On Friday 7 November 2008, St Bride Library organizes a one-day conference called Letterpress: A Celebration. According to their press release – and somewhat contradictory to my previous post – “Letterpress is again to be celebrated, or so the growing popularity of the process would certainly suggest. Increasing numbers around the world are setting up their own small studios, looking for tuition, or commissioning letterpress within commercial design work. All this thirty years after the process effectively became commercially obsolete. And in spite of the fact that letterpress can be messy and slow, often requires a lot of space, not to mention the considerable constraints it brings to layout, colour, artwork and type. So why do so many people still want to get involved, and how do they make a success of their efforts?”

The conference will allow you to review and discuss the phenomenon of letterpress in the twenty-first century through a packed one-day programme of talks, demonstrations and displays of work. You’ll be able to meet practitioners and exchange stories as the different communities working with letterpress, from printers and designers to students and general enthusiasts are brought together. Be inspired and maybe even find out what you need to set up on your own!

Speakers

• Phil Abel – Hand & Eye Letterpress
• Claire Bolton – The Alembic Press
• Alex Cooper & Rose Gridneff – London College of Communication
• Alan Kitching & Celia Stothard – The Typography Workshop
• Alan May – Press builder
• Harry McIntosh – Compositor and typecaster
• John Randle – Whittington Press
• Patrick Walker – dust

More information

Tickets

• Full rate: £60 / £50 Friends of St Bride Library
• Students, over 60s: £30 / £25 Friends of St Bride Library

header image Small letterpress shop in Pt. Reyes Station, California, August 2003.
© J. Lurie-Terrell