Four different coloured inks mixed from the uncoated Pantone book

It has been a dream of mine for many years to learn the great old art of letterpress printing. Recently I had the opportunity to spend two days in Coggeshall, Essex doing just that with a lovely group of enthusiastic typographers.

Typoretum (http://www.typoretum.co.uk/), a wonderful little vintage-inspired studio on the property of Justin and Cecilia Knopp has been going since 2008. It’s a busy, family run contemporary letterpress design and printing studio offering a wide variety of services. These include short courses and internship opportunities to ensure that the craft is kept alive and continues to be taught to a new generation of letterpress printers, designers and enthusiasts.

My friend Petra and I had so much fun learning the intricacies of hand set metal and wooden letters but also just talking about design, typography and colour. I’m trying to identify ways of using this beautiful craft into my commercial work so look out for it in my future posts.

Carefully rolling the ink on the wooden letters