The Press Print Project
Developed as the final major project of my undergraduate degree, the goal of the Press Print Project is to see how digital manufacturing can work to support, preserve and evolve the traditional craft of letterpress.
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The aim is to achieve this through a re-democratisation of equipment, enhancing accessibility in order to promote education and preservation of skills.
Letterpress is like many heritage crafts, reliant on specialist equipment that is long out of production. What is left is in increasingly short supply, forcing prices up and out of the range of many users. Not only that, but traditional equipment can also be bulky, heavy, and potentially intimidating to new users.
The Press Print printing presses are made from plywood, custom 3D printed components and standard hardware. Compatible with original metal and wood type, as well as lino prints, woodblock prints and new, digital 3D printed type.
The operation the press remains the same - type is composed and set in the traditional way, using parts and processes that remain true to the spirit of the craft. This way, despite the equipment being new, the core skills that form the heritage of the process can be passed on.
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