Tactile Impression: the Reemergence of Craft Through Letterpress in a Typographic Design Curriculum by Assistant Professor J

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Tactile Impression: The Reemergence of Craft through Letterpress in a Typographic Design Curriculum by Assistant Professor J. Suzanne Powney and Assistant Professor Roselynn Newton

Suzanne has been teaching letterpress over the past ten years, at various institutions including the Museum of Printing History in Houston, University of Houston while she earned her MFA in Graphic Communications in 2011 and Mississippi State University where she is currently an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design. She is the owner and proprietor of Blackdog Letterpress since 2004.

Rose earned her B.E.D. in Environmental Design from Texas A&M University in 1995 and her M.F.A. in Graphic Communications in 2002 from the University of Houston. She was a graphic designer in the oil and gas industry in Houston for such firms as Enron (United Me- dia Corp), PennUnion and PG&E Energy Services before attending graduate school. Rose is currently on her 6th year as an Assistant Professor of Communication Design at Texas State University, specializing in typography.

Kern, leading, points, and picas are terms that are commonly used in basic typography classes, but few students have had the opportunity to really understand where these terms originated and to experience what was common place in the printing industry before the introduction of the computer. In the past few years there has been a resurgence and a demand for the tactile nature of letterpress work. Learning the craft of letterpress among typographic studies, outside of traditional book arts programs, is cited by students of graphic design as providing a necessary wealth of knowledge to their typographic education and understanding to the historical relevance. A new set of designers are now embracing what once was old, contemporizing the use of these presses, and giving them new life. The tradi- tions, techniques, and appreciation of the art of letterpress is being rediscover and passed on to new generations of designers. The reemergence of letterpress work is quite a shift from our current instantaneous, immediate lifestyle we now enjoy with new technology, but the importance of slowing down and appreciating the value in taking time in design, layout, and execution of work is something that should not be forgotten. Also combining the old with the new, using photopolymer plates and computer generated designs on mostly ancient, forgotten presses to create meaningful work in the digital age speaks to haptic learning and tactile investigations for design students. This study will address the incorporation of new technology and the historical nature of letterpress work in a typographic design curriculum. keywords: Letterpress, Typography, Pedagogy, Tactile, History of Graphic Design Tactile Impression: The Reemergence of Craft through Letterpress in a Typographic Design Curriculum by Assistant Professor J. Suzanne Powney and Assistant Professor Roselynn Newton

Kern, leading, points and picas are terms that are commonly used in basic typography classes but few students have had the opportunity to really understand where these terms originated. In the past few years there has been a resurgence and a demand for the tactile nature of letterpress work. Learning the craft of letterpress among typographic studies, outside of traditional book arts programs, is cited by students of graphic design as providing a necessary wealth of knowledge to their typographic education and understanding to the historical relevance. A new set of designers are now embracing what once was old, contemporizing the use of these presses and giving them new life. Students who explore tactile solutions in letterpress have a continued strength of hand/eye that extends beyond their foundation courses into the upper level graphic design emphasis.

The reemergence of letterpress work is quite a shift from our current instantaneous, immediate lifestyle we now enjoy with new technology, but the importance of slowing down and appreciating the value in taking time in design, layout, and execution of work is something that should not be forgotten. Also, combining the old with the new, using photopolymer plates and computer generated designs on mostly ancient, forgotten presses to create meaningful work in the digital age speaks to haptic learning and tactile investigations for design students. This study will address the incorporation of new technology and the history of letterpress work in a typographic design curriculum.

In letterpress classes, the intent is to combine the craft of printing ink on paper with the typographic tradition of wood and metal type and the contemporary means of computer generated type applied to photopolymer plates and magnesium or other metal plates mount- ed type high. We ask the students to print a message, combining type and image in a way to express a current idea while learning traditional terminology. The typography of the metal and wood type and how it ties to the computer versions of the fonts are taught and repeated as a tutorial to their typographic readings. The work results from a developed system of steps starting with learning to typeset type, using computer generated type, creating a crafted relief image and combining these along with other more experimental methods in a expressive, typographic poster. The first step is always the most involved in demonstration, learning the terms for composing stick, the line measure, pica pole and furniture to layout their first lines of type. As the students set the old, worn, scarred, imperfect wood and metal letters that have found their way into the studio from many haphazard sources they encounter missing characters, a case with J and U in a different location and the haptic idea of often used letterforms in proximity for the typesetter. These concepts fall on deaf ears without the visual demonstration. They need their own hand wrapping around the composing stick and setting the type nick side up as we read the type, from left to right. Invariably one or two adjusts the form to start from the bottom line or to reverse the type as it is put in. Once they see the proof, to go back in and manually shift the metal type helps their eye examine the details, identify the characteristics of a face and to be observant of the direction of letterforms. The students claim a stronger understanding of type once they are looking at a three dimensional type face and handling lead with their hands, the delicate stem of the f or descender of the g or the thinness of the i take on new meaning in physical form. The abecedarium always form a first lesson in typgraphy and identification for the class and introduces the letterpress shop rules to them and how all images will be made, pressing a physical object onto paper.

The next step is a quick demonstration of wood type set into the bed of the press and inked as a work and turn on a letter size sheet to then trim to two notecards. Type as the only ele- ment, and using ink to make a strong layout strengthens their foundations of design. Prox- imity, scale, rotation, figure ground and color are presented as a typographic exercise with expressive wood type. How to mix ink, develop a phrase and register in two colors a typographic solution is the challenge. The students all help with the combined effort and walk away with prints of the demonstration at the end.

In our design curriculum, the third step is to build a connection between the tradition and craft of letterpress with the immediacy associated with computer generated art. The technology of pixels and vector image are reduced to its most basic level of image, black to make a plate that will hold ink. They are tasked with creating type and image both for photopolymer and megnesium in a series of computer generated exercises. They produce business cards from photopolymer, limited to the colors of ink on a relief surface. They have to build a 20% pattern to print at 20% of an ink color. The plates and how they translate to printmaking are discussed as well as the common themes of why can’t you print white on black, how do you ink the edge of a card, how do you print efficiently both with economy of paper and plate with little waste and can you print a two-sided, deeply impressed card. The practicali- ties of good ink coverage and impression have to balance to make a beautifully printed card. The effective choice of typefaces with image are critiqued and a series is printed to start the designer out with a small collection of cards. Hierarchy of type is also critical to successful design and is part of the ongoing discussion of their typographic education.

The final step is to combine physical typesetting and computer generated plates and introduce the hand craft of carving relief prints, from linoleum to wood carving and experimenting with new materials including High impact polystyrene. These material along with computer generated laser cut plexi- glass and wood is used to print text and image. All the reliefs carved and cut into a surface are pressed into the paper. The text and image are transfered in reverse, ranging from subtle white on white deboss to brilliant, flaming fluorescent ink. New experiments with inks and diecuts, metallics and chemistry are conducted, mixed experimentation that results in expressive executions of projects. Through all the traditional practices and defined terminology, a new image is made and shared. In a typographic design curriculum, the hand/eye associations built in foundations tend to suffer once the students have made it into the program and their computer skills rise to meet our instant media and print on demand culture. Letterpress and printmaking curriculums typically emphasize craft. By adding a printmaking craft driven component to the graphic design curriculum, it presses the students to think in other dimensions and continue with craft outside of their computer screens and how it results in real world projects. It is distress- ingly difficult as students eschew the pen for the pen tool. With the goal of typrographic impression, letterpress creates a tactile learning environment as students handle type and manipulate materials in order to succeed. How does craft touch on creativity? Our students have used a variety of methods to explore and experiment with the physical act of printing. The exploration of materials range from type as image to carved forms on different media and the use of furniture and other found objects. The use of craft is in the execution of the materials in conjunction with a typographic solution. What follows is their own words with their own craft communicating their experience in letterpress across our curriculums.