Just got back from Milan where I was attending the annual Letterpress Workers summit for the fourth time. It has been great - inspiring, productive and fun. Meeting fellow designers with a background in letterpress printing, calligraphy, paper making etc from the whole of the world and exchanging the knowledge is an incredible experience.
New members of the Letterpress Workers family
The theme of this year is Fear. Dressed in 'letterpress workers' apron and armed with the ruler, paper, wood and metal type we started to work in groups of 3 producing 1 collaborative work for each day of the event. Though working in a group is slightly out of my comfort zone it was a fun experience. The prints produced by the various groups were swapped among the participants at the end of the event.
Alongside the daily printing sessions, there was plenty of hands-on activities for the visitors: various workshops for kids (by Maria Zaramella) and adults, from postcard printing (by Thomas Gravemaker) to hand lettering and linocut (by Marina Chaccur) to the demonstrations of carving letters in stone in the courtyard (by John Christopher & Simone Giorgio) and papermaking (by Marco Brunello).
A lecture about Kaba ornaments by Marina Chaccur & Thomas Gravemaker and a few extra lectures by fellow letterpress workers Myrna Keliher (US), Guillaume Bétemps (FR) & Tara Vega (ES) and the Tipoitalia 3 book launch which took place on 10th of June.
The Letterpress Workers book with all the works of participants was launched. The book was printed in 120 copies and it was available for sale during the event.
