At the end of July, my work colleague and I were lucky enough to attend the Letterpress Printing workshop at the Melbourne Museum of Printing. I had been meaning to visit this holy grail of print for a very long time; it is somewhat of a pilgrimage for any graphic designer to experience.
The first few hours spent at the Museum were certainly not enough to discover the endless possibilities that could be achieved with old printing equipment and type. Michael, who has dedicated his life to preserving and educating the public on the craft, history and business of printing, took our group on a tour of the museum. It was like been taken through a forgotten world, this rich history has all been left behind by modern technologies. That said, nothing can reproduce the beautiful handmade quality of letter pressed type and the character that it lends to a creation.
Along side Michael is his assistant Warren who, guided us through the process of creating a letterpress poster. This required the group to get hands on, source the letters, block it all together and to ink it up. During this process it became quite apparent how much designers can take space for granted, considering every area of empty (white) space had to be considered and calculated, to hold the design together.
Overall the day was insightful and highlighted the importance of understanding the origins of print. For anyone who is yet to experience the museum and all of its amazing artifacts, it’s a worthwhile journey.
by Kareen Clark
At the end of July, my work colleague and I were lucky enough to attend the Letterpress Printing workshop at the Melbourne Museum of Printing. I had been meaning to visit this holy grail of print for a very long time; it is somewhat of a pilgrimage for any graphic designer to experience.
The first few hours spent at the Museum were certainly not enough to discover the endless possibilities that could be achieved with old printing equipment and type. Michael, who has dedicated his life to preserving and educating the public on the craft, history and business of printing, took our group on a tour of the museum. It was like been taken through a forgotten world, this rich history has all been left behind by modern technologies. That said, nothing can reproduce the beautiful handmade quality of letter pressed type and the character that it lends to a creation.
Along side Michael is his assistant Warren who, guided us through the process of creating a letterpress poster. This required the group to get hands on, source the letters, block it all together and to ink it up. During this process it became quite apparent how much designers can take space for granted, considering every area of empty (white) space had to be considered and calculated, to hold the design together.
Overall the day was insightful and highlighted the importance of understanding the origins of print. For anyone who is yet to experience the museum and all of its amazing artifacts, it’s a worthwhile journey.