We happily accept commissions, however there are some important factors that govern our practice and thereby our pricing:

LETTERPRESS IS A SLOW PROCESS
Setting type isn’t the same as typing and arranging it on a computer screen. Every character (and the white space surrounding it) is a physical object which are constructed like building blocks into the final layout. Making changes and correcting errors takes time – there’s no ‘delete’ or ‘undo’ involved. We print on hand-fed presses, sometimes also inking by hand with a roller, so each print is individual. It’s also worth remembering that our oil-based inks take at least 24 hours to dry, so jobs of multiple colours and/or sides printed will take longer.

WE ARE AN ARTISAN PRESS, NOT A COMMERCIAL PRINTER
This doesn’t mean we won’t do your job, but if you want it done cheaply and/or in a hurry we’re not the right people to do it. We’re always keen to have conversations but, as a rule of thumb, quantities of above 1,000 we often have to decline (but can recommend other letterpress printers to talk to). We always price jobs honestly, based on the time they will take to do well.

WE HAVE AN AMAZING LIBRARY OF FONTS
Where we can we like to use type from our collection of over 800 wooden and metal fonts. Keeping them in use, and the craft of letterpress live, is why we do what we do. If you’re looking to print custom artwork, eg logos, illustrations or fonts we don’t have, we can get artwork plates made, but bear in mind that this comes at an added cost.

COME AND SEE US
We realise this isn’t possible in all cases but we encourage people who can to visit and see the way we work up close. This gives you a far better idea of our process and the resulting conversation often helps inform important design decisions.

Cataloguing our font library is a work in progress. Much of our woodtype fonts do not exist in digital form or we haven’t found names or dates for yet. If you are looking to use something specific we will be able to tell you if we have it and, if not, recommend close alternatives. The best thing is to visit if you can, or call.

We are happy to hear from agencies and designers about working with them to produce graphics for identity and branding projects. Likewise, we enjoy collaborating with type designers and historians interested in our collection.

We are a small press and currently have no job vacancies. We do occasionally offer work placements but only when the arrangement is such that it can be mutually beneficial.

Here is a combination of the many replies we have written which you are welcome to use extracts from for educational writing purposes. If these don’t answer your specific query we will try our best to answer it by email, but please remember we are a working press and may not have time.

Why do you like letterpress?
We enjoy the physicality of handling type and also the control you can have over the tiniest details of both design and printing. Thinking of type and spacing as physical objects also enables a feeling of construction, like an infinite jigsaw of possibilities. The tangible restrictions involved in working this way demand a more focused approach, thinking through design decisions in advance and problem solving to adapt to the options available.

Why has letterpress had a recent surge in popularity?
We don’t honestly know. It could be seen as a response to the digitisation of the modern world, in a similar way to the Arts & Crafts movement’s reaction against industrialisation, or just a passing trend. A great many art colleges sacrificed the letterpress departments and replaced them with computer suites which must be of bitter disappointment to many students nowadays. We try our upmost to keep teaching a part of what we do in order to pass on knowledge and share the enthusiasm.

What does the future hold for letterpress?
It’s an exciting time for letterpress, as our Reverting to Type exhibitions and A23D project have showed. What were once tools of industry are now in the hands of artists who are using them to respond to prevailing concerns. The resulting experiments and combinations of modern and historic techniques are producing some fascinating work which we hope to document in another exhibition soon.