FormFiftyFive™

Fellow FFF’r Greig Anderson and I met up with Larry and Dan at the Glasgow Press this morning. They are what you might call an endangered species. They practice the craft of Letterpress, surrounded by their beautifully antiquated Heidelberg presses. Each of these repetitively whoosh and groan as they go about their assigned tasks. These presses are the last of their kind. As Larry says ‘Once they’re gone they’re gone’. The same can be said of the knowledge and craftsmanship that is required to produce letterpress printing.

Having said this there is a fast growing demand for Letterpress and indeed other forms of the more ‘traditional’ printing techniques. (Glasgow Press’ full schedule is proof of this). The niche has become a point of differentiation. An emotive and nostalgic alternative to the digital norm. Something designers commission when they want to create a lasting impression. (pardon the pun)

We’d like to thank Dan and Larry for taking the time to show us around their print studio. It was great to get out of our sterile studio environment and see design in action, at the coal-face so to speak. You can view more of the beautiful work Glasgow Press’ produce on their website www.glasgowpress.co.uk  More images on our Flickr stream.