PDLPX: The Post-Digital Letterpress Print Exchange: Methodological Innovation in the Exploration of Contemporary Letterpress Practice

Chris Wilson*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    Abstract

    Over recent years letterpress has increasingly been employed by artists and designers as a conspicuous alternative to established digital technologies (Jury, 2004; Suzuki, 2011; Williamson, 2013). The medium is being employed by design educators as a catalyst to instil creativity and convey design conventions to their students (Cooper, Gridneff and Haslam, 2014; Rigley, 2005). Other practitioners, such as Anthony Burrill (Tate, 2016) and Amos Paul Kennedy Jr (Fulleylove, 2020), are printing with archaic analogue techniques to signal a reassessment of modern technology and the culture that it represents. This study focuses on an alternative and more progressive approach taken by a growing number of creative practitioners who are integrating analogue and digital technology through the appropriation of letterpress within their practice (Fleishman, 2017; Double Dagger, 2020). These explorative endeavours reappraise the traditional techniques of letterpress by combining relief printing with a range of digital manufacturing techniques, including 3D printing, CNC machining and laser-cutting. Notable examples of such practice include A23D from New North Press (New North Press, 2020), Thomas Mayo’s laser-engraved woodtype (Hamilton Wood Type Museum, 2020), experimental type production at p98a typographic workshop (p98a, 2016) and Dafi Kühne’s creative poster work (Kühne, 2017).

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationPost-Digital Letterpress Printing
    Subtitle of host publicationResearch, Education and Practice
    EditorsPedro Amado, Ana Catarina Silva, Vítor Quelhas
    Place of PublicationNew York
    PublisherTaylor & Francis
    Chapter6
    Pages65-74
    Number of pages10
    Edition1st
    ISBN (Electronic)9781000509625, 9781003173113
    ISBN (Print)9781032001807, 9781032001845
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 9 Nov 2021

    Publication series

    NameRoutledge Focus on Art History and Visual Studies
    PublisherRoutledge

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