Long-Distance Letterpress: Printing, By Gum!

Why you should take this class

At such a small scale, artist stamps present an excellent challenge for typographic composition in miniature. Strive for letterpress perf-ection in our first-ever two-part Long-Distance Letterpress workshop with Jessica Spring! Grab your magnifying loupes, hone your hand typesetting skills, and receive some very cool art stamps in the mail at the end of it all. 

What you’ll learn

Inspired by artist-made and historic postage stamps, participants will create faux postage with handset type printed on gummed, perforated paper. The class will meet two times—approximately a month apart. We will meet virtually for the first session, then adjourn to try our hand at artist stamp printing in our own shops using pre-perforated, gummed paper that Jessica will send to you. Jessica will hold virtual office hours for assisting with any printing issues that may spring up between sessions. We’ll conclude with another virtual session to troubleshoot, show & tell, and celebrate. Then, we’ll mail our artist stamps to Jessica for collation and distribution in portfolios to classmates!  

On Friday, October 29, 10am–12pm PDT, we’ll: 

• Review typesetting basics 
• Go over best practices for setting borders
• Learn about the joys of perforation
• See some advanced daredevil typesetting tricks 

Then, participants will receive pre-perforated, gummed paper and a pre-paid return envelope in the mail and have a month in which to print their artist stamp edition at home. Jessica will schedule office hours for troubleshooting any printing issues between sessions. 

Then, on Friday, December 3, 10am–12pm PDT, we’ll:

• Share our lockups & unveil our final prints 
• Learn about everyone’s successes and challenges
• Review advanced daredevil techniques as needed

Finally, participants will mail their artist stamps back to Jessica. Soon after, you’ll receive a portfolio of everyone’s art in the mail.

Prerequisites

This workshop consists of a demonstration and interactive Q&A, with ample time to practice what you learn and complete the class project between sessions. After the first session, you’ll need access to a printing press that is capable of fine registration so you can create your own stamps between sessions one and two. 

Who should take this class?

Printers who are interested in participating in a group art exchange and learning a lot about hand composition in the process should sign up. Whether you’re fairly new to hand typesetting, or you’re an experienced daredevil typesetter, all are welcome!