Since letterpress printing is very much a manual process, that hand must be experienced. The strengths of a letterpress design are crisp, sharp lines pattern or grid work and of course, typography. Without the dot patterns needed to reproduce photography, the basic typography can truly be an art form. In a letterpress project, typography is king. These “softer” sheets accept the heavy pressure and accentuate the type impression without cracking the paper’s surface. Yet, the fact that Crane’s Lettra® Papers are unsized and uncalendered leaves the fibers relatively uncompacted, giving the sheet an extra bulky, even fluffy feeling that absorbs ink while remaining soft to the touch. According to the Crane website, Lettra papers are engineered to stand up to the great pressures of letterpress printing and have the complex structure and strength of cotton papers, allowing them to withstand multiple press operations with correct registration. ![]() Made especially for letterpress, Crane’s Lettra 100-percent cotton papers have the feel of fabric and the look of handmade art paper. ![]() LSP stocks Crane Lettra papers in several thicknesses. We work with each client on an individual basis and individual quotation.”Īccording to Steines, the three main components of a letterpress wedding invitation order, for example, are deciding what paper to use, creating plates for the invitation design and determining the printing schedule. We can suggest stocks for clients: however, many times they know exactly what stock they would like. In describing working with clients online to process letterpress orders, Steines summarized it this way: “It is actually pretty straightforward. They add beauty, dimension, feel and pizzazz,” said Tom Otto of Otto Printing. “In a digital, one-dimensional world, consumers are discovering and loving the look and tactile feel of hand-crafted finishes. “In an age of hurried, digital communication, the intimate, deliberate feel of letterpress printing is a personal touch that won’t be overlooked or forgotten,” read a statement on LSP’s website. ![]() When combined with thick cotton papers and finishing effects, such as foil stamping, letterpress printing lends an Old World touch to social communications. Locust Street Press further promotes letterpress by using the technique to decorate its shipping boxes.In much the same way that baby boomers are rediscovering the joys of vinyl record albums, graphic designers and printers are coming to a new appreciation of the strengths of letterpress. The rest of the communication with the customer is via the LSP website ( where old meets modern. “Most of our orders come in online.” Usually the graphic designer already has created the design for the invitation when Locust Street Press gets involved. “We work mainly with graphic designers who have their own clients,” said Steines. The shop features some 15 presses – the oldest was built in 1890 – and also houses machines for diecutting, embossing/debossing, scoring and foil stamping.īut the process of obtaining orders from graphic designers, or directly from consumer clients, is strictly up-to-date. Shop manager Heather Steines explained that her business straddles the old and the very modern. This letterpress printing shop – which once seemed to be a fading business – is riding the wave of popularity for a variety of applications, including wedding invitations, baby announcements, business cards, greeting cards and stationery. At the end of it, I hope I can look back and say that I’ve worked hard and been vigilant and made a difference.On a quiet side street in Belvidere, Illinois, in a building that once housed a social club, is Locust Street Press. There will be new anniversaries that are mournful or shameful or just plain difficult, but I’m hopeful that my 2o17 calendar will have good to outweigh the bad. There’s gonna be a lot of crap to add to the calendar in 2017, without doubt. For myself, I’m taking 2017 as an opportunity to reevaluate my values and my commitment to hard work, not just for myself personally but for my business more generally. I’m ever hopeful that a new year can be an opportunity to forge a new path. And not to get too morose, but there are lots of reasons to acknowledge that we’re facing even tougher times in 2017.īut a calendar can also be a hopeful thing: A place to scribble events we look forward to, a guide to monthly meditations, a reminder for anniversaries and birthdays and milestones worth celebrating, a place for listing goals and holding ourselves accountable. If we were to mark on a calendar the events we witnessed in this past year collectively-to say nothing of what we’ve experienced individually-the days would look dark indeed. There were lots of reasons that it felt like a superlatively crappy year. There’s been a lot of talk lately about bidding adieu to 2016.
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