 Letterpress—Portfolios
meditative work. However, when presswork winds down it’s The skateboard shown above is a self-initiated pro-
a nice feeling to sit back at the desk, fire up the Mac and get ject for an exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria
the sketchbooks out again. featuring one of the most comprehensive historical skate-
board collections in Australia. The board features over
Simon Hipgrave 200 scored and die-cut feathers letterpress-printed with
The Hungry Workshop silver ink on Curious Metallics Red Lacquer and Choco-
late stock. Each feather was hand folded and attached to
The Hungry Workshop designed and printed a book- the back of the board using a hot-glue gun.
mark to accompany Conversations with Creative Women,
a collection of interviews with some of Australia’s most
talented female creatives (see pp. 78–79). The workshop
relied heavily on the exceptionally accurate registration
capabilities of their Heidelberg Windmill press. The scis-
sors were forme-cut on the same machine using a die.

81
Cliché Studio
Penza, Russia

82 Letterpress—Portfolios
Despite always having loved typography and graphic required a very precise register. It was printed on Savoy
design, Eugeny Perfilev was somewhat of a latecomer to Bright White 220lb, 100% cotton stock.
letterpress. But from the moment he saw the letterpress Lemur Cards approached Cliché Studio to print
projects of American artists online, he knew that letter- their ‘Make Love Not Work’ card, illustrated by Leonid
press was what he wanted to do and left his rather good, Zarubin (above). It was printed on Conqueror Connois-
but unexciting, office job to found Cliché Studio in 2010. seur Neutral 300g 100% cotton stock on a Korrex Nürn-
Cliché Studio developed and printed a Christmas berg Proof Press. With a run of 200, using three Van
card with a traditionally Russian flavour (opposite). Son Pantone colours, the printing took eight full days
The project was complicated by the fact that the design to complete.

83
Ladyfingers
Letterpress
Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA
This wedding invitation pack by Ladyfingers Letterpress with neon pink edge painting, with a perforated RSVP
includes invitations to both the wedding and a pre- section at the bottom, which people could tear off and
wedding ‘backyard soirée’, an RSVP card and return return with their formal response. The wedding RSVP
envelope, a wine-glass label, and a booklet containing card was also printed on 220lb Crane’s Lettra. The invi-
additional details about the event. tation itself was a four-colour print on a 27.9 x 43.2 cm (11
The soirée invitation was a thick, 220lb Crane’s x 17 in) sheet of Crane’s 100% cotton 120gsm fluorescent
Lettra card printed in one colour on the front and back white paper.

84 Letterpress—Portfolios
Mattson
Creative
Irvine, California, USA
Ty Mattson, director of Mattson Creative, designed this
special limited-edition birth announcement card for his
son Shepard. The card, 18.4 cm (7¼ in) square, was
printed by Studio on Fire (see p. 74) on Crane’s Lettra
220lb Flo White paper stock in bright red and blue col-
ours. The registration was extremely tricky due to the
tight fitting and zero trapping.

85
 Invitation card:
designed by
Farm Group of
Thailand. Hand-
folded envelope
with wax seal.

Press a Card
Bangkok, Thailand

86 Letterpress—Portfolios
 Padavic wedding pack: designed and printed at
Vahalla Studios LLC. Art direction by Dan Padavic,
design by Dan Padavic and Mica Carlile.

Vahalla Studios
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
A combination of print processes was used to produce The invitations, coasters and tags were both letter­
the wedding pack shown here. The goal was to create press-printed and screenprinted, with the aprons,
a system that reflected Melissa and Dan Padavic as a fam- signage and place mats also hand-screenprinted. All print
ily – including their two dogs, Kona and Daphne. From and production was done in-house at Vahalla Studios,
colour palette to patterns, paper stock to signage, the the design and print company that Dan Padavic runs with
couple wanted all the material to work in a cohesive way. illustrator and designer Tad Carpenter.

87
Anenocena
Los Angeles, California, USA

88 Letterpress—Portfolios
 Symbiosis: type design, art
direction, design and print-
ing by Ana Gómez Bernaus.
Printed at The Arm (www.
thearmnyc.com).

Ana Gómez Bernaus’s work examines the relationship as shaping elements. The harshness of the branches is
between typography and illustration. Having always had balanced by the delicacy of the detailed embroidery; they
a passion for all things visual, she moved to New York in work together in a symbiotic relationship, creating natural
2009 to establish her design studio Anenocena and expand and organic shapes that inspire quietness and latency.
her client base. She has since relocated to Los Angeles. Using a Vandercook press and Van Son Rubber
Symbiosis is a promotional project focused on type Base Plus inks, Bernaus did all the printing at The Arm –
experimentation. Based on the typeface Didot Elder, Ber- a public-access letterpress studio and gallery in
naus created a display font using branches and embroidery Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

89
 Hanging with the Dead (Cloudy Collection,
Volume III, Special Edition): art by Natasha
Allegri, Sam Bosma, Emily Carroll, Michael
DeForge, David Huyck, Michael Slack and
Steve Wolfhard.

Cloudy/Co
Moscow, Indiana, USA

90 Letterpress—Portfolios
 2012 Calendar of the
Impending Apocalypse
(Cloudy Collection, Volume
III, Special Edition): art by
Emory Allen, Joe Alterio, Ana
Benaroya, Kali Ciesemier,
Amy Crehore, David Huyck,
Adam Koford, Joe Lambert,
Phil McAndrew, Luke Pear-
son, Vincent Stall and Jaime
Zollars. Set of 12 prints,
printed in water-soluble inks
on recycled paper, each
15.2 x 15.2 cm (6 x 6 in).
Printed by Vahalla Studios,
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
(see p. 87).

Inspired by the idea of bringing great art into the world a charity – usually an environmental organization such as
at an affordable price, David Huyck decided to start the the Nature Conservancy.
Cloudy Collection collaborative print project in 2009. The letterpress prints are made on sustainable
Huyck chooses a theme and a colour scheme, and then bamboo paper and printed at Boxcar Press in Syracuse,
invites a group of artists to make prints based on those New York.
constraints. Cloudy/Co then sell the resulting sets of
prints, and the proceeds go to the printing, the artists and

91
Hatch
Show Print
Nashville, Tennessee, USA

92 Letterpress—Portfolios
 (Opposite) Acuff at
the Grand Ole Opry:
designed and printed
by Hatch Show Print.

(Left) Triple Elvis:

designed and printed
by Jim Sherraden.

Hatch Show Print is a celebrated letterpress poster and Like everything printed at Hatch, the prints shown
design shop located in downtown Nashville. In addition here were produced using handset wood and metal
to their day-to-day work for contemporary clients, they type, or original woodblocks. Both were printed on
also create artwork to sell in their retail store, using the Vandercook proofing presses using oil-based ink and
shop’s archive as inspiration. Starting as a full-service acid-free paper.
poster and design company founded in 1879, it has
weathered multiple changes in printing technology and
is now a destination for lovers of letterpress around the
world. It has become a part of the fabric of Nashville his-
tory and Southern culture, so much so that the print shop
has now become a division of the Country Music Hall of
Fame and Museum in Nashville.

93
 (Top left) Hello: by Ben Grib. Printed in rubber-based
ink on Ivory 280gsm thick cotton-rich paper.

(Top right) You, Me and the Sea: by Ben Grib. Printed

in rubber-based ink on Ivory 280gsm thick cotton-
rich paper.

Essie
Letterpress
Western Cape, South Africa

94 Letterpress—Portfolios
A Two Pipe
Problem
London, UK
Stephen Kenny, creative director of letterpress studio A type foundry and the dates they were in business – many
Two Pipe Problem, was approached by Akira Irie of Japa- of which were of this period. The bags themselves were
nese wholesaler Homestead Ltd. to produce these heavy- inspired by American 1950s postal bags.
weight ‘Type Foundry Bags’. Irie had no specific brief in As well as producing cards, art prints and other
mind for Kenny, other than wanting something interest- design work for clients as diverse as Tate Publishing,
ing and authentically British to sell in Japan. Design Museum and Innocent Smoothies, A Two Pipe
Each bag was printed on a small Stephenson Blake Problem also holds letterpress workshops in their East
proofing press using Van Son ink. Kenny’s type collec- London studio.
tion dates back to 1838, and each bag features a British

95
Power and
Light Press
Portland, Oregon, USA

96 Letterpress—Portfolios
 (Opposite, top left): Kyle Durrie at
work inside the Moveable Type Truck.

(Opposite, bottom): The Moveable

Type Truck at various stages of the
conversion process.

(Left) Moveable Type tour poster:

designed and printed by Power and
Light Press.

Kyle Durrie is the proprietor of letterpress studio In early 2012, Durrie completed a 10-month tour,
Power and Light Press. Another of Durrie’s projects driving the Moveable Type Truck all over North Amer-
is the Moveable Type Truck, a 1982 Chevy step van ica, teaching workshops, giving printing demonstrations,
converted into a fully functional mobile print shop. and generally spreading the word about printing the old-
A Kickstarter campaign in November 2010 provided fashioned way.
the funds to purchase the van and fit it with built-in
cabinets and workspace, a sign press from the mid-
twentieth century, and an 1873 Golding Official No. 3
tabletop platen press.

97
Scotty
Reifsnyder,
Visual
Adventurer
Lititz, Pennsylvania, USA

98 Letterpress—Portfolios
The Heroes of Folk cards (opposite) were illustrated Reifsnyder was asked by Disney to produce this
and designed by Scotty Reifsnyder as a series of six let- Mickey Mouse–themed illustration (above) for an exhi-
terpress prints to help promote his illustration studio. bition celebrating the opening of the WonderGround
Starting with pencil studies of American folklore heroes, Gallery in the Downtown Disney District at the Disney­
Scotty found inspiration for the illustrations listening to land Resort. The gallery showcases artwork inspired by
his father’s record collection of old country music and Disney and Pixar films, characters and icons. STMJR
folk tunes. The cards were pressed by Scott T. McClel- Print Philadelphia printed the three-colour, art deco–
land of Two Paper Dolls in Wayne, Pennsylvania. inspired, playing card–themed design.

99
Blush
Publishing
Flintshire, North Wales, UK

100 Letterpress—Portfolios
Blush worked with design outfit The Ubiquitous Illustrator Gemma Correll came to Blush to print
Manufacturing Company to print the business cards a limited-edition run of her highly detailed Ampersand
shown opposite. The 1000mic 100% recycled dark illustration (above). Blush letterpress-printed the artwork
grey board and a combination of metallic print- on their Heidelberg press in two colours on 300gsm
ing and edge painting resulted in a simply gorgeous Somerset 100% cotton paper. The A4 (210 x 297 mm/
product. The cards were printed double-sided on a 8¼ x 11¾ in) prints are in a limited edition of 250, signed
Heidelberg platen press in silver ink. and numbered.

101
 Tandem: created
for the ‘Artcrank’
show in St. Louis,
Missouri. Printed
with six letter­
pressed colours
and one colour
silk­screen for
the bikes.

Brad Vetter
Nashville, Tennessee, USA

102 Letterpress—Portfolios
 (Top) Bones: printed in two colours on 360gsm white rag
paper, on a Heidelberg Windmill press.
(Above) Magma Press business cards: printed on Crane’s
Lettra 600gsm white 100% cotton stock, duplexed with
300gsm Colorplan.
All works by Andre Pessel, Magma Press.

Magma Press
Breukelen, Netherlands

103
Boxcar Press
Syracuse, New York, USA

104 Letterpress—Portfolios
(Opposite) Simple (Cloudy Collection Volume II, Edition 4): Corinna Raznikov Photography stationery: designed
art by Graham Annable, Tad Carpenter, Jennifer Daniel, by Sharon Bartholomew and Pier Gustafson, hand
Tom Gauld, Blanca Gómez, David Huyck and Lauren calligraphy by Debi Zeinert of The Blooming Quill.
Nassef. Letterpress printed by Boxcar Press. Letterpress printed by Boxcar Press.

Boxcar Press specializes in letterpress printing. They also Boxcar also printed these marketing pieces for
offer offset printing, die-cutting and foil-block stamping, Corinna Raznikov Photography (above). The letterpress-
as well as manufacturing and selling letterpress-printing printed correspondence card, pricing card and promo-
supplies – photopolymer plates, type-high base systems, tional card were printed in a bright red ink and blind
inks and other sundries – for print shops worldwide. debossed with a hit of transparent white to make the
Shown opposite is a selection of prints produced by colours pop.
Boxcar Press for Cloudy Collection (see pp. 90–91). The
illustrations were printed in a vivid magenta ink and blind
debossed with a hit of transparent white.

105
Bravo Company
Singapore

106 Letterpress—Portfolios
Five & Dime Eatery branding and identity:
creative direction by Edwin Tao, design by
Amanda Ho. Letterpress services by Presna.
Amster Printing Service (offset printing)
and Venue31 (screenprinting) produced
the other elements in this collection of
marketing material.

107
The Cast Iron
Design Company
Boulder, Colorado, USA

108 Letterpress—Portfolios
 Jack Sinclair Letterpress
Studio branding materials
and opening invitation:
design by Jonathan Black,
Cast Iron Design Company.
Art direction by Jonathan
Black and Richard Roche,
Cast Iron Design Company.
Printed by Jim Irwin,
Letterpress Finesse.

Richard Roche and Jonathan Black met in design school materials for the newly opened Jack Sinclair Letterpress
and quickly realized they had a natural chemistry, along Studio. For the grand opening celebration, an invitation,
with complimentary skillsets; they founded the Cast Iron a commemorative print, bookmarks and a set of coasters
Design Company in August 2010. The name refers to the were designed. The goal was to create responsibly pro-
timeless, simple, efficient and functional qualities of a duced objects while maintaining the beauty and aesthetic
cast-iron skillet – characteristics that inform the studio’s qualities of letterpress.
design philosophy. With the exception of the coasters, everything was
Cast Iron were commissioned by the University of printed on Smooth Ivory 100% recycled 160lb double-
Arizona School of Art to produce the branding and print thick cover stock.

109
Cranky
Pressman
Salem, Ohio, USA

110 Letterpress—Portfolios
 Cranky Camp
certificate: design
and illustration by
Oliver Barrett.

Cranky Pressman was created in partnership by brothers with customers’ printing shipments. The coasters were
Keith and Jamie Berger. Keith has operated a print shop printed in two spot colours (orange and blue-green)
since 1984, and Jamie is an old-school art director who on pulpboard stock on a Heidelberg Windmill press,
spent most of his career in cigarette-smoke-filled adver- using magnesium printing plates created from digital art-
tising agencies. The print shop is still operating today in work files.
the middle of a small Ohio town. Anyone who’s familiar Cranky Pressman also holds regular letterpress
with the handmade look and feel that letterpress brings workshops called Cranky Camp, at the end of which
to a design understands why Cranky Pressman still works participants are awarded a certificate (above): ‘The idea
this way. for the certificate was to have something to give to folks
This set of four coasters (opposite), each illustrated after they’ve successfully completed the workshop,’
by Parliament of Owls Design, was produced to be used explains Jamie. The certificate is printed in four colours
as promotional mailing pieces, inserted in packages along on Crane’s Lettra Pearl White 110lb cover stock.

111
Fabien Barral
France

112 Letterpress—Portfolios
 2012 Letterpress Calendar:
designed by Fabien Barral.
Set of 13 cards, printed on 480g
ecoboard, 100% recycled stock,
each 19 x 12 cm (71⁄2 x 43⁄4 in).
A limited edition of 500 copies
were hand-numbered and
stamped with a custom-made
rubber stamp embellished with
Barral’s ‘Mr. Cup’ moniker.

French graphic designer Fabien Barral is passionate three inks are applied and mixed together during the
about all forms of design and creativity. A design prac- printing process. This results in each of the cards having
titioner and creator of the highly regarded design blog their own unique colour blend. Polish letterpress studio
Graphic Exchange, Barral’s enthusiasm for his subject is Lettera Magica printed the cards, with just a single poly-
clear for all to see. mer plate used for the project.
Since 2009, Barral has redesigned his business cards
every year: ‘My business cards express more about me
than a complete portfolio,’ he says. For 2012 (opposite),
he decided on a ‘split fountain’ print, in which two or

113
Kelli
Anderson
Brooklyn, New York, USA

114 Letterpress—Portfolios
Kelli Anderson romanticized the mystery and idiosyn- First, she digitally traced the route to the wedding in
crasy of the Icelandic landscape in this bilingual wedding Google Maps, identifying and illustrating landmarks;
invitation (opposite). The invitation is a two-colour let- she then created a paper ‘road’ in the shape of the route.
terpress print on duplexed blue stock. It is sealed up with These elements were digitized and screen-printed on
a band in a variety of colours and printed in silver ink fabric to form the map design, which was wrapped in a
with the couple’s names. Anderson printed everything band letterpress-printed with the event details.
herself on a 1919 Pearl new-style press, housed in her Anderson also made this band card for Adam
home studio. Roddic and The Royal Chains (above). The multiple-
Anderson created a handkerchief map/wedding choice format enables each band member to personalize
invitation for Youngna Park and Jacob Krupnick (top). the card.

115
Woods &
Weather
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

116 Letterpress—Portfolios
Minneapolis native Erik Hamline now heads up pro- in four colours (including three fluorescent inks) on
ceedings at Minnesota print shop Steady Co. (see pp. French Paper Co. Speckletone Cream Cordtone stock.
61, 211–12). However, before the company’s inception Hamline worked with illustrator Andrew Devore
in 2010, Hamline had been learning his trade as a senior on the design for the Erik Brandt album shown above.
design and art direction at seminal Minneapolis print The packaging houses both a fold-up lyric sheet and
shop Studio on Fire (see pp. 74–77). In addition to his a CD, with unique shaped die cuts on the flaps. The
work at Steady, Hamline works under the moniker Woods design keeps cost down: the panels are all printed on
& Weather for certain design and illustration jobs. one side only and the fold-up design allows for do-it-
Hamline designed the identity and ephemera for yourself assembly. The packaging was printed in two
AIGA Minnesota’s 2008 Design Camp (opposite); colours on French Paper Co. 140lb Poptone stock.
Jenna Brouse provided illustration services. The package The finishing was carried out on Studio on Fire’s own
housed a map, art book, notebook and poster, all printed 13 x 18 inch (33 x 45.7 cm) Windmill.

117
Mama’s Sauce
Orlando, Florida, USA

118 Letterpress—Portfolios
(Opposite) Mama’s Sauce business card: Petito wedding invitation: designed by Austin
design by Austin Petito, layout by Brian Boesch Petito, printed by Mama’s Sauce.
and Nick Sambrato, printed by Mama’s Sauce.

Nick Sambrato founded Mama’s Sauce in the fall of 2007. from French Paper Co. The card was printed with a full
The company now works solely in screenprinting and wash of black, with the logo carefully designed to ‘knock
letterpress and to date has printed over 6,000 jobs. out’ the pressed black and leave an embossed effect.
When setting about the branding for Mama’s Sauce, The invitation package shown above was designed
founder and creative director Sam had a clear vision in for the wedding of Mama’s Sauce brand manager and
mind as he briefed head designer Austin Petito. ‘The in-house designer, Austin Petito. The envelope, box and
goal was simple: say a lot with very little. The intention band were screenprinted, and the remaining elements
was to attract our ideal client base with the aesthetic and letterpress-printed. All the print work was produced
production value,’ Sambrato explains. For the company’s on French Paper Co. stock, and the letterpress printing
business cards (opposite), a sheet of 110lb Crane’s Lettra was done with soy-based inks – a key factor in Mama’s
cotton stock was glued to a 140lb Black Muscletone stock Sauce’s environmentally aware production ethos.

119
 (Top) Brand identity and apparel tags for fashion
label Tamar Daniel: design by Yael Miller, Miller
Creative. Printing by Normans Printery of Wyckoff.

(Above and right) Power to the People wine label:

design by Yael Miller, Miller Creative. Printed on
Ecological Fibers Prestige material.

Miller Creative
Lakewood, New Jersey, USA

120 Letterpress—Portfolios
 Identity and business cards for
Chicago advertising agency Tom,
Dick & Harry: designed by Mike
McQuade. Printed in two spot
colours, letterpressed and offset-
printed with edge coating on a
brown craft paper.

Mike McQuade
Chicago, Illinois, USA

121
Ryan
Todd
London, UK
Online shop New Found Original approached London- letterpressed in two colours on Ahlstrom Blotter board, an
based artist and designer Ryan Todd to collaborate with ultra-absorbent stock that retains any spills and stops the
them to work on the first of their commissioned objects. ink bleeding – perfect for coasters. Due to the nature of the
‘We’re both avid collectors of vintage beer mats so we de- print process and ink, the two colours overlay brilliantly
cided on that as a medium, only we wanted to create a lux- to create the dark shade. This clever use of transparencies
ury version of the humble beer mat that would be worthy of gives the artwork real depth. The mats were printed by
your coffee table at home,’ explains Todd. The artwork was Studio on Fire in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

122 Letterpress—Portfolios
Salih Kucukaga
Design Studio
Istanbul, Turkey
The Salih Kucukaga Design Studio is a one-man shop unusual, distinctive aesthetic experience. It also shows the
operated by Salih Kucukaga (pronounced Ku-chook-aah). companies under the Espresso Republic umbrella: Dripp
Kucukaga designed the branding and identity for a (a specialty coffee retailer) and Black Goat (a Turkish
range of Espresso Republic cafés in Los Angeles. The coffee brand). The cards were printed by Studio on Fire
business card shown here is part of a larger brand iden- (see pp. 74–77) and finished with orange edge painting.
tity for Espresso Republic LLC. Much like the Espresso
Republic brand itself, the card design is meant to create an

123
Letterpress in Focus

Lambe-Lambe
São Paulo, Brazil

124 Letterpress—Letterpress in Focus

Lambe-Lambe prints in production at Grafica Fidalga.

Once a widespread form of fly-posted advertising in to posters for the annual São Paulo Carnival. Mauricio
Brazil with a number of workshops supplying demand, and his team continue to produce beautiful, iconic prints
Lambe-Lambe, like North American letterpress, was great- for Brazil’s underground artists, hand-making every let-
ly affected by the introduction of lithographic printing. ter from eucalyptus wood. Combining of these wooden
Grafica Fidalga, a printing press in São Paulo, is letters with characters and illustrations, they produce the
now the only print shop in Brazil still commercially vibrant and unique split-fountain letterpress posters that
making posters for gigs and events and keeping the have become synonymous with the term ‘Lambe-Lambe’
Lambe-Lambe tradition alive. Owned by Mauricio and (lick it, lick it).
Carlinhos, the two men have dedicated their lives to this Grafica’s printers use the same paper, designed
unique, traditional craft. The print shop houses a 1929 for wheat pasting, that could once be seen covering the
German Johannisberg cylinder press, on which they have streets of São Paulo, advertising everything from con-
printed everything from the weekly Workers’ Party paper, certs to ‘Lucidor’ wrestling events. The introduction of

125
 Eltono, Pixo Gratis.

São Paulo’s ‘clean city’ initiative – aimed at minimizing designed the text following basic instructions that Eltono
fly-posting, regardless of its artistic heritage or integrity – had written on a piece of paper.
dealt a second blow to the Lambe-Lambe movement. The Lambe-Lambe technique is essentially wood-
However, Grafica Fidalga and Lambe-Lambe have been block printing. Once an illustration or drawing has been
offered a helping hand by local São Paulo gallery Choque carved and composed within the lock-up and type, it is
Cultural, which regularly chooses artists to make posters wedged with small pieces of metal. Then the poster is
for its shows with Grafica Fidalga. printed with a system of inked rollers, deploying nine
When Spanish street artist Eltono visited São Paulo tonnes of pressure. Half the inking roller is charged
in 2007, he was invited by Choque Cultural Gallery to with one colour and the other half with another colour,
go to a Lambe-Lambe printing workshop and design his creating the famous ‘dégradé’ or ‘rainbow effect’ so char-
own posters. The posters shown above, entitled Pixo acteristic of Lambe-Lambe posters.
Gratis, were influenced by the same style he had been In 2009 British street artist Kid Acne was introduced
observing in the street of the city. Playing with the size to Choque Cutural after spending a few days in São Paulo.
of the letters and some metal ‘separators’, the printers Choque Cultural were kind enough to give him a tour

126 Letterpress—Letterpress in Focus

 (Left) Lambe-Lambe prints adorn
the walls of Cabana Brazilian
restaurants in London.

(Below) Kid Acne, Já Vi Pior (I’ve

Seen Worse) and Melhor Que Nada
(Better Than Nothing).

of their gallery and studio, resulting in his introduction gallery in São Paulo with our architects on a research trip.
to the world of Lambe-Lambe. Kid Acne’s posters Já We wandered down a tiny staircase and the basement was
Vi Pior (I’ve Seen Worse) and Melhor Que Nada (Better completely wallpapered in Lambe-Lambe. They put us
Than Nothing) (above) were printed on a range of stock in touch with Grafica Fidalga, and we arranged to meet. It
of varying quality, as is traditional with Lambe-Lambe. seemed to us to be the best of Brazilian creativity. We told
A selection of prints were produced on 250gsm quality them vaguely what we were after and spent a whole day
stock, with a four-colour screenprint featuring Kid Acne’s watching as they letterset and danced the samba.’ The
trademark ‘Stabby Woman’. He later went into São Paulo walls of Cabana’s London restaurants are now adorned
with some of his original prints to paste them among the with a variety of personalized and found Lambe-Lambe
other Lambe-Lambe posters and Brazilian street art. prints (top).
David Ponte is founding partner of Brazilian restau-
rant group Cabana, with locations in London’s Westfield
centres and St Giles. He also came to Lambe-Lambe
through Choque Cultural. ‘We went to see them in their

127
Relief
Printing
Relief printing outdates all other printing methods and is fundamentally the
seed from which all other printing mediums grew. Favoured for its relatively
simple process and ease of production, relief printing requires neither
formal training nor specialist facilities, allowing anyone with imagination
and patience to produce prints. Many relief prints can be pressed by hand
with simple tools such as rollers or brayers. Relief prints are characterized
by the bold and contrasting imagery they can achieve due to the cutting
and carving methods used in producing them. Popular relief-printing
methods include woodcut, wood engraving and linocut printing.
A History of
Relief Prınting
THE BEGINNING OF PRINTMAKING
There is little doubt that paper was invented in
the second century ce in China, and it thus be-
came the first nation to become widely known for
producing printed material. However, records
show that the first forms of relief printing pre-
date Chinese efforts by centuries. Archaeologists
have discovered materials dating from earlier
than 800 bce showing that the Olmec civilization
of ancient Mexico backed patterns into clay for Hishikawa Moronobu, Two Lovers Embracing in Front of a
Painted Screen, c.1680s. Woodcut.
printing, and that the Egyptians carved wooden
stamps to print on textiles.
The Diamond Sutra, from 868 ce, is be- process saw the carver pass on the blocks to a mas-
lieved to be the earliest surviving book with ter printer, who would execute the final prints.
printed elements. It was produced using wood-
block printing, yet the technical skills involved in RELIEF PRINTING IN EUROPE
its production strongly indicate that the method European printing processes borrowed from Far
must have been around for many years before. Eastern methods, with a similar production pro-
It was not long before the work of Chinese print- cess to a Japanese print, beginning with a commis-
makers traveled to Japan, paving the way for sion to an artist, followed by the work of a carver,
arguably the most famous woodblock tradition – and then a printer. Prior to the mid-fifteenth
Japanese woodblock prints. century, prints were produced on single sheets
By the seventeenth century, woodblock of paper. However with Johannes Gutenberg’s
printing in Japan was dominated by the artistic movable type and advances in bookbinding, it was
genre of ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world), not long before woodblock-print books, or ‘block-
popularized by artists such as Hishikawa books’, were being produced across Europe.
Moronobu. To make ukiyo-e prints, blocks were This expansion saw the traditional roles of
printed in black, with some designs coloured artisans in the printmaking process challenged.
by hand after the prints were dry. Unlike today, Artists such as Albrecht Dürer, and later Paul
it was commonplace for the printmaking pro- Gauguin and Edvard Munch, wanted to be in-
cess to be carried out by several specialists, each volved with all aspects of production, establish-
working in their own specific discipline. ing woodcut printing as an art form in its own
Typically an artist would produce the im- right. These masters pushed the boundaries of
agery for a print and give an approved drawing to printmaking by experimenting with new tech-
a specially trained carver. Carvers were consid- niques, including reduction printing.
ered to be some of the most highly skilled crafts- In reduction printing, one block is used to
men, requiring ten years of apprenticeship before eventually print several layers of colour. A small
being considered masters. The third stage in the amount of the block will be cut away and then

129
 printed many times over. The block is washed
before being cut away further and printed in
the next colour. The process is continued un-
til the final image is complete. This allowed for
far more accurate registration, as all the differ-
ent components of an image would come from
a single block, allowing intricate detail to line up
perfectly. A downside of this process was that
once the design had moved on to the next layer,
no further prints could be made. Artists began
to sign and individually number an ‘edition’ of
prints. With reduction prints no longer capable
of producing open editions, ‘limited edition’ A printmaker uses a burin to engrave a block of wood.
prints became the favoured option within the
art world. wood was popular. With wood engraving, the
technique for working the block is different from
WOOD ENGRAVING woodcut, using specialist engraver’s tools to cre-
Woodcut had seen printmakers using soft woods ate very thin, delicate lines. Wood engravers be-
to carve their designs with knives and other gan to realize that a finer level of detail could be
adapted tools. In Europe, beech wood was most achieved if they carved the end-grain of a piece of
commonly used; in Japan, a special type of cherry wood, as opposed to the older technique of wood-
cut, which used the softer side-grain of the wood.
As wood engraving developed during the
eighteenth century, artists such as Thomas Bewick
became highly regarded and noted for the level
of detail and craftsmanship they achieved in their
prints. Bewick made his engraving in harder
woods than had previously been used. Artists
also found that wood engravings deteriorated
much less quickly than other popular print­
making matrixes, such as copperplate. In ad-
dition, blocks could be mounted at type height
and run through conventional printing presses.
This allowed woodblocks to be set within page
layouts alongside movable type, meaning thou-
sands of copies could be made with little dete-
rioration to the blocks. The more advanced tools
and presses developed during this time led to a
far broader spectrum of printed material being
produced, with illustrated manuals depicting
nature, geographical scenes and technical pro-
cesses becoming widely available.

Albrecht Dürer, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, c. 1497–98. Woodcut.

130 Relief Printing—A History of Relief Printing

LINOLEUM Linocuts also came under fire for lacking in char-
Today perhaps the most widely used material acter as a result of linoleum having no grain to it,
used for relief printing is linoleum, also known the angular grainy character of woodcuts and en-
simply as lino. In the mid-nineteenth century, gravings being the very thing that had first drawn
Englishman Frederick Walton developed a new attention to relief printing.
material composed from renewable materials – Thankfully, the maverick experimental na-
primarily solidified linseed oil and ground cork ture of a new group of artists using the material,
dust, with a backing of burlap or canvas. The ma- such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, saw li-
terial was initially intended to be used as water- nocut elevated to an established art form during
repellent flooring and wallpaper, but by the turn the 1950s. Today, linocuts are once again an ex-
of the twentieth century the ingenuity of the tremely popular form of printmaking. Linoleum
printmaking world had realized the potential of has many advantages, offering a straightforward
this grainless yet durable substance. A wave of printing technique that is without significant fi-
high-profile artists began producing linocuts. nancial cost or health risk. This has led to its be-
However, many in the art community renounced ing widely used within educational institutes and
the method, saying the process lacked chal- art programmes, since a class can quickly get to
lenge due to its simplicity and ease of carving. grips with the simplicity of the medium.

Thomas Bewick, engraved block for a print of an Eider duck from British Birds Vol. 2, c. 1800.

131
The
Process
in Brief
Relief prints can be made from
a wide variety of methods and
materials. Most commonly wood
and linoleum are used to produce a
relief ‘matrix’ for printing. However,
a variety of other materials can
also produce good results.
In woodcut, softwoods such
as poplar and pear wood are
common. Harder woods such as
maple and oak are favoured by
artists working in wood engraving, With all of these processes there
as they are effective for finely is often the need to smooth or sand
detailed carving, and will last the surface to remove any residue.
many print runs. MAKING Overly textured areas – or in the
YOUR MATRIX case of linoleum with a gesso coat-
A ‘matrix’ is essentially the block, or ing, brushstrokes – would show up
plate, that carries the information for during printing, thus the need for a
the print. There are many methods smooth surface before your image is
of creating an image on your block. transferred.
These include direct drawing (where
the image is drawn straight on to the
block ready for carving or cutting)
and transfer methods (where an im-
age is designed off the block then
transferred to the block for carving
or cutting).
MATERIALS
AND TOOLS
Certain essential equipment is need-
ed for relief printing:
–a relief ‘matrix’: i.e., wood for wood-
cut / linoleum for linocut PREPARING
–knife YOUR BLOCK
–cutting gouges in various shapes: FOR THE IMAGE
e.g., U-shaped and C-shaped Most surfaces will require some
–sandpaper preparation before any method is
–spatula used. Often this preparation aids the
–burnishing tools for hand printing: cutting process. In woodcut, the sur-
e.g., a baren face can be stained a colour such as
–staining inks red to help determine the areas that
–marker pens still need to be cut away once the
–printing inks image has been transferred to the
–solvents for cleaning block. For the same reason, artists
–carbon paper or alternative method working with Indian ink and linoleum
of transferring design to matrix often apply a thin layer of white ges-
–printing press. so to the surface.

132 Relief Printing—The Process in Brief

 This image is then placed face down is traced, transferring a layer of car-
on the block and the imagery is bon to the block. In this instance the
transferred to the block by rubbing resulting transfer will not be a mirror
TRANSFER with a pencil or burnishing tool. A image of your original. It is therefore
METHODS wooden spoon or baren can also be a good idea to make mirror photocop-
The majority of transfer methods used for this, or an etching press. ies to trace from. Again, the image
work on a single premise: the im- Once the transfer is complete, the can be strengthened for ease of cut-
age that is transferred to the block image is strengthened with a marker ting by going over it with a marker or
needs to be the ‘mirror image’ of the pen before cutting. Indian ink.
original artwork. This is particularly Carbon transfer is a method that
important to remember when any allows for more detail to be trans-
typography is involved. ferred to the block, as an almost ex-
Drawing transfers are the most act replica of a very detailed design
basic method. A soft drawing mate- can be transferred to the block. A
rial such as charcoal, graphite or sheet of carbon transfer paper is CUTTING
conté crayon is used to produce the placed between the original drawing THE BLOCK
image on paper. and the block, and then the original When it comes to cutting a block
there are many tools to choose from.
The choice is determined both by the
material the block is made from and
the aesthetic of the mark-making
you are trying to create. It is impor-
tant to remember that if you use a
knife or gouge simply as a drawing
tool, a white line on a black back-
ground will be produced. If you wish
to mimic the more traditional thin
black line of Japanese woodcuts,
you will need to cut both sides of the
line with a knife before using gouges
to remove the areas surrounding
your line art.
It is vital that the tools used for
cutting are kept well sharpened.

133
 CHOOSING THE
RIGHT INKS
Relief printing provides best results
when a relatively stiff ink is used.
Inks with a medium to high ‘tack’
will allow the image to print sharply.
Specially formulated oil-based inks
are available for relief printing. Some
lithographic inks are also suitable.
In recent years a high demand for
inks that can be cleaned without the
use of harmful solvents has seen
dramatic improvements in the pro-
duction of water-based inks. These
Injuries can often occur when dull are now a viable option for relief
blades resist the material of the printing as slower drying times have
block, leading the carver to use more seen water-based inks produce simi-
force than should be necessary. lar results to oil-based inks.
Blades are extremely sharp even
when dull, and could cause severe
damage to fingers and hands.

ROLLING UP
AND INKING
THE PLATE
IMPORTANT Inking is carried out using a rubber
TOOLS roller known as a ‘brayer’. The ink
For woodcut artists, the knife is an is spread out in a line on a smooth
extremely important tool used to piece of metal or glass using a
outline areas that are later cleared spatula. It is then worked across the
with the gouges. Tonal areas can also surface with the brayer until the ink

be created by scarring the surface of

wood in a crosshatch pattern.
Gouges come in various different
shapes, each serving as the better
tool for a particular task. For large ar-
eas that need to be cleared cleanly,
a ‘C-shaped’ gouge is best. For ele-
ments such as fine line work, and
cutting narrower paths, a ‘U-shaped’
gouge is used. For textural work, or
very detailed refining of designs,
a ‘V-shaped’ gouge is good. The V-
shaped gouge most easily removes
wood/linoleum from a block – albeit
with the thinnest line, which could
lead to longer working times.

134 Relief Printing—The Process in Brief

covers a large area. The ink should
have a smooth and velvety consist-
ency. If it has a texture resembling
an orange peel, it is too thick and
requires further rolling. The block
itself is then inked using the brayer.
Inking is repeated until the same vel-
vety texture from the glass appears
on the block.

PRINTING
Printing can be carried out by many
methods. Hand-printing with bur-
nishing tools is the simplest option.
However, this is a slow and physical
process, so printing presses are more
commonly used. Etching presses,
vertical-pressure ‘platen’ presses and
cylinder presses can all produce ef-
fective results. Each method has its
own registration systems, but they all
share the same printing process.
First, the block is placed face-up
on the printing bed. It is often inked in
place. Paper is then placed in position
on top of the block by hand. Packing
or blankets are placed over the paper
to add pressure and to protect the
press from the block and the paper
from the press. Next, the bed is rolled
under the press and pressure is ap-
plied. Finally, the finished print is
carefully removed and taken to the
drying area.

135
James Brown
London, UK

136 Relief Printing—Portfolios

 (Opposite) Yak. Linocut, 17 x 17 cm
(63⁄4 x 63⁄4 in). Limited edition of 100.
(Above) Eagle. Linocut, 17 x 17 cm
(63⁄4 x 63⁄4 in). Limited edition of 100.

James Brown trained as a textile print designer at Middle­ You are well known for your work with linocut. How did you
sex University, where he was encouraged to experiment get into this as a medium of choice?
with the decoration of all surfaces. Upon graduation James My first linocut was Cue Cards, a one-colour print of all the
worked for several years as a freelance textile designer; in cue cards that Bob Dylan holds in his video for ‘Subterranean
2007 he made the decision to leave the clothing industry Homesick Blues’. I screen-grabbed all the images and wanted
and relaunch himself as an illustrator. to reproduce them in my own hand rather than screenprinting
the cleaned-up digital images. By tracing them onto the lino
Your work spans across both digital and printmaking me- and then cutting them by hand, I felt the letterforms became
diums. What is it about the hand-made aesthetic that you my own and not a straight digital copy. Before this print, I
think draws people to what you do? had been screenprinting and adding the ‘distressed’ texture
I think it’s the fact that my visual references and print tech- to the artwork. With lino printing, all the imperfections that I
niques are familiar in people’s minds. I look to the past a lot had tried to emulate before just happened naturally.
for inspiration and I think it comes through, hopefully not in
an obviously pastiche way. Also I like my prints to look as if Linocut is a particularly labour-intensive and time-consuming
they are printed, which gives them a different personality to form of printmaking compared to a sister medium, such as
something that has been produced digitally. I love seeing one screenprinting, that uses digital output films and positives.
colour printed over another or a slight mis-register, I think it’s For those considering taking their digital designs from com-
these kinds of details that people appreciate. Slight imperfec- puter screen to linoleum, what would you advise?
tions work for me.

137
James Brown at work on a Blake Stephenson proofing press.

All my work is designed on the computer. I do have a way of Brown prints on a Blake Stephenson proofing press. It
transposing my digital image onto the lino but it’s top secret! has a fixed roller so the bed has to be built up to type
It’s nothing new, just an updated version of what the ancient height to accommodate the lino. Its old, worn roller has
Chinese and Japanese used to do when producing an intri- scratches and nicks, all of which transfer onto the print
cate woodblock. and add to the final character of the images. ‘Because the
registration process on my press is not 100% accurate, I
Much of your work is editioned. Where do you stand on the cut my lino with a fair bit of “trapping”. This means that
topic of editioning as opposed to producing one-off unique when one colour is printed over another, it causes a really
pieces? And what is your view on open editions? nice sheen where there is an overlap,’ explains Brown.
Some of my work is editioned and some are open editions, I This effect can be seen where the red meets the black in
think both are fine to do but I try and reflect the differences his Yak print (p. 136).
in the prices I charge. I like the fact that printmaking means ‘I use Accent Smooth Natural 135gsm paper from
that you can produce multiples and so make your work avail- GFSmith. It is so smooth and holds the ink beautifully.
able to a wider audience – as wide as you like in the case of The 135gsm thickness means all marks from the press’s
open editions. roller are picked up in the print.’ Having tried water-
based inks without finding a good match for his work,
James Brown Brown favours oil-based relief printing ink by Graphic
Chemical Ink Co. in the USA.

138 Relief Printing—Portfolios

Roman Klonek
Düsseldorf, Germany

139
 (Previous page)
Ready! woodcut, 25 x
35 cm (97⁄8 x 97⁄8 in).

(Left) CW_Toy: woodcut,

38.1 x 48.1 cm (15 x
187⁄8 in).

(Opposite, top)
The Observer: woodcut,
68.8 x 47.4 cm (271⁄8 x
185⁄8 in).

(Opposite, bottom)
Different stages of the
wood block used to print
The Observer. In the ‘lost-
cut’ method, all colours
are printed from a single
block, which is progres-
sively cut away as each
colour is printed.

Polish-born woodcut artist Roman Klonek has been de- Do you feel as though woodcut and relief printing is gaining a
veloping his woodcut printing since the early 1990s. Year new acceptance as a contemporary graphic art form?
after year, his production has increased steadily. Today, It seems so. Almost everything is digital nowadays and I
he is producing two or three prints in a month from his think sometimes people are fed up with this and they feel
shared studio space Dadaluxe in Düsseldorf, Germany. sympathy for something handmade ... especially when it’s
not necessary because there are so many easy ways today
Woodcut printing dates back thousands of years to the very to reproduce pictures. I can see there is generally a new en-
origins of modern-day relief printing. What drives you to keep thusiasm growing for old analogue systems. They captivate
this medium so active in your body of work? with their transparency and forthrightness, and there is a
It makes me calm and content (I’m not always successful longing for this. So of course woodcut is really not new, but
with that on the computer). It’s simply also very satisfying to the context is.
work with wood. I have a soft spot for this material. Another
good reason is the special charm of imperfection in the print- Your prints are made using the reduction process. For those
ing. The unsteadiness of the wood surface and the colour ap- reading this who are unfamiliar with printmaking, can you
plication causes the typical look of random mistakes. briefly explain what this means?
At first you cut out all the areas that should remain white.
You exhibit among, and sell alongside, many of today’s Then you print the first colour. Then you cut out all the areas
best-known graphic artists and contemporary designers. that should remain in the first colour ... and so on ... until the

140 Relief Printing—Portfolios

plate is reduced to the areas for the last colour, mostly black. was sort of ... I’ll call it ‘whimsical amplification’. For me it was
A big advantage of the reduction process is that you only a good effect ... and yes ... by the way, of course I know what
need one plate for all colours. A good effect is that underlying the words on my pictures say.
colours are shining through the layers. Another nice thing is
that you get a different surface with every layer, from rather Roman Klonek
matte (first colour) to shiny (last colour).
Thematically, Klonek’s images can be roughly divided
Your work has echoes of both Soviet and Far Eastern influ- in two main categories: portraits and ‘scenes’. He aptly
ences. Can you tell us where the inspiration for this imagery describes his work as ‘a bizarre balancing act between
stems from? propaganda, folklore and pop’.
I was born in Poland and grew up with a lot of Polish and Rus- ‘In woodcut printing I prefer the technique of the
sian cartoons (we had no TV but my father was a Super 8 “lost cut”, which means to print all colours with only one
enthusiast with a big collection of cartoons). For a long time plate. The advantage is that you need only one plate for
I was not aware of these influences but during my studies every colour. The disadvantage is, that when your print
I realized that a lot of my drawings had this simple East is done, you cannot go back and produce any more once
European cartoon style. In summer 2004 I was in Moscow the next layer has been carved,’ explains Klonek.
and did a lot of drawings. I started to include Cyrillic typogra-
phy and realized that it was fitting very well. The effect for me

141
Tugboat
Prıntshop
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

142 Relief Printing—Portfolios

 Dreamboat, from the collaborative series The Deep Blue Sea:
woodblock print on Pale Pink Arturo paper, 33 x 43.2 cm (13 x
17 in). Limited edition of 100.

Pittsburgh-based woodcut studio Tugboat Printshop is The first step of Tugboat’s woodcut process is to
run by Paul Roden and Valerie Lueth. Their collabora- draw the images in pencil directly onto a block of ¾-inch
tions began in 2006. birch plywood. The drawing is then inked in with a small
The print shown opposite, America the Beautiful, felt-tip marker before the negative space is carved out
was conceived after Tugboat Printshop received a per- with specialist woodcut hand tools. Ink is rolled onto the
sonal invitation to participate in ‘Manifest Hope: DC’, surface of the block, and paper is laid onto the wet ink. It
an art exhibition celebrating the inauguration of the 44th is then run through the press, thereby transferring the im-
President of the United States. The image is printed age to a new block of wood. This process is completed for
on Ivory Somerset Paper from five hand-drawn, hand- every colour block involved, with new blocks coloured
carved woodblocks, using a variety of etching, relief and and carved according to the colour they will print. The
lithography inks. It was then sold in a limited edition of blocks are then printed on top of each other, overlapping
200 prints. to make new colours with transparencies.

143
Big, Bad Wolf : woodcut print on Japanese
Kitakata paper, 40.6 x 52.1 cm (16 x 201⁄2 in).

144 Relief Printing—Portfolios

Nick Morley
Margate, Kent, UK
Nick Morley is an artist and illustrator, as well as a Morley was commissioned by publisher Palgrave
passionate ambassador for contemporary linocut. He Macmillan to create a cover design for a book about
teaches and promotes linocut printing as much as pos- Albert Hitchcock’s film Vertigo, part of the BFI Film
sible, aiming to change the perception of this much- Classics book series. This was one of twelve covers being
underestimated medium, capable of a wide variety of redesigned by invited artists and designers to celebrate
visual effects. He is also the curator of renowned linocut the twentieth anniversary of the series.
blog Linocut Boy.

145
Bill Fick /
Cockeyed
Press
Durham, North Carolina, USA

146 Relief Printing—Portfolios

Bill Fick is the founder/director of Cockeyed Press, Fick draws his imagery directly on to a sheet of lino-
a studio in Durham, North Carolina, specializing in the leum using pencil, marker and brush/ink before carving
production of linocut prints, ephemera and merchandise. out the image with hand-held gouges, and then printing
For over two decades Fick has been making super- it using an etching press. He favours fairly stiff oil-based
graphic narrative prints that deal with a variety of satirical printmaking inks, and prints onto papers ranging from
and sociopolitical themes. He’s especially interested in European-style cotton papers to Japanese kozo papers.
making work that bridges the gap between fine art and The 2011 prints Skullarek #2 and Skull (Hypnotic
lowbrow art. His current work focuses on frightening Eyes) (opposite) are part of a series of monsters that Fick
monster images that reflect society’s ever-growing fear has been working on for the past ten years. Both prints
and anxiety of all things different and unfamiliar. These measure 76.2 x 55.9 cm (30 x 22 in). Even though the im-
images are presented in a variety of forms, including ages are editioned, Fick uses the blocks again for other
prints, T-shirts, posters and tattoos. purposes, such as printing on T-shirts (above).

147
Tom Hingston
Studio
London, UK

148 Relief Printing—Portfolios

 Alex Clare CD cov-
ers: art direction
and design by Tom
Hingston Studio.
Illustration by
Andrew Davidson.
Client: Universal
Island Records.

Tom Hingston is an established creative director and sioned by Hingston to produce a series of wood engrav-
graphic designer based in London. In 1997 he set up his ings for the project. Each illustration was printed on both
own design company, Tom Hingston Studio. The stu- French and Japanese paper. Davidson engraved the illus-
dio was commissioned by Universal Island Records to trations on English boxwood blocks, which he printed
produce the art direction and design for musician Alex on an 1859 Albion hand press at his studio in Stroud,
Clare’s The Lateness of the Hour album campaign. The Gloucestershire. The resulting prints were then sent back
studio conceived a series of illustrated narratives that to Tom Hingston Studio to be scanned and composed
formed the cover imagery for each release in the cam- within the final designs digitally.
paign, spanning various singles as well as the album LP.
Individual scenarios were sketched out at the studio
and then given to illustrator Andrew Davidson, commis-

149
Stanley
Donwood
London, UK

150 Relief Printing—Portfolios

 (Top) Lost Angeles (detail),
from the Lost Cities series:
linocut, 5.5 m (18 ft) long.

(Above) London Views (detail),

from the Lost Cities series:
linocut in 14 sections, each
75 x 140 cm (291⁄2 x 551⁄8 in).

(Far left) Lino blocks used to

print London Views, featuring
landmarks such as Canary Wharf,
‘The Gherkin’ (30 St Mary Axe),
Centre Point and the BT Tower.

(Left) Fleet Street Apocalypse:

linocut, 64 x 97 cm (25 x 38 in).

The works shown here form part of a series entitled a 5.5-metre-long (18-foot-long) linocut of the city of
Lost Cities, by British artist Stanley Donwood. Part of Los Angeles being destroyed by fire, flood and a meteor-
the series, London Views, has become well known as the ite storm in a quasi-medieval style. ‘This work was partly
artwork for Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke’s solo prompted by reading Mike Davis’s book Ecology of Fear,
record, The Eraser. The prints’ adaptation as cover art- subtitled Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster.
work gave them another life. Originally produced as But really, it was prompted by the fact that we are living in
linocuts, the London Views prints were also reproduced a ridiculous way,’ says Donwood.
by Thom Yorke’s record label XL Recordings as a mural London Views and Lost Angeles were printed
on the side of their London offices, and they included the on a pair of Albion presses. Both prints were hand-
imagery in various marketing materials as well. burnished because they were too long for any press.
Continuing the Lost Cities series, Donwood embarked
on a slightly more ambitious project – Lost Angeles,

151
Studio Arturo
Rome, Italy

152 Relief Printing—Portfolios

Studio Arturo works as an illustration and printmaking tional method of producing images that could be adapted
collective, specializing in linocut and other forms of relief in a modern way to create products such as T-shirts and
printing. The studio is housed in an historical building in books. ‘Our target audience looks for this, a unique prod-
Pigneto, a new artistic district of Rome. uct created by hand with hard work and passion,’ explains
All the imagery shown here is from the HOT series Cecilia Campironi, who forms the collective with Elena
of linocuts printed on T-shirts and paper, created for Campa, Amalia Caratozzolo and Bernadette Moens.
Studio Arturo’s 2012 summer collection. This project The books were taken to the international comic
forms part of Le Sgorbie di Arturo (The Gouges of Arturo), festival ‘Crack’, a four-day event in Rome dedicated to
a production of handmade prints from linocut engrav- handmade prints.
ings. The studio wanted to choose a historically tradi-

153
Endi
Poskovic
Michigan, USA

154 Relief Printing—Portfolios

 (Opposite, top) Sunny Day Over the Bay in
Orange and Blue with Red: 95.3 x 130.8 cm
(371⁄2 x 511⁄2 in).

(Opposite, bottom) If This Be Not I in Deep

Yellow with Red: printed in 12 colours from
four blocks on Kozoshi stock, 63.5 x 99.1 cm
(25 x 39 in).

(Above) Night Watch with Small Mound in

Pink and Large Cloud in Gray: printed in 12
colours from four blocks on Kozoshi stock,
33 x 48.3 cm (13 x 19 in).

(Left) Poskovic inking a relief block with a

number of colours.

A critical element in many of Endi Poskovic’s relief prints water, and zeppelins, evoke a sense of place and time but
is invented phrases and words, which are cut in wood, also suggest ideas about memory and displacement.
placed and printed below the images. Created in actual Poskovic’s relief-printing method involves the use of
and/or faux Romance and Germanic languages, these around four individual blocks. The first three are inked
captions are intended to engage the viewer and to be in- with a blend of colours, overlaid to make the vivid and
terpreted as both real and fictitious, rational yet absurd. vibrant sunset and skyline-like imagery of his work. One
The juxtaposition of these phrases with recognizable yet final end block, which contains the main graphic and text,
abstract imagery, such as depictions of icebergs, clouds, will be printed in black on top to complete the image.

155
John C Thurbin
Kent, UK
Illustrator and linocut artist John C Thurbin created summer of 2012. The prints, entitled Mother (left) and
the prints shown here in his home studio – a converted Team Zissou (right), were created using oil-based Intaglio
summerhouse made into a fully functioning relief print relief ink printed on Fabriano Artistico 200gsm smooth
studio. Thurbin was selected to exhibit the prints at the hot-pressed ivory-white paper.
‘Concrete Hermit X Lomography’ exhibition, held at the
Lomography London store in Spitalfields Market in the

156 Relief Printing—Portfolios

Jane Beharrell
Winterton, North Lincolnshire, UK
Jane Beharrell made this print, Fox in Red and Blue, to achieved by adding some extender to the red ink so that
experiment with overlaying colours to create two differ- the blue underneath would show through, creating areas
ent shades. After proofing the image a few times, and of deeper red.
amending any areas that needed more work, she printed
the image onto white Zerkall paper, using Caligo relief
inks, in a limited edition of 20. The transparent effect was

157
live from bklyn
Brooklyn, New York, USA

158 Relief Printing—Portfolios

Designer, illustrator and printer Dailey Crafton of and hand-printed onto tea towels using a baren. The
Brooklyn-based design studio live from bklyn set out to tea towels are unbleached 100% cotton and washable.
capture the beauty of some of Williamsburg’s most archi- Unfolded they measure 71.1 x 73.7 cm (28 x 29 in).
tecturally interesting homes in a unique way (opposite). He Crafton Family Cards (above) is a series of five
photographed the front of the buildings in this Brooklyn cards based on old family photographs from the 1940s
neighborhood and created eight distinctive illustra- and 1950s. They were printed using a small Speed-
tions of each one. These drawings were then placed face ball tabletop press, with Gamblin Relief ink on Canson
down on a linoleum block and burnished onto the block. Editions paper.
Finally, the block was cut, inked with Gamblin Relief ink

159
Luke Best
London, UK

160 Relief Printing—Portfolios

Luke Best is part of Peepshow Collective, a group of il- design. The whole roll is printed in one colour, before
lustrators who were asked to be the studio in residency moving on to the second colour.
for London’s graphic art fair Pick Me Up 2012. The wall- Best found that the main problem in this process was
paper shown here formed part of a series of relief prints handling and drying such long rolls of paper.
created by Best for the event. Each element is individually
cut out, inked and placed onto the paper. It is then run
through the press, reinked and placed in a new position
by eye, so there is a random quality to the repeat pattern

161
Joshua Norton
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

162 Relief Printing—Portfolios

Joshua Norton is an American artist, printmaker and the image to woodblocks, carving out a total of three
designer. Norton is best known for creating intensely col- blocks for each portrait: a key block (line work block) and
oured woodcut prints and for his graphic poster design. two background colour blocks. Each print measures 13.3
The prints shown here are from Norton’s Monster Mash x 19.7 cm (5¼ x 7¾ in) and was printed by hand on Rives
series, inspired by his love of vintage horror movies. Heavyweight paper on a Linoscribe press.
After sketching out the rough drawings, he transferred

163
Daniel
Allegrucci
Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

164 Relief Printing—Portfolios

Portrait of a Bureaucrat is a five-colour woodcut pro- Each colour block is then printed using a large etch-
duced by artist Daniel Allegrucci. Always starting with ing press. For registration, Allegrucci constructs a jig
a piece of 1.3 cm (½ in) Baltic birch plywood, he devel- from thinner plywood and a foam core. This allows him
ops his image directly on the wood block in pencil be- to use an adapted version of the ‘T’ registration system
fore staining the block and beginning the cutting process. developed by stone lithographers (above).
Allegrucci uses a straight-handled V-gouge, a palm-grip
C-gouge and an Exacto knife as his set of tools (top left).
After all details are cut, he seals the block with shellac and
sands it lightly. After printing the first block, Allegrucci
offsets that image onto several blank pieces of wood –
these become the colour blocks (top right).

165
Lubok Verlag
Leipzig, Germany

166 Relief Printing—Portfolios

(Opposite) Lubok covers. Christoph Ruckhäberle/ (Top left) Christoph Ruckhäberle (Ed.) Lubok 10, 2010,
Thomas Siemon (Ed.), Lubok 1–8, 2007–9; Christoph Tobias Jacob.
Ruckhäberle (Ed.), Lubok 9–10, 2010–11.
(Top right) Christoph Ruckhäberle (Ed.) Lubok 10, 2010,
Stefanie Leinhos.

(Above left) Christoph Ruckhäberle (Ed.) Lubok 9, 2010,

Katharina Schilling.

(Above right) French-fold binding. Christoph Ruckhäberle

(Ed.) Lubok 9, 2010.

The first issue of the original graphic Lubok series was the publishing house to offer the books at affordable
published in 2007; Lubok 10, the tenth linocut publica- prices. More then 140 artists have participated in the
tion in the series, came out in January 2011. Each volume Lubok series so far.
contains linocuts by a group of different artists – mainly The books are bound by a local bookbinder using
sourced from within the Leipzig art scene by Lubok a form of Japanese binding in which folded sheets are
founder Christoph Ruckhäberle. glued (not sewn) in the spine (above right). This process,
The books are printed from the original plate at the known as French-fold binding, is favoured by Lubok for
print workshop of Thomas Siemon on his 1058 Präsident technical reasons and also because it is reminiscent of
cylinder press. A high edition of 300–1500 copies allows traditional Japanese woodblock books.

167
Wolfbat Studios
Brooklyn, New York, USA

168 Relief Printing—Portfolios

Dennis McNett started Wolfbat Studios in Brooklyn, McNett was commissioned by Anti-Hero Skate-
New York, in 2001. His graphic aesthetic and love for boards to create a series of woodblock prints that were
narrative work has been translated in many ways and transferred to skateboard decks (above).
has been displayed internationally. Dennis’s work ranges
from masks, installations, performance and sculptures to
unique hand-made woodcarvings, traditional relief prints
and graphics. Larger-than-life Viking ships (opposite)
made from his relief prints have been featured in street
parades and performances in Manhattan; Philadelphia;
and Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri.

169
Yoirene
Rome, Italy

170 Relief Printing—Portfolios

(Top, left to right) Masks series: Anarchist, Father,
Liar and Soldier, by Irene Rinaldi – Yoirene.

(Bottom, left to right): Mi Familia series: Uccello

(The Bird), Talpa (The Mole) and Orso (The Bear),
by Irene Rinaldi – Yoirene.

Yoirene is Italian illustrator and printmaker Irene Rinaldi. phy print shop in Città di Castello, Italy. Rinaldi used six
The brief for her linocut series Masks, shown here (top), round zinc plates and coated them with an acid-resistant
was to create some posters for the foyer of the Palladium etching ground before drawing on them with a burin.
Theatre in Rome. Each mask represents a character from The acid eats the plate through the exposed lines to cre-
commedia dell’arte, taking inspiration from both the Ital- ate a base drawing. She then added detail with drypoint
ian theatre tradition and the colourful and naïf aesthetic to give the portraits a more vibrant mood. The plates
of ethnic masks. The limited-edition linocuts are printed were then inked and printed in Charbonelle typographic
in Charbonelle typographic inks on Graphia paper. Each inks on Graphia paper using an early nineteenth-century
print measures 50 x 60 cm (19 5⁄8 x 23 5⁄8 in). press. The prints measure 10 x 15 cm (3 7⁄8 x 5 7⁄8 in) and are
Mi Familia (opposite, bottom) is a series of etchings produced in an edition of 10.
created during a trip to Grifani-Donati, an old typogra-

171
 Record Player: eight-colour
reduction linocut.

Printmaker Helen Peyton

produced these linocuts
using the reduction pro-
cess, working from light
to dark colours, carving
successive layers out of
a single block.

Helen Peyton
Skipton, North Yorkshire, UK

172 Relief Printing—Portfolios

 Life As A Fish (Jacques Yves Cousteau): multiblock mountain landscape
print using three lino blocks. Printed in Speedball water-soluble relief ink,
applied with a brayer, on white Rives BFK paper with an etching press.

Darrel Perkins
Providence, Rhode Island, USA

173
 Snug: three-colour linocut in water-based inks (Nerchau Aqua-block
printing colours) on smooth, heavyweight 220gsm paper.

Laura Seaby
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK

174 Relief Printing—Portfolios

 Oxo Red III: printed in oil-based litho/relief inks on 100% cotton acid-free
paper on a KB press, 45 x 53 cm (173⁄4 x 207⁄8 in). Edition of 95, signed
and numbered.

Paul Catherall
London, UK

175
Other
Printing
As artists and designers from around the world experiment within their
chosen printmaking fields, processes continue to evolve. The ‘handmade’
aesthetic craved by artists and designers, as well as art buyers and clients,
has led to new methods being developed to meet these visual needs, from
the basic mark-making of rubber stamping, to advanced printing methods
that use digital technology to mimic the low-tech print look. The common
thread running through the work of the following printmakers is a constant
challenging of the design brief – the capacity to think outside the box or
simply daring to be different.
Gary Taxali/
Chump Inc.
Toronto, Canada

177
(Previous page) After influential to “borrow” Max’s outfit (from (Above) Milan-based bicycle
children’s book author Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things company Cinelli commissioned
Sendak passed away, Taxali was Are) and dress up one of my own Taxali to create a unique print
commissioned by the New York characters in it. I wanted to con- for the cover of their catalogue.
Times to produce a commemora- vey the idea of “carrying on”, or The result was this piece,
tive illustration. ‘It seemed fitting passing the torch,’ Taxali explains. entitled Bella Vita.

Gary Taxali is a fine artist, illustrator, toy designer and How would you say the ‘handmade’ element of these medi-
author. His work displays a love of working in a variety of ums has shaped your work?
media and applications such as screenprinting, rubber- It always felt like a natural marriage to combine organic,
stamping, drawing and painting. Born in Chandigarh, drawn and painted elements in concert with the narrative
India, but raised in Toronto, Canada, a childhood love and ideas I explore. I think both are connected to each other
of drawing led Taxali to pursue an art-school education. and I used to think it was the ideas that shaped how the art
After studying at the Ontario College of Art, he moved to looks but then I discovered it can be the other way around.
New York City, before returning to Toronto and founding This was a very freeing realization.
his company, Chump Inc.
Many designers working within printmaking embrace digital
When did you first start experimenting with printmaking? technology, seeing it as simply another tool in their process.
The first time I learned about printmaking was in high school What is your view on incorporating computer-produced ele-
and I credit my wonderful teacher, the late Miss Watson. ments into your work?
I have always loved printmaking, especially old and cheap My view is simple: do whatever it takes to make some-
printmaking that had mis-registrations and very simple col- thing work. A lot of artists employ digital technology and it
our palettes. In my personal work, I began experimenting seems to take a life of its own and become something really
with different methods of application on different surfaces beautiful. My choice to not use digital methods is not out of
beyond paper, like wood and metal. any disdain for the technology but of having so much love

178 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

for working in an organic way and not being finished with Coins (above left) was created for Taxali’s 2012 solo show
what I want to say and do with that media. I’m open to using ‘My Feelings Like You’ at the Outsiders Gallery in
digital technology and can see myself having a good London, UK. The inspiration and characters behind
time with what it can offer to speed things up, make things Coins came from original coin designs Taxali created for
repeat, etc. the Royal Canadian Mint (above right). The mint asked
him to create a series of six limited-edition quarters on
Do you find the bespoke, hand-printed nature of your work is the themes of ‘New Baby’, ‘Birthday’, ‘Wedding’, ‘Tooth
what draws clients to you for a particular project? Fairy’ ‘O Canada’, and ‘Holiday’. He took a character
I’d like to think it’s more than the surface noise that draws from each of these coins and combined them to create
people in. Making something look nice is one thing, but if a new mixed-media piece. Taxali was also influenced by
it’s purely decorative without a point of view, I think people his personal Indian ancestry: ‘Three hundred years ago,
get bored of that and want something more. My technique is my ancestor invented a coin that was difficult to coun-
attractive to my clients, but they also refer to my ideas and terfeit and he was knighted “Taxali” by the maharaja.
concepts as a major part of why they call me. That’s the way “Taxali” means “Shepherd of the Mint”.’
it should be.

Gary Taxali
Chump Inc.

179
Mikey Burton
Design and
Illustration
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

180 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

An Ohio native, Mikey Burton proudly describes his magazine saw a screenprinted poster I made for Wilco and
design aesthetic as ‘Midwesterny’ and draws much of his asked me if I did editorial work. In my mind I thought, ‘I don’t,
inspiration from artefacts found throughout the hard- but I do now’. Now it seems this letterpress/screenprinting
working, blue-collar Rust Belt of the Midwestern and aesthetic has led to a pretty decent percentage of my work
Northeastern USA: old type-specimen sheets, arcane being editorial illustration. So I guess the demand has
equipment manuals and ancient textbooks. Having start- unintentionally shifted from design to illustration.
ed out as a graphic designer, and now seen as an illustra-
tor who also happens to design with a handmade style, Have you found that clients have swung from wanting more
Burton is a firm believer in ‘imperfect print’. digital-only work to requiring more hand-printed products?
I’ve only been working on my own for a couple years now, and
You work across many disciplines. How have you seen the I feel like any client that usually comes to me (whether it be
demand for what you do change in recent years? for editorial illustration or graphic design) is looking for the
When I finished school, I was only interested in doing graphic handmade or imperfect quality in my aesthetic. Even if the
design; I had no real interest in being an illustrator, but I’ve final product isn’t actually letterpressed or screenprinted,
always had a passion for the printing process. My college they are still looking for that hand-printed feel.
had a very nice letterpress shop and I’ve had an affinity for
it ever since I brayered ink onto wood type. From there, my How would you sum up the relationship between contem-
friends and I tried our hand at screenprinting and started porary graphic design and printmaking?
making flyers for our friends’ bands. An art director at Wired I think that in this increasingly digital world, we strive for

181
tangible things. Things we make for the web and mobile Needing an identity system, creative and strategic brand
devices are perfect, and if not, they can be edited at any studio Division of Labor called on Burton to come up
time. Even the printing process has been perfected: you with a solution (pp. 180–81). The challenge was to cre-
can send a file to the printer and get 500,000 perfectly cut, ate a system that people wouldn’t confuse with an actual
folded and scored brochures that are identical in every way. government agency. This was done by a modern take on
But if we are investing in printing, I think we actually want it union membership cards, stamps and seals, achieved
to look printed. This is why there’s been such a rebirth of all through letterpress on French Paper Co. Poptone stock
these old forms of printing. in combination with a set of rubber stamps. ‘We wanted
to create something special that people don’t want to
What’s next for Mikey Burton? Any dream projects you’d like throw away. In case you were wondering, the Latin means
to see come to fruition? “Don’t let the bastards grind you down”.’
I have a long-term goal of having my own letterpress shop. As a creative alternative to the traditional business
I would print only my own work with a focus on posters. card, Burton designed an inspector stamp – a small,
Ideally, I would like to use it for one-off pieces like editorial metal, self-inking stamp that comes on a keychain (above).
illustration and other client-based stuff. Absolutely no ‘With this stamp, you are able to print your condensed
wedding invitations or poetry. snippet of info onto any substrate – a beer mat, someone
else’s business card, a napkin or even someone’s hand.
Mikey Burton After all, people are more likely to lose a business card in
Mikey Burton Design and Illustration a drunken stupor, but less likely to lose their hand.’

182 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

Neuarmy
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Ryan Katrina of Neuarmy created the front of each shirt garment-care instructions were rubber-stamped by hand.
in his Hustle collection by using vintage wood type in- Altogether, there are 12 impressions on each shirt, each
dividually set by hand. As a result, the letter spacing is done by hand, one at a time.
varied and each impression distinct – some light, others Additionally, two custom hang-tags, hand-cut and
dark – making each shirt unique. The inside neck tag hand-stamped with a grommet insert and red thread,
and sizing, lower inside edition number, branding and were created for each shirt.

183
Dona
Baronesa
São Paulo, Brazil
Art directors/graphic designers Alexandre Buika and and old paper displays could be reused. ‘The idea of us-
Pablo Brandon founded Dona Baronesa design studio af- ing stamps to craft the stationery was a wonderful way
ter many years of working at advertisement agencies and to illustrate the studio’s concept where every material is
design studios in São Paulo, Brazil. For the opening of their designed and tailored to the client’s taste,’ explains Buika.
new studio, they designed a visual identity that was sus-
tainable, using custom-made stamps so that scrap paper

184 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

Present
and Correct
London, UK
These ‘From the desk of…’ rubber stamps were a self-
initiated product for Present and Correct’s online store.
The studio wanted to create a simple personalization tool
for people that would also reflect the company’s love of
stationery. The designs were created in Adobe Illustrator
and then laser-etched into the rubber.

185
Raw Color
Eindhoven, Netherlands

186 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

Raw Color is a collaboration of the designers Christoph that could change. For this they came up with different,
Brach and Daniera ter Haar. In their Eindhoven-based independent food- and cooking-related shapes, some
studio they work on self-initiated and commissioned more abstract than others. These shapes could be mixed
projects. in endless combinations, using rubber stamps made of
Food-design studio Keukenconfessies called on each design element. Typographic elements were letter-
Raw Color to design their visual identity. The design- pressed in black to give the cards a robust feeling next to
ers searched for a mixture of moods, prints, colours and the colourful shapes. Uncoated paper was used for all the
printing techniques, having been asked to design a ‘logo’ printed matter.

187
Aekido
Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

188 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

Aekido is a young independent studio based in Aber­ The choice of the blackletter ampersand came from
deen, Scotland. The studio was founded in 2012 by Bunyan’s idea that something really old-looking would be
Levi Bunyan after graduating from Gray’s School of Art, an interesting, jarring contrast to the new idea of printing
Robert Gordon University. with Lego. ‘I also played around with the phrase “The
Bunyan used single Lego blocks to create the amper- End”, as it represented the end of my project/chapter of
sand shape shown in this print (above). He used litho oil- my life, where I would be finishing university and work-
based inks for printing, as the slow drying time allowed ing full time as a designer,’ Bunyan says.
him additional set-up time.

189
Letterproeftuin
Rotterdam, Netherlands

190 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

Letterproeftuin is an initiative by Rotterdam-based ground for professional designers in Chaumont, France.
designers Yorit Kluitman, Jaron Korvinus and Timon The studio was fully equipped, with furniture specially
van der Hijden. It is based on a passion for printmaking, designed to be both a workshop and an exhibition space.
combining craft and technology with inspiration, col- The workshop’s toolkit consisted of a wall hung with
laboration, hard work and fun. more than a thousand laser-cut wooden shapes. All three
After three successful editions, Letterproeftuin, designers worked for ten days onsite, together with visit-
in collaboration with Graphic Design Festival Breda, ing international designers.
developed a mobile open-source studio, providing a play-

191
Spencer Wilson /
Peepshow
Collective Ltd
London, UK

192 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

 Bare Bones: created by Spencer Wilson
in conjunction with Peepshow Collective
Ltd (www.peepshow.org.uk).

Bare Bones (above) was created as part of the Museum Space Cowboy (opposite) is a Letterpress plano-
of Objects and Origins, a collection of artefacts, draw- graphic print in three colours (dark blue, silver and red)
ings, objects, prints and costumes created for Peepshow on 300gsm Somerset satin printing paper, approximately
Collective’s residency at London graphic art fair Pick Me 19 x 28 cm (7½ x 11 in). It was produced in a signed and
Up in 2012. numbered edition of 40.
Wilson created the bone designs from 3 mm (1⁄8 in)
white acrylic. The shapes where inked with white and
printed on grey paper supplied by the sponsor, hand-
stamped with the museum’s ink pad and passed through
a tabletop etching press.

193
Studio
Mothership
London, UK

194 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

Since early 2011 Ken Borg has been working closely with The woodblocks, which were designed to be type high,
web developer and photographer Lucy Sloss under work in a bespoke chase produced to fit in an Albion
the moniker Studio Mothership, producing both self- Improved Relief Press.
initiated and commercial work. The project shown here
was conducted as part of Borg’s ongoing investigation
into the deconstruction of traditional letter­press borders
and ornaments. From the idea of a repeated pattern, the
studio developed a set of wooden pieces that combine in
85 different patterns (top right). The pieces were laser-
cut from wood (above right) and then chiseled and
finished by hand, before being polished and varnished.

195
Physical
Fiction
North Carolina/Oregon, USA

196 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

Samuel Cox and Justin LaRosa of Physical Fiction created print had three different boards, thus going through the
the prints shown here – Fox (opposite) and Baddies press three times.
(above left) – using MDF boards with Lego baseplates ‘For the majority of the prints, we used rubber-based
fastened to them. ink, which dries quickly through absorption into the
The designs for the prints were composed digitally paper. We prefer working with quick-drying inks as many
in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. Cox and LaRosa of our designs rely on impressions overprinting each
then carefully duplicated the digital pixels of each colour other to create entirely new colours – a trick hard to con-
layer on the physical board using smooth 1 x 1 Lego tiles trol with wet ink,’ Sam explains.
(above right). A typical print was three colours so each

197
Other Printing Methods in Focus

Print Gocco & Risography

Japan/Worldwide

198 Other Printing Methods—Other Printing Methods in Focus

Squidballs: Gocco print, designed and printed by Peskimo.

Print Gocco is a Japanese colour screenprinting system With manufacturers Riso Kagaku Corporation now hav-
developed in 1977 by Noboru Hayama. Resembling a ing ceased production in their native Japan, materials and
toy, the compact and completely self-contained printer supplies are collected and traded by die-hard fans and
is clean, quick and easy to use. The system works using artisans of the Gocco community. Despite there being
flash bulbs, a carbon-based image or photocopy and an a huge international demand for Gocco, Riso still have
emulsion-coated screen. When the bulbs are manually no plans to restart production; however, Gocco’s online
flashed, the carbon in the drawing or photocopy burns presence on YouTube, Flickr and Etsy websites, plus a
the screen into a stencil. Several colours of ink can then hugely active eBay demand, keeps the medium alive.
be applied at one time and multiples can be stamped David Partington and Jodie Davis began their Bristol-
out, as many as 100 before re-inking is needed. This lit- based studio Peskimo in 2002. After buying their first
tle screenprint press has been used to print not only on Gocco kit in 2007 they began creating artwork and selling
paper (greeting cards, invitations, napkins, etc.) but also prints online and through stockists in the UK. ‘The print-
on fabric (T-shirts, bags, etc.) and ceramics. A huge ap- ing is quick and compact, and can be done in an evening
peal of Gocco is its minimal material requirements and in front of the TV or while catching up on emails!’ ex-
small size: it can be easily transported and cleaned, and plains Partington.
no special facilities are required.

199
Mr Pigglesworth: Gocco print, artwork by Robbie’s Brown Shoes (robbiesbrownshoes.com), printed by Puck Studio (Wilkinson and Gibbons 2012).

London’s Puck Studio was founded in 2011 by illus- image. Once exposed, the extinguished bulbs and unit
trators Robbie Wilkinson and David Gibbons. As part of are removed, and the screen is slid from the printer.
their exhibition at the 2012 contemporary art fair Pick Me Where any carbon has come into contact with the
Up, Puck set out to produce a different Gocco print to be screen during exposure a transparency is pulled away.
sold every day over the 11-day event. The design shown This creates a negative of the original image, just like in
above, entitled Mr Pigglesworth, was drawn onsite and screenprinting.
printed using metallic Gocco inks. Wilkinson explains ‘The Gocco-brand screen peels open on one side,
the Gocco printing process (above): and using a fine, sticky-backed foam, a boarder can be
‘We used a carbon-based fine line pen and pro- created around the image and/or any areas that you
duced the images using a specific Gocco-brand sketch want to be a specific colour. Once masked, oil-based ink
pad. This kept the image to scale and within the print- tubes are used to pipe in the required colours to desired
able guidelines. Once the image is ready, it is placed areas. Once the paper stock is chosen and placed onto
within the printer, and a Gocco-brand pre-coated screen the sponge print bed, the exposed screen is slid back into
is placed within the housing and laid down against the housing unit, making sure the screen frame is clean of
the drawn image. Zinc-coated flash bulbs are put into excess ink. The screen housing is lowered down towards
the exposure unit and locked into place. A steady down- the paper stock, then pushed against it in a single clean
ward push completes the circuit of the printer and ignites motion. Upon lifting the screen housing, the Gocco print
the flash bulbs, exposing the screen to the carbon-based is revealed.

200 Other Printing Methods—Other Printing Methods in Focus

Herbal: Risograph print, designed by Sister Arrow for the V&A, printed by Manymono.

‘Usually the first print will be patchy and considered studio Manymono, who printed the work shown here
disposable, so the action is repeated until a clean flow of for illustrator Sister Arrow (see also p. 209). Herbal
ink is achieved and the prints look as desired. When the is an A3 (42 x 59.4 cm/16½ x 23 3⁄8 in) Risograph print,
edition is reached, prints are left to dry.’ commissioned for the spring/summer posters and prints
Closely linked to Print Gocco and widely used by collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
many Gocco enthusiasts is a printing method known as It was printed on the Risograph using five soy-based
Risography or Risograph, or simply as Riso. This high- inks – blue, fluorescent pink, yellow, green and brown.
speed automatic printing device – also manufactured by
the Riso Kagaku Corporation – brings together several
processes that were previously carried out manually by
the Print Gocco system.
Because the process involves real ink and does not
require heat to fix the image on the paper – like a photo-
copier or laser printer – Risography has become popular
with printmakers due to its similarities to traditional me-
diums in both stylistic tone and ‘hand printed’ look.
Riso-specific print shops have begun to pop up
on both sides of the Atlantic, including London-based

201
Evidenti
Barcelona, Spain

202 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

Under the name Evidenti, Jonatan Arasa began experi- to Gocco as a medium: ‘It really has very few elements
menting with Gocco as a way of adding error and surreal and even if the registration is a little off, it gives the final
elements to his digital illustration. Gocco print some charm.’
Matches That Do Not Match (above left) was made Old Skull (above right) was the very first Gocco print
as a project for a group exhibition at Centre Cívic Parc- that Evidenti created. His main goal was to unpack the
Sandaru in Barcelona called ‘Els colors del foc’. The main machine and begin printing his illustration on every pa-
subject of the show was work inspired by ‘fire colours’. per he could find available, which resulted in numerous
The simplicity of the Gocco printing and sometimes un- collage editions.
predictable nature of the prints is what draws Evidenti

203
 Things We Love card: Gocco print, four-colour
CMYK front, one-colour back, 10.8 x 14 cm
(41⁄4 x 51⁄2 in). Limited edition of 50.

Draplin
Design Co.
Portland, Oregon, USA

204 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

 DC Love: Washington Monument, San
Francisco Love and Philadelphia Love:
by Megan Nolton, Art Shark Designs. One-
colour Gocco prints with red water­colour
details on Stonehenge paper, 8.9 x 14 cm
(31⁄2 x 51⁄2 in). Limited editions, signed

Art Shark
and numbered.

Designs
Alexandria, Virginia, USA

205
Luke Despatie &
The Design Firm/
Port Hope Press
Ontario, Canada

206 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

 Favorite Christmas Singles coasters:
illustrated and designed by Luke
Despatie, printed by Port Hope Press.
Gocco print with letterpressed track
names.

Sitting behind a computer all day led Luke Despatie, a caught wind and I was able to offer printed products to
graphic designer by trade, to crave getting his hands them, such as stationery and small-run packaging.’ An
dirty and reconnecting with his ‘inner artist’. He says: example is Despatie’s Peppermint Beard and Body Soap
‘I acquired a Gocco printing machine and started out packaging (opposite).
printing funny Christmas cards in my spare time for my
own personal use. Word got out, which led to me open-
ing an Etsy store. As my skills improved, design clients

207
 Le Dernier Cri, Tarot de Mars

Favourite Shoes: two-colour Gocco print,

14.9 x 21 cm (57⁄8 x 81⁄4 in). Limited edition
of 250, signed and numbered.

Magic Jelly
Adelaide, South Australia
Karena Colquhoun works under the name Magic Jelly elements, like Indiana Ticket (above left). ‘I start by ap-
from a small home studio in the Adelaide suburb of Sem- plying the torn background paper – I use a whole range of
aphore, South Australia. different papers, from Japanese Washi through to vintage
One of the qualities that draw Colquhoun to Gocco maps, wallpaper and book pages,’ she explains.
is the low-tech imperfection that echoes the cheap pulpi- Colquhoun uses a range of Gocco models, includ-
ness of old comics, packaging and advertising: the way the ing the small-format B6 and the large-format Print Gocco
ink bleeds and interacts with the paper, the limited colour Arts (PG6).
palettes, off-registration and halftones all appealed. Many
of her works are multilayered collage pieces with printed

208 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

Sister Arrow
London, UK
Peace Puzzle (above left) is a four-colour CMYK A3 China Snuff (above right) was initially intended to
(29.7 x 42 cm / 11¾ x 16½ in) Risograph print created use only three colours – red, blue and yellow. However, to
by Sister Arrow, aka George Mellor, for It’s Nice That x optimize the different shades and hues that could be cre-
Landfill Editions. ‘Selected babies have ritual or person- ated by ‘over-printing’, Mellor screenprinted a pale pink
al items as part of their stance, a giant hairpin, a lidded gloss over the Riso print to accentuate the flowers; the
spoon, a peace pipe. This alludes to their personalities gloss was also used for the delicate Chinese shòu character
and the overall narrative of the group,’ explains Mellor. in the top left corner. The A4 (21 x 29.7 cm / 8¼ x 11¾ in)
The design was printed by Manymono in an edition of design was printed by Manymono and Jenny Bell in a
100, signed and numbered. signed and numbered limited edition of 50.

209
Harry Diaz
Calabasas, California, USA

210 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

Sun Afloat: two-colour Risograph print Untitled, 9: three-colour Risograph print
on 80lb French Paper Co. Cream cover on 80lb French Paper Co. Cream cover
stock, A4 (81⁄4 x 113⁄4 in). Open edition, stock, A4 (81⁄4 x 113⁄4 in). Open edition,
signed. signed.

Lookout (opposite) is a Risograph print designed by

Harry Diaz. The designer/illustrator’s Aztec-inspired
geometric design is reflective of his upbringing and
ancestry: ‘I was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala. I
grew up there until the age of 10. My family immigrated
to the US in 1992 and I’ve been here ever since. This shift
in cultures has affected my work, positively, and is the
common thread across all my imagery.’

211
Steady Co.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

212 Other Printing Methods—Portfolios

(Opposite) Free Love: by Steady Co., Erik A. Hamline. One- T-Bone Bingo: by Steady Co., Erik A. Hamline. Two-colour
colour Risograph print on French Paper Co. 100lb Poptone Risograph print on French Paper Co. 100lb Poptone
Cotton Candy stock, 20.3 x 25.4 cm (8 x 10 in). Edition of 25. stock, 20.3 x 25.4 cm (8 x 10 in). Edition of 25.

Steady Co. specializes in screenprinting (see p. 61), running spot colours and using real gooey pigmented
Risograph printing, design and illustration. The bulk inks,’ he explains.
of their design client base is in the music industry. Stu- Hamline’s Riso 8770 machine is ideal for 27.9 x
dio founder Erik Hamline designs and prints for vari- 43.2 cm (11 x 17 in) prints, zines, limited-edition books,
ous labels and bands, of all sizes and varieties. He also CD/tape/vinyl sleeves, cards and anything else he can run
makes a large amount of work using Risography for both through it.
personal and client work. ‘It’s the perfect medium be-
tween digital’s automation and screenprinting’s tactility,

213
Glossary
Adana – Small printing press Chase – A rectangular steel or Forme-cut – A printing process using
manufacturer in Britain between iron frame into which type is a sharp, metal die to cut irregular
1922 and 1999. Operated by hand locked for printing or plate making. shapes out of stock, many sheets
and popular with hobbyists and at a time.
Chine-collé – A collage element
stationers.
that is printed and glued to the Gesso – A paste-like substance made
Albion Press – Iron hand-press print at the same time. Usually from plaster of Paris or chalk and glue.
used for relief printing. A variation made of thin Asian paper.
Gocco / Print Gocco – Compact colour
of a platen-type press but with
CMYK – Process colour system used screenprinting device manufactured in
knuckle-and-lever mechanism.
for printing full-colour imagery (C: Japan between 1977 and 2005.
Baren – A hand-held tool used Cyan, M: Magenta, Y: Yellow, K: Black).
Golding Jobber – A full-sized family
to burnish paper once placed on
Colour separation – When colours of professional presses, from American
an inked block
are divided into separate artwork manufacturer Golding. With chase sizes
Bite – Term used to describe the layers prior to print. Used in both ranging from 8 x 12 in (20.3 x 30.5 cm)
etching, or incising, of the image on spot-colour printing and process- to 15 x 21 in (38.1 x 53.5 cm).
the paper from a form. colour halftone printing.
Gouge – A hand-held carving tool
Bitmap – A computer image mode Cylinder press – Press using a that is used to remove materials from
that reduces all information to either large cylinder to deliver paper and a matrix, such as a wood or linoleum
black or white. Both diffusion dither impression to type on a flat-bed press. block, when making a relief print.
and halftone bitmap modes are See Vandercook and Heidelberg.
Grain – Describes the direction of
popular variables of bitmaps used
Debossing – Debossing works by the fibres on the plank-side surface
in image preparation.
pushing the surface of a material of timber.
Blankets – Woven felt blankets inwards. The reverse of embossing,
Greyscale – A digital image without
used on an etching press. Usually which raises the surface of a material.
colour, but representing a full range
three blankets are used: the top
Die-cut – The term ‘die’ refers to a tool of grey tones.
blanket – the pusher felt; the middle
with a custom shape. In the die-cut
blanket – the cushion/forming Halftone – The translation of tonal
process, this exact shape is cut out
blanket; and the bottom blanket – information into a bitmap system of
of the paper or other material.
the sizing catcher. various-sized dots, shapes or lines
Edition – A number of prints made to simulate a continuous gradient.
Blind – The technique of printing un-
within the same print cycle.
inked plates to produce embossed Heidelberg – German manufacturer of
effects. Embossing – Embossing works by a range of popular letterpress printing
raising the surface of a material. The presses, including platen presses with
Block – see Matrix.
reverse of debossing, which pushes automatic feed and delivery such as
Brayer – Used to apply a layer of the surface of a material inward. the Heidelberg Windmill and cylinder
ink onto a matrix by hand. Also presses such as Heidelberg KSBA.
Emulsion – A light-sensitive liquid
known as a roller.
for coating screens on the photo- Ink slab – Glass or other smooth
Burin – An engraving tool with a processing stage of screenprinting. surface used to roll ink out to a
sharp point. Available in many thin layer before relief printing.
Etching press – Press for printing
different profiles.
etchings and other intaglio plates, in Intaglio – A printing method
Burnisher – A hard tool used to which a press bed is slipped between where the image is printed from a
smooth paper once placed on an two rollers, one of them adjustable to recessed design incised or etched
inked block. increase or decrease pressure. Easily into the surface of a plate. The ink
adapted to print relief blocks. lies below the surface of the plate
Chandler & Price – American
and is transferred to the paper
manufacturer of a range of letterpress Flatbed press – A press with a flat
under pressure.
printing presses between 1881 printing surface where the paper is
and 1964. pressed against the surface with
either another plate or a cylinder.

214 Glossary
Kreene – A flexible and matte Proof, proofing – The process of Substrate – The surface on which a
transparent plastic sheeting used testing printing and making changes print is made.
in platemakers for a tight, flawless until the desired print is achieved.
Trapping – Process of creating slight
seal over both film and plate.
Registration – The process of aligning overlap between abutting colours of
Lead type – see Typeset. paper to the printing matrices to a multicolour job, to compensate for
ensure each colour prints in the errors in registration of colour plates.
Lith film – High-contrast film that
correct position.
produces negatives with intense Typeset – The process of typesetting
blacks and whites and very minimal Risography, Risograph – High-speed uses lead cast or wooden type
mid-tones. automatic printing device that brings composed together in order to make
together several processes that were a form for printing text in letterpress.
Matrix – The plate, block, screen
previously carried out manually in
or other surface that carries the Vandercook – American manufacturer
the Print Gocco system.
information for a print. of letterpress presses between 1909
Rotary press – A rotary press has and 1969. Created a range of popular
Mesh – The fabric stretched across
a cylindrical printing surface that is flatbed proofing presses including the
a frame for screenprinting.
rolled over the surface of the paper, Vandercook SP-15 and Vandercook #4.
Metal type – The individual allowing much faster printing than
Vector image – Digital image that
characters used in traditional a flatbed press.
can be scaled to any size without loss
letterpress. Commonly consists
Serigraph – Term created during the of detail.
of 67% lead, 28% antimony and
1920s to distinguish the creative art
5% stannous. Wood engraving – The process of
in silkscreen from the commercial
engraving into the end-grain of a
Multiples – A capacity of prints that or reproductive uses of the process.
dense piece of wood. Fine engraving
exist as duplicates. Derives from the Latin for ‘silk’, seri,
tools such as burins are used to
Offset lithography /litho printing – and the Greek for ‘to draw’, graphein.
make detailed lines and marks.
Commercial printing method that Silkscreen – Often used to refer to
Wood type – Individual letters
involves the creation of rubber printing screenprinting. Now technically
made from wood composed to make
plates that act as templates for a incorrect due to the mesh of the
a printing form in letterpress.
print job. Printing jobs of this type screens no longer being made of silk.
commonly print CMYK process colours. Commonly they are now instead
Photopolymer – A polymer that made of nylon or polyester.
changes its properties when exposed Spot colour – A colour or finish
to ultraviolet (UV) light. Used to generated by nonstandard ink, such
make printing matrices in modern as fluorescent inks, metallic inks or
letterpress printing. spot varnishes.
Platen press – In a platen press, a flat Stamping – Simple form of printing
surface bearing the paper is pressed using rubber matrices that have had
against a flat, inked printing plate; the an image and/or text carved, moulded
two surfaces come together and part or engraved into the surface.
with a jaw-like motion. Most small
Stencil – A mask that blocks printing
hand-presses are platen presses.
ink. Used widely in the screenprinting
Positive – A transparency used for process. Can be hand-cut directly into
photo-printmaking that determines paper or thin plastics, or produced
the image once exposed to a light- through the photo-emulsion light-
sensitive matrix. reactive method.
Stock – Printing paper.

215
Resources
GENERAL WORKSHOPS design and printing. Runs three-part
workshops in eight US cities.
Briar Press Baltimore Print Studios www.sparkascreen.com
A community of printers and artists Offers monthly workshops in
dedicated to the preservation of letterpress and screen-printing as Warringah Printmakers Studio
letterpress. Discussions, practical well as studio and press rental. Community-based nonprofit
guidance, supplier information and www.baltimoreprintstudios.com organization offering classes,
equipment sales also available. workshops, studio access, regular
East London Printmakers exhibitions and a variety of exciting
www.briarpress.org
Spacious and modern print studio and innovative projects. Based in
Etsy providing open-access facilities for New South Wales, Australia.
Online marketplace for handmade screenprinting, etching and relief www.printstudio.org.au
crafts and artwork. printing. Also offers weekly courses.
www.etsy.com www.eastlondonprintmakers.co.uk
Five Roses Edinburgh Printmakers GENERAL SUPPLIES
Extensive resources and information Offer a range of printmaking material
for all types of letterpress. as well as educational workshops and Dick Blick Art Materials
www.fiveroses.org artwork sales. Premier art-supply source for
www.edinburghprintmakers.co.uk professional artists, students and
Gig Posters teachers. Wide range of printmaking
Online art gallery showcasing the London Print Studio inks and materials. Based in the USA.
world’s largest gig poster archive. Open access facilities for www.dickblick.com
www.gigposters.com screenprinting, letterpress, etching,
lithography and relief printing. Also Intaglio Printmakers
Letterpress Alive Specialist suppliers of equipment
offers weekly courses, an exhibition
UK-based site with extensive and materials to artist printmakers.
space and digital print facilities.
resources and information for all Based in London, UK.
www.londonprintstudio.org.uk
types of letterpress. www.intaglioprintmaker.com
www.letterpressalive.co.uk Lower East Side Printshop
Nonprofit workshop that promotes and Joop Stoop
People of Print Everything for etching, engraving,
advances printmaking by providing
Library of artists, collectives, lithography, block printing,
professional facilities, classes,
and studios who use the medium photopolymer processes and
programmes and public exhibitions.
of print in their work. screenprinting. Based in Paris, France.
www.printshop.org
www.peopleofprint.com www.joopstoop.fr/en
Manhattan Graphics Center
Printeresting Parkers Sydney Fine Art Supplies
Fine-art printmaking studio in
Online resource for printmaking Fine-art supplies store boasting the
New York City offering printmaking
miscellany. Categories include artists, largest range of printmaking supplies
classes and well-equipped studio
exhibitions, reviews and more. in Sydney, Australia.
facilities where artists can work in
www.printeresting.org www.parkersartsupplies.com
a creative environment.
St Bride Foundation www.manhattangraphicscenter.org Screen Colour Systems
The world’s foremost printing Supplier and manufacturer of
Sonsoles Print Studio
and graphic arts library, based in screens and screenprinting materials
Fully equipped open-access
London, UK. in London, UK. Provides paper and
screenprint studio run by artists.
www.stbride.org textile screens and ink, as well as a
Based in South London, UK.
1000 Woodcuts www.sonsolesprintstudio.co.uk screen re-stretching service.
Musings on woodcuts, art and www.screencoloursystems.co.uk
Sparka Screenprint Workshops
life as an artist from printmaker
Beginner-level workshops covering
Maria Arango.
all aspects of the process, from
www.1000woodcuts.com
building your own equipment to

216 Resources
INK PAPER

Caligo Inks GF Smith

Oil-based inks for etching, Independent British company
relief printing and lithography. providing a range of papers and
Offer Safe-Wash inks that can finishes, including Colorplan premium
be cleaned with water. coloured stock and Crane’s Lettra
www.caligoinks.com letterpress paper.
www.gfsmith.com
Daler-Rowney
Manufacturers of System 3 acrylics French Paper Company
and screenprinting mediums. System Family-owned for five generations,
3 acrylics are highly versatile water- the French Paper Company is one of
based acrylic colours with high-quality the smallest paper mills in the United
pigments at an economical price. States. Manufacturers of an extensive
www.daler-rowney.com range of coloured papers and boards.
www.frenchpaper.com
Lascaux Colours & Restauro
Eco-friendly professional-grade John Purcell Paper
water-based screenprinting inks Provides an extensive range of papers
and varnishes. and boards.
www.lascaux.ch/en www.johnpurcell.net
Permaset Neenah Paper
Manufacturers of Permaset Fabric World-class manufacturer of premium
Printing inks. A complete range cover, specialty and private watermark
of colours including metallic and papers, including Crane’s Lettra
fluorescent colors. All colours are letterpress paper.
water-based so equipment can be www.neenahpaper.com
easily cleaned with water.
www.permaset.com.au
Speedball POLYMER PLATES
Produce a complete line of block Boxcar Press
printing and screenprinting supplies, www.boxcarpress.com
drawing pens, acrylic paints and
watercolor palettes. Centurion Graphics
www.speedballart.com www.centuriongraphics.co.uk

TW Graphics Solarplate
Manufacturer of screenprinting inks www.solarplate.com
and specialty coatings.
www.twgraphics.com
LINOLEUM BLOCKS
Van Son Inks
Manufacturers of Infinity Acrylic and Bangor Cork
Rubber Base Plus letterpress inks. www.bangorcork.com
www.vansonink.com
Lawrence Art Supplies
www.lawrence.co.uk

217
Contacts
55 Hi’s Burlesque of North America Stanley Donwood Ladyfingers Letterpress
info@55his.com info@burlesquedesign.com stanley.donwood@yahoo.com info@ladyfingersletterpress.com
www.55his.com www.burlesquedesign.com www.slowlydownward.com www.ladyfingersletterpress.com
Aekido Mikey Burton Draplin Design Co. Landland
studio@thisisaekido.co.uk mikey@mikeyburton.com aaron@draplin.com orders@landland.net
www.thisisaekido.co.uk www.mikeyburton.com www.draplin.com www.landland.net
Daniel Allegrucci Paul Catherall Eltono Le Dernier Cri
dgrucci@yahoo.com info@paulcatherall.com eltono@eltono.com dc@lederniercri.org
www.danielallegrucci.com www.paulcatherall.com www.eltono.com www.lederniercri.org
Kelli Anderson Cast Iron Design Company Equipo Plástico Les Tontons Racleurs
kelli@kellianderson.com post@castirondesign.com info@equipoplastico.com bonjour@lestontonsracleurs.be
www.kellianderson.com www.castirondesign.com www.equipoplastico.com www.lestontonsracleurs.be
Anenocena The Church of London Essie Letterpress Letterproeftuin
hello@anenocena.com info@thechurchoflondon.com essie@essieletterpress.co.za info@letterproeftuin.com
www.anenocena.com www.thechurchoflondon.com www.essieletterpress.co.za www.letterproeftuin.com
www.littlewhitelies.co.uk
Art Shark Design Evidenti live from bklyn
artsharkdesigns@gmail.com Cliché Studio evidenti@gmail.com dailey.crafton@gmail.com
www.artsharkdesigns.com info@clichestudio.com www.evidenti.com www.livefrombklyn.com
www.clichestudio.com
Atelier Deux Mille FLATSTOCK Lubok Verlag
atelier@deux-mille.com Cloudy Collective info@americanposter info@lubok.de
www.deux-mille.com hello@cloudyco.com institute.com www.lubok.de
www.cloudyco.com www.americanposter
Fabien Barral Magic Jelly
institute.com/flatstock
ecrire@fabienbarral.com Cockeyed Press hello@magicjelly.com.au
www.barral-creations.com cockeyedpress@earthlink.net Hatch Showprint www.magicjelly.com.au
www.mr-cup.com www.billfick.com info@hatchshowprint.com
Magma Press
www.cockeyedpress.com www.hatchshowprint.com
Jane Beharrell andre@magmapress.nl
janebeharrell@gmail.com Cranky Pressman The Heads of State www.magmapress.nl
www.janebeharrell.com jobber@crankypressman.com studio@theheadsofstate.com
Mama’s Sauce
www.crankypressman.com www.theheadsofstate.com
Luke Best numbers@mamas-sauce.com
luke @lukebest.com Crispin Finn Stefan Hoffman www.mamas-sauce.com
www.lukebest.com hello@crispinfinn.com hoffmannprinting@gmail.com
Mattson Creative
www.crispinfinn.com www.stefanhoffmann.nl
Blush Publishing ty@mattsoncreative.com
mark@blushpublishing.co.uk Harry Diaz The Hungry Workshop www.mattsoncreative.com
www.blushpublishing.co.uk diazha@gmail.com simon@thehungryworkshop
Mike McQuade
www.harrydiaz.com www.thehungryworkshop.
Boxcar Press mike@mikemcquade.com
com.au
info@boxcarpress.com DKNG www.mikemcquade.com
www.boxcarpress.com contact@dkngstudios.com Kid Acne
Miller Creative
www.dkngstudios.com kidacne@gmail.com
Bravo Company info@yaelmiller.com
www.kidacne.com
info@bravo-company.info Doe Eyed www.yaelmiller.com
www.bravo-company.info info@doe-eyed.com Roman Klonek
Nick Morley
www.doe-eyed.com www.klonek.de
James Brown nickbmorley@hotmail.com
roman@klonek.de
james@generalpattern.net Dona Baronesa Design www.nickmorley.co.uk
www.generalpattern.net hello@donabaronesa.com
www.donabronesa.com

218 Contacts
Jason Munn Puck Studio Gary Taxali Spencer Wilson
jason@jasonmunn.com studio@puckstudio.co.uk gary@garytaxali.com spencer@spencerwilson.co.uk
www.jasonmunn.com www.puckstudio.co.uk www.garytaxali.com www.spencerwilson.co.uk
www.taxalionline.com
Neuarmy Raw Color Jamie Winder
www.taxalionline.com/blog
ryan@neuarmy.com info@rawcolor.nl info@jamiewinder.co.uk
www.neuarmy.com www.rawcolor.nl Telegramme Studio www.jamiewinder.co.uk
bobby@telegramme.co.uk
Nobrow Press Scotty Reifsnyder, Wolfbat Studios
www.telegramme.co.uk
info@nobrow.net Visual Adventurer wolfbatinfo@gmail.com
www.nobrow.net scotty@seescotty.com John C Thurbin www.wolfbat.com
www.seescotty.com john@johncthurbin.com
Joshua Norton Woods & Weather
www.johncthurbin.com
jnortonprints@gmail.com Tom Rowe erik@woodsandweather.com
www.joshuanorton.net hello@tweedtom.com Tind www.woodsandweather.com
www.tweedtom.com propaganda@tind.gr
Darrel Perkins Yoirene
www.tind.gr
drlperkins@gmail.com Salih Kucukaga birene.yo@gmail.com
www.erato.gr
www.drlperkins.com Design Studio yoirene.tumblr.com
skucukaga@gmail.com Ryan Todd
Peskimo
www.salihkucukaga.com ryan@ryantodd.com
go@peskimo.com
www.ryantodd.com
www.peskimo.com Laura Seaby
lauraseabydesign@gmail.com Tom Hingston Studio
Helen Peyton
www.lauraseaby.co.uk info@hingston.net
info@helenpeyton.com
www.hingston.net
www.helenpeyton.com Sister Arrow
sisterarrow@gmail.com Tugboat Printshop
Physical Fiction
www.sisterarrow.com tugboatprintshop@gmail.com
physicalfiction@gmail.com
www.many-hands.com www.tugboatprintshop.com
www.physicalfiction.com
Sonnenzimmer Two Arms Inc.
Port Hope Press
info@sonnenzimmer.com info@twoarmsinc.com
luke@thedesignfirm.ca
www.sonnenzimmer.com www.twoarmsinc.com
www.thedesignfirm.ca
www.home-tapes.com
www.porthopepress.com A Two Pipe Problem
Steady Print Co. stephen@atwopipeproblem.
Endi Poskovic
erik@steadyprintshop.com com
poskovic@umich.edu
www.steadyprintshop.com www.atwopipeproblem.com
www.endiposkovic.com
Studio Arturo Vahalla Studios
Power and Light Press
Via Romanello da Forlì 25, info@vahallastudios.com
powerandlightpress@
Rome www.vahallastudios.com
yahoo.com
arturoom@gmail.com
www.powerandlightpress.com Brad Vetter
www.studioarturo.com
www.type-truck.com bradvetterdesign@gmail.com
Studio Mothership www.bradvetterdesign.com
Present and Correct
info@kenborg.net
info@presentandcorrect.com We Three Club
hello@studiomothership.com
www.presentandcorrect.com hello@wethreeclub.com
www.kenborg.net
www.wethreeclub.com
Press a Card www.studiomothership.com
pressacard@yahoo.com Whitespace
Studio on Fire
www.pressacard.com danielle@whitespace.hk
info@studioonfire.com
www.whitespace.hk
www.studioonfire.com
www.beastpieces.com

219
Index
A Bob Eight Pop 41 Crafton, Dailey 159
Boesch, Brian 118 Crane’s Lettra paper 79, 84, 85, 103,
Acne, Kid 126–27 Bolino, Pakito 15 111
Adobe Illustrator 185, 197 Borg, Ken 195 Cranky Pressman 110–11
Aekido 188–89 Bosma, Sam 90 Crehore, Amy 91
Ahlstrom Blotter board 122 Boxcar Press 69, 91, 104–105 Crispin Finn 26–27
Aicher, Otl 7 Brach, Christoph 187 Curious Metallics paper 81
Allegri, Natasha 90 Brandon, Pablo 184
Allegrucci, Daniel 164–65 Bravo Company 106–107 D
Allen, Emory 91 brayers 134–35
Alterio, Joe 91 Brotherston, Alasdair 21 Dallemagne, Maud 37
American Poster Institute, The 58–59 Brouse, Jenna 117 Danger, Daniel 43
Ampersand Collection 22 Brown, James 136–38 Daniel, Jennifer 104
Amster Printing Service 107 Brugni, Anne 37 Davidson, Andrew 149
Anderson (Charles S.) Design 75, 77 Buika, Alexandre 184 Davis, Jodie 199
Anderson, Kelli 114–15 Bunyan, Levi 189 Debos, Rene 59
Anenocena 88–89 Burlesque of North America 47 DeForge, Michael 90
Angelakis, Manolis 39 Burton, Mikey 180–82 Delpech, Nicolas 45
Annable, Graham 104 Butcher, Nick 33 Denver Art Museum 19
Arasa, Jonatan 203 Dernier Cri, Le 14–15
Arm, The, Brooklyn 89 Design Firm, The 206–7
C
Art Shark Designs 205 Despatie, Luke 206–7
‘Artcrank’ exhibitions 23, 102 Cabana restaurants, London 127 Devore, Andrew 117
Arthur, Sam 21 Campa, Elena 153 Diamond Sutra 129
Atelier Deux-Mille 44–45 Campironi, Cecilia 153 Diaz, Harry 210–11
Austin, Texas: SXSW Music Conference Canson paper 65, 159 Didot Elder (typeface) 89
59 Caratozzolo, Amalia 153 DKNG 50–51
carbon transfer 132, 133 Doe Eyed 52–53
B Carlile, Mica 87 Dona Baronesa 184
Carpenter, Tad 87, 104 Donwood, Stanley 150–51
Baltimore Print Studios 73 Carroll, Emily 90 Draplin Design Co. 204
barens 132, 133 Cast Iron Design Company 108–9 Duchâtelet, Pierre-Philippe 37
Barral, Fabien 112–13 Catherall, Paul 175 Dürer, Albrecht 129–30
Barrett, Oliver 111 Chicago: Pitchfork Festival 59 Durrie, Kyle 97
Bartholomew, Sharon 105 Chicha posters 62–65 Moveable Type Truck 96, 97
Bay, Jules 65 Choque Cultural Gallery 126–27
Beer Mat Board 80 Chump Inc. 177–79
beer mats 122 Church of London, The 46 E
Beharrell, Jane 157 Ciesemier, Kali 91
Belayew, Nicolas 37 Conqueror Connoisseur paper 83 Eltono 64–65, 126
Benaroya, Ana 91 Cliché Studio 69, 82–83 Equipo Plástico 62–65
Berger, Keith and Jamie 111 Cloudy/Co 90–91, 104–5 Espresso Republic cafés 123
Bernaus, Ana Gómez 89 Cockeyed Press 146–47 Essie Letterpress 94
Best, Luke 160–61 Coene, Anton 57 Evans, Bobby 49
Bewick, Thomas 130 Colquhoun, Karena 208 Evidenti 202–203
engraved block 131 ‘Concrete Hermit X Lomography’
Black, Dan 43 exhibition, London (2012) 156 F
Black, Jonathan 109 Correll, Gemma 101
Blood Red Shoes 57 Cox, Samuel 197 Farm Group of Thailand 86
Blush Publishing 100–101 ‘Crack’ festival, Rome 153 Faucompré, Quentin 15

220 Index
Fick, Bill 146–47 Huthart, Danielle 25 Lego, printing with 189, 197
Fidalgo, Anna 27 Huyck, David 91, 104 Lemur Cards 83
55 Hi’s 22 Lester (Herb) Associates 49
FLATSTOCK 18, 58–59 I Lettera Magica 113
flexographic plates 68, 70 letterpress 66, 67–69
French-fold binding 167 inks process 70–73
French Paper Co. 22, 29, 43, 50, 53, 55, letterpress 69, 83, 89, 93, 94, 95, Letterproeftuin 190–91
75, 77, 117, 119, 182 113, 119, 126 Leung, Martin 25
relief printing 132, 134–35, 138, Levitz, Ben 75–76
G 155, 157, 159, 171, 173, 174, 175 linocut printing 131, 137–38, 145, 147,
screenprinting 9, 12, 15, 37, 39, 45, 151, 153, 156, 159, 167, 171, 172–74
Gauguin, Paul 129 46, 47 process 132–35
Gauld, Tom 104 soy-based 69, 119, 201 live from bklyn 158–59
gesso coating 132 InkTank.com 53 London Design Museum 41
GF Smith paper 46, 138 Irie, Akira 95 Lower East Side Printshop, New York 9
Gibbons, David 200 Irwin, Jim 108–109 Lubok Verlag 166–67
Gocco printing 199–201, 203, 204, Lueth, Valerie 143
205, 207, 208 J
Goheen, Karen 55 M
Goldman, Nathan see Kuhlken, Dan Jacobson, Nels 59
Gómez, Blanca 104 Japanese woodblock printing/ McAndrew, Phil 91
gouges 132, 134 woodcuts 129, 133 McClelland, Scott T. 99
Grafica Fidalga 125, 126, 127 Jonze, Spike 47 McNett, Dennis 169
Grange, Kenneth 41 McQuade, Mike 28–29, 121
Graphic Chemical Ink Co. 138 K Magic Jelly 208
Graphic Design Festival Breda 191 Magma Press 103
Grib, Ben 94 Katrina, Ryan 183 Mama’s Sauce 118–19
Guichard, Céline 16 Kelly, Roger 27 Manymono 201, 209
Gustafson, Pier 105 Kenny, Stephen 95 Matisse, Henri 131
Gutenberg, Johannes 67 Kernevich, Jason 31 Mattson Creative/Ty Mattson 60, 85
Gutenberg Bible 67 Kleinsmith, Jeff 59 Mellor, George see Sister Arrow
Klonek, Roman 139–41 Metaphore paper 48, 49
Kluitman, Yorit 191 Miller Creative/Yael Miller 120
H
Koford, Adam 91 Moens, Bernadette 153
Hamburg: Reeperbahn Festival 59 Korvinus, Jaron 191 Moody, Ross 22
Hamline, Erik A. 61, 117, 213 see also Kozik, Frank 59 Mooney, Jock 21
Steady Co., Woods & Weather Kucukaga (Salih) Design Studio 123 Mora, Nuria 64–65
Hatch Show Print 92–93 Kuhlken, Dan, and Goldman, Nathan Morley, Nick 145
Hayama, Noboru 199 50, 51 Moronobu, Hishikawa: ukiyo-e
Hayes, Clay 59 woodcuts 129, 129
Heads of State, The 30–31 L Munch, Edvard 129
Heritage Wood Free paper 27 Munn, Jason 17–19
Hijden, Timon van der 191 Ladyfingers Letterpress 84
Hingston, Tom, Studio 148–49 Lai, Janet 25
N
Hipgrave, Jenna 79 Lambe-Lambe 124–27
Hipgrave, Simon 79–81 Lambert, Joe 91 Nakanishi, Nadine 33
Ho, Amanda 107 Landland 42–43 Nano4814 64–65
Hoffman, Stefan 34–35 LaRosa, Justin 197 Nassef, Lauren: Simple 104
Hôtel Rustique 37 laser-cut shapes 191, 195 National Gallery of Victoria 81
Hungry Workshop, The 78–81 laser-etching 185 Neuarmy 183

221
Nobrow Press 20–21 Albion 149, 151, 195 Savoy paper 83
Nobrow Small Press 21 Blake Stephenson 138 ScreenInk.com 53
Nolton, Megan see Art Shark Designs Chandler & Price 68 screenprinting 6, 7, 8–9, 199–201
Normans printery, Wyckoff 120 cylinder 68, 75–76, 125, 135, 167 process 10–13
Norton, Joshua 162–63 flatbed 68 Seaby, Laura 174
Nyffeler, Eric see Doe Eyed Gietz 76 Seamans, Jessica 43
Golding Jobber 68 Seattle: Bumbershoot Festival 59
O Golding Official No. 3 97 serigraphs 8
Heidelberg/Heidelberg Windmill 67, Sherraden, Jim 93
offset lithography 68 75, 81, 101, 103, 111 Siemon, Thomas 167
Johannisberg cylinder press 125 silk-screening 7, 8, 15
P KB 175 Simon, Samuel 7
Kluge 67 Sinclair (Jack) Letterpress Studio
Padavic, Dan 87 Korrex 108–9
Paolozzi, Eduardo 9 cylinder press 68 Sister Arrow 201, 209
Paperback Cyclus Offset paper 46 Nürnberg proof press 83 Sixe 64–65
Partington, David 199 Linoscribe 163 Slack, Michael 90
Pearson, Luke 91 Pearl 115 Sloss, Lucy 195
Peepshow Collective Ltd 161, 192–93 platen 67–68, 97, 101, 135 Small Stakes, The 18, 19
Perfilev, Eugeny 83 Präsident 167 Smooth Ivory paper 109
Perkins, Darrel 173 for relief printing 135 Somerset paper 101, 143, 193
Peskimo 199 Vandercook 68, 76, 89, 93 Sonnenzimmer 32–33
Pessel, Andre see Magma Press Puck Studio 200 Spiro, Alex 21
Petito, Austin 119 squeegees 7
Pevito, Geoff 59 Stall, Vincent 91
R
Peyton, Helen 172 Starshaped Press, Chicago 68
photo emulsion 10 Rauschenberg, Robert 9 Steady Co. 61, 117, 212–13
photopolymer printing 68, 69, 70–73, Raw Color 186—87 STMJR Print Philadelphia 99
76 Recyclart Art Centre, Brussels 37 Studio Arturo 152–53
Physical Fiction 196–97 Reifsnyder, Scotty 98–99 Studio Mothership 194–95
Picasso, Pablo 131 relief printing 128, 129–30 Studio on Fire 74–77, 85, 117, 122, 123
Pick Me Up 2012 (art fair) 161, 193, process 132–35 Summers, Dustin 31
200 Remeter, John, Jr 46 Sury, Caroline 15
Pilsworth, John 7 Riles Heavyweight paper 163
Pollock, Jackson 9 Rinaldi, Irene see Yoirene T
polymer plates see photopolymer Riso Kagaku Corporation 199, 301
printing Risography 201, 209, 211, 213 Tabie, Michael 55
Pone, David 127 Rives BFK paper 21, 173 Tao, Edwin 107
Pop art 9 Roche, Richard 109 Taxali, Gary 177–79
PorridgePapers.com 53 Rodd, Ryan 122 Telegramme Studio 48–49
Port Hope Press 206–7 Roden, Paul 143 ter Haar, Daniera 187
‘positives’ 10–11 Rowe, Tom 40–41 Thurbin, John C 156
Poskovic, Endi 154–55 rubber stamps 176, 183, 185, 187 Tilson, Joe 9
Power and Light Press 96–97 Ruckbäberle, Christoph 167 Tind 38–39
Present and Correct 185 Ryan, Jay 59 Tontons Racleurs, Les 36–37
Presna 107 transfer methods 133
Press a Card 86 S Tugboat Printshop 142–44
presses see printing presses Tupac, Elliot 63–65
Priest and Grace 76 Sambrato, Nick 119 Two Arms Inc. 54–55
Print Club London 9 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Two Paper Dolls 99
Print Gocco 198–201 19 Two Pipe Problem, A 95
printing presses São Paulo: Choque Cultural (gallery)
Adana 67 126–27

222 Index
U

Ubiquitous Manufacturing Company,

The 101
ukiyo-e prints 129, 129
Utrecht: Centre for Visual Arts 35

Vahalla Studios 87, 91

Van Horn, Kyle 70–73
Venice, California: Gallery 1988 43
Venue31 107
Vetter, Brad 102

Walton, Frederick 131

Warhol, Andy 8–9
We Three Club 56–57
White, Alex 57
White, Chris 57
Whitespace 24–25
Wilkinson, Robbie 200
Willoughby, Paul 46
Wilson, Spencer 192–93
Winder, Jamie 23
Winship, Wes 47
Wolfbat Studios 168–69
Wolfhard, Steve 90
woodblock/woodcut printing 129–30,
140–41, 143, 155, 163, 165, 169
process 132–35
wood engraving 130
process 132–35
Woods & Weather 116–17

Yoirene 170–71

Zarubin, Leonid 83
Zeinert, Debi 105
Zerkall paper 157
Zicmuse, McCloud 37
Zigrosser, Carl 8
Zollars, Jaime 91

223
Credits
7 V&A Images / Victoria and Albert Museum, London 177–79 A ll works © Gary Taxali 2012. All rights reserved
(www.garytaxali.com, www.taxalionline.com/blog
8  tl Aicher, Munich Olympics poster, c. 1972.
O
and www.taxali.com)
© 2013 International Olympic Committee
190–91 Photos by Freke van Berkom
9 A ndy Warhol, Muhammad Ali #182, c. 1978.
© 2013 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual 192–93 P rinting set-up photography by Anna Lomax
Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York (www.annalomax.com)
10–13 P hotos by Toby Keane
(www.tobykeanephotography.com)
39–40 P rinted with love by www.tind.gr.

57
Partner in crime www.erato.gr
Photo by Anton Coene
Acknowledgements
59 Photos courtesy of Karen Goheen
First and foremost, I’d like to personally thank each and
62–64 P hotos courtesy of Equipo Plástico every studio, designer and printmaker around the world
(www.equipoplastico.com) who contributed work to this book. Without you, we wouldn’t
have been able to make this book the fantastic visual
65, 126 P hotos courtesy of Eltono
delight it is.
(www.eltono.com)
Thank you to everyone at Laurence King, particularly Jodi
67 akg/Bible Land Pictures
Simpson, my fantastic Senior Editor, and Editorial Director
70–73 P hotos by Baltimore Print Studios Jo Lightfoot for believing in the project so much and making
(www.baltimoreprintstudios.com) Low-Tech Print a reality.
87 Photos by Lemon Lime Photography A special thank you goes out to all those who helped
and contributed images, words of wisdom and their time
88t Process photo by KoFong Hsai
and expertise to the Process in Brief sections: Soni at
101 Illustration © Gemma Correll Sonsoles Print Studio and Toby Keane Photography for the
120 Photos by Reuben Miller, Miller Creative Screenprinting section; Kyle Van Horn at Baltimore Print
Studios and Gilah Press for the Letterpress section; Bill Fick,
124–25 Photos by Marina Wajnsztejn (www.mawa.me) John C Thurbin and Endi Poskovic for the Relief Printing
127t P hotos courtesy of David Ponte @ Cabana section; and Puck Studio for their Gocco knowledge.
(www.cabana-brasil.com) Thanks to Geoff Povito, Two Arms Inc. and Karen Goheen
127bl, br P hotos courtesy of Kid Acne for their fascinating insights into the world of FLATSTOCK,
(www.kidacne.com) and to Eltono and Equipo Plástico collective, and to Kid Acne,
Marina Wajnsztejn and David Ponte for their contributions
129 Library of Congress and guidance through the worlds of Chicha and Lambe-
130b a kg-images/State Collection of Prints and Lambe, respectively.
Drawings, Munich I’d also like to thank Jamie Berger at The Cranky Pressman
132–35 C ourtesy of Bill Fick (www.cockeyedpress.com). for his insightful and inspirational foreword.
Additional photography by John C Thurbin Of course, it goes without saying that without the support
(www.johncthurbin.com) of my ever encouraging friends and family this book would
146–47 All works © Bill Fick not have been possible, but it seems fitting that a book
about printing should deliver to you a massive and well-
154–55 Photos by Larry Ferguson Photography
deserved thank you in print!
165tl Photo by Ben Premeaux
Deb, this book is dedicated to you for your continual
175 © Paul Catherall 2011 patience and support of everything I do.

224 Credits and Acknowledgements