“We believe the extraordinary, communicative power of letterpress printing and the community of people who make it happen deserve a special place—The Beauty of Letterpress celebrates and honors the modernity of this 500-year old craft.”The Beauty of Letterpress Gallery presents letterpress work from notable letterpress printers, designers, and artisans from around the country including Rohner Letterpress, Studio on Fire, Two Paperdolls, and Mama’s Sauce. The site features selections from a new curator each month. Letterpress history, context, educational information, community connections and a list of letterpress printers round out the site.
Letterpress printing continues its renaissance in the digital age because of its extraordinary beauty and tactility. “When art or type is pressed into sumptuous paper, it creates a physical impression that simply begs to be touched,” said Tom Wright, senior director of advertising and design for Neenah Paper. “We believe the extraordinary, communicative power of letterpress printing and the community of people who make it happen deserve a special place—The Beauty of Letterpress celebrates and honors the modernity of this 500-year old craft.”
While developing this virtual letterpress home for the 21st century, the creators could not help but consider the physical move of Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum (woodtype.org) the landmark institution preserving the rich history and assets of letterpress dating to the birth of letterpress in the 15th century. The Beauty of Letterpress launches with a Neenah Paper, Inc. initiative to help raise $30,000 in funds for the Museum’s move through matching donations and gifts of limited edition prints to designers, letterpress printers and admirers of this craft.
In addition to featuring the work of artists, The Beauty of Letterpress highlights CRANE Papers and Neenah Paper and offers paper samples, videos and many community resources. Letterpress printers, designers, lovers and aficionados are invited to submit work to The Beauty of Letterpress, subscribe to the RSS to see new work in real-time, and join its dedicated online communities on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, @BoLetterPress.
The Beauty of Letterpress is a sister site to The Beauty of Engraving (http://thebeautyofengraving) launched by Neenah Paper last year. Both initiatives were developed in partnership with Two Paperdolls and feature CRANE® Papers. CRANE’S LETTRA® Papers, CRANE’S CREST® Papers and CRANE’S BOND® Papers are marketed and sold by Neenah Paper.