For the Love of Letterpress: A Printing Handbook for Instructors and Students

by Cathie Ruggie Saunders, Martha Chiplis

Awarded an American Graphic Design Award of Excellence by Graphic Design USA in 2014 Conveying the authors' love of the letterpress process and product, this book covers everything you need to know to create beautiful work. Beginning with the technology and history of type and the printed page, it continues with the fundamentals of measurement, terminology and the lay of the case. Guidance on planning the concept, gathering inspiration and critiquing your work will help you develop your skills or show you how to lead others to do so. The authors also show how contemporary digital processes are highly compatible with letterpress and have expanded its boundaries in the 21st century. A must for students who wish to learn letterpress and instructors as a handy reference.

Genres: Design

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2013

Reviews

[Linda]

Interesting to anyone learning letterpress. The text is useful but not terribly engaging writing. The photos are great and I wish some of the images had been reproduced at a larger size -- I kept taking my hand and making the pinch-enlarge motion one would use on a touchscreen; alas, that does not work. I loved the chapter that reproduced some inventive class assignments and a section on texture. All things considered, pretty good.

[Anne Harm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be outstanding, on many levels; frank and matter-of-fact in its approach to instruction, it thoroughly inspires and encourages comraderie, creative brainstorming and improvisation in solving various problems that tend to arise in the practice of letterpress printing. I always looked forward to reading it; the images and ideas stayed with me between readings. The wide range of visual examples are quite beautiful and meaningful to understanding the range of what has been done, and inspiring what could be done in the future. Ruggie-Saunders' and Chiplis' students are lucky to study with them, and the book is well-named. It does a wonderful job of investigating, illuminating, building upon and sharing the love of letterpress with a wider audience -- brightly, clearly, respectfully.

[Mills College Library]

686.2312 S2572 2013