Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Madmaude & Co. Letterpress


Two weekends ago I had the rare opportunity to print letterpress invitations that I had designed for a friend's wedding - at Madmaude & Co. in Philadelphia.

If you're scratching your head and saying "Letterpress? What's that all about?" Here's wikipedia's two cents on the topic:

"Letterpress printing is a term for printing text with movable type, in which the raised surface of the type is inked and then pressed against a smooth substance to obtain an image in reverse. In addition to the direct impression of inked movable type onto paper or another receptive surface, the term letterpress can also refer to the direct impression of inked media such as zinc "cuts" (plates) or linoleum blocks onto a receptive surface."

Still scratching your head? Well, basically, it's an older form of printing that, similarly to darkroom printing with photographic film, is becoming less common, harder to find, and more of an artisan process. You really need to hold a letterpress piece in your hands, to feel and marvel at the quality. Once you do, you're hooked.

Ryan and Leslie are in the process of moving to a larger studio and plan to begin teaching letterpress classes, in addition to printing beautiful letterpress pieces for their clients. For those of you interested in learning more, check them out at: www.madmaude.com

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