Adventures in Letterpress Printing

Lucky me, I had the chance to hang out with my friend Reka and her Chandler Price Letterpress this past weekend! I've always wondered how much work went into this beautiful old style of printing. As it turns out, it's a very labor-intensive process. Setting your own type is quite a chore, but the end product is just beautiful.

We played around a bit with multiple wooden letter "R's" with one color. Then we did a large wooden letter "R" and "B" layering two colors. It was so much fun and now I have some super cool coasters.

Typesetting

Loading up the press

1-color "R" Coasters

Action Shot

2-color "R" & "B" Coasters

Creative Inspiration: Ira Glass

Ever get in one of those creative funks that lasts for days?

You know the ones where you just can't seem to be happy with anything you do. You turn into your own worst enemy. You start to think maybe you're just a bad designer. Maybe you only have a certain amount of good ideas in you. You eventually debate giving up, but of course you don't because you love what you do. Still, there is this gap you are trying to fill and you aren't quite sure what the solution is.

It's a struggle, but it happens to the best of us. Trust me, I know. I just went through one.

During that time my wonderful husband shared this little segment with me by Ira Glass from This American Life.  It was just the push I needed to get back on track. If you are feeling this way hopefully it will help you too.