Today, 06.06.09

In recent years, new attention has been paid to letterpress printing. Perhaps it is the texture and craft that we respond to, or a reaction against technology, or even just a desire to imbue new things with the traditions of the past. Whatever the reason, it is probably fair to say that printing has always been as much an art as a craft.

Practitioners of artistic printing subscribed to the belief that letterpress printers could and should develop their own sophisticated styles; that they should avail themselves of artfully arranged type; and that less could not possibly be more. The introduction of chromolithography — or color printing — during this time offered another opportunity to explore and elaborate by producing compositions graced by layered elements — cast shadows, overlapping type and no shortage of ribbons — embellishments intended to simulate and amplify the illusion of pictorial richness.