Letterpress: Locking Up & Pressing On

The St Botolph’s Letterpress project has been running for 6 months, so it seems as good a time as any to look back at what we’ve achieved so far, look ahead to our plans for the rest of the year.

Events

Creating a programme of talks and events is a key part of the St Botolph’s Letterpress project. Not only does building a community of beginners and enthusiasts help us uncover the expertise hidden in and around Colchester, it also helps us find people who want to put our press to good use. Our 5th event is taking place at the end of September, and every single one so far has widened our awareness of letterpress practice and practitioners.

It’s also made others aware of our existence. An extra pair of hands cleaning a typecase, a local printer showing (and selling) work through our exhibition, or a key contact to help us get some essential equipment, these are all things that have only come about from being an outward facing and open-minded organisation. We can’t wait to find out where this will lead us over the next 6 months.

Our first exhibition, IMPRESS 2014, was a great success, and despite being a fairly last minute affair, we took around £350 in sales, some of which will help the print room develop and grow. Plans are already underway for IMPRESS 2015, and we’re excitedly uncovering new printers and potential exhibitors every week. The show will run for longer, with more work and even more variety.

Our talks are also booked in until March 2015. Our most recent talk from David Jury was a great success, sparking debate among the experienced printers in the audience, and amazement for those who just wanted to admire David’s beautiful books and his masterful presentation style. Our next four events are as wildly different as our first four, but we’re confident that they’ll continue to broaden the knowledge of all who attend.

Sorting Type

We’re also constantly edging closer to our goal of letting people loose on the type (after an induction of course) and allowing them to start composing and imposing their own print projects. Our larger typefaces are finished and just waiting to be identified and populated with spacing. Plans have already been made for some simple projects to help beginners get themselves used to the process of composing and setting metal type.

Of the 50 or so typecases we started with, there are approximately 12 left to work through, and many of these can be phased in slowly, which means that we’re no longer asking volunteers to help us clean typecases at our main bi-monthly events.

To deal with these remaining fonts, some of which are small or hard to identify, we’re taking over a table or two in the main space on Wednesday evenings. Grab a drink, talk type, and help us finish off those last few cases! We’ll normally be there every week around 7.30pm, but do keep an eye on our Facebook page, sign up to our mailing list, or email [email protected] if you want to be certain that we’ll be there.

The remaining jobs that involve sorting will be dealt with by the letterpress team. This involves things like sorting borders and ornaments, classifying spacing, filling the lead rack, labelling sorted typefaces and finding homes for the random sorts that didn’t come to us in their correct typecase. We’ll happily accept any help that’s offered – send us an email and we’ll soon get you involved.

Using The Press

We have a strong of idea of how we see the print room being used. Based on the Waiting Room’s own Hack/Maker Space membership scheme, it will involve a general membership fee, a basic workshop induction if you know what you’re doing, a fuller typesetting introduction if you’ve never done it before, and rentable galley space, so that you can create your own print projects in your spare time. When your job is ready, we’ll get it printed up on a monthly or bi-monthly weekend ‘press day’. We’re still ironing out the finer points of managing the system and creating a pricing structure, so if you’re interested in signing up, make sure you stay in the loop and join our mailing list.

Finally, we’re keen to expand our printing press options. Our Cropper is a beautiful piece of machinery, but tricky to use and potentially dangerous to the uninitiated, and with this in mind we’re working behind the scenes to locate some smaller hand presses. If all goes well, we’re hoping to have an announcement or two at our Letterpress Takeover #5. Exciting times ahead!

Finally, thanks to all who have contributed to our small letterpress studio so far. From the experienced printers who have provided advice, equipment, expertise or agreed to give a talk, through to the enthusiasts who help us keep up the momentum and resolve to push forwards. The St Botolph’s Letterpress project is completely voluntary, and we really do appreciate every single bit of help that comes our way.