Long-Distance Letterpress Class: Daredevil Typesetting

**This class will be taught live via Zoom**

Come take an SVC long-distance letterpress workshop, where you’ll pick up skills and a big dose of inspiration from some of the brightest stars in letterpress, and then receive a copy of the class project via snail mail — sealing your virtual workshop with an analog kiss. Jessica Spring of Springtide Press coined the term Daredevil Typesetting to describe work that defies the conventions of straight and perpendicular.

In this online demonstration, Jessica will focus on typesetting and printing techniques that move beyond straight lines and right angles to set type that curves, loops, and bounces. We’ll explore both traditional methods of employing circular and angle quads, as well as tools adapted from art supply and hardware stores for manipulating type. She’ll also show off with “Daredevil Furniture,” sets of lasercut furniture designed for type composition at Springtide Press. Here’s an overview of the topics we’ll cover:

• Why traditional letterpress technology forces us to design with straight lines
• Methods for introducing curves and angles with traditional quads and furniture
• How to use “Daredevil Furniture” and other non-traditional tools for type composition
• Shopping your local hardware store for letterpress paraphernalia
• The special demands of printing designs with curves and angles
• Other experimental printing techniques, as time permits

All participants will receive a copy of the class project via snail mail.

International students: please email [email protected] to register.