Letterpress

We have both always appreciated the tactile quality of a letterpress-printed card.
The deep impression of the type in thick cotton paper.
The necessarily simplified graphics in limited colors.
The mix of ancient technique with modern graphics.
Portland has a nice scene of small artsy presses putting out original work, and when we needed cards, we more often than not bought from them.



So when it came time for the invitations, we were thinking letterpress.

But, honestly, neither of us were really clear on the details of how letterpress pieces were printed - we only knew we liked the end result. So step one was to become better informed; mainly, since we wanted to design our own cards, to know what our constraints were.
A bit of time on the web and it soon became clear that: despite the beautifully elaborate, hulking and heaving presses that you glimpse in the shops, the process was essentially a simple one.

Take a plate with your image on it, ink it, and press it really hard into a piece of paper.

Inspired by a couple examples of home-built presses on the web, and after finding a place to have plates made, we started thinking that we could do it ourselves.

And as the less-than-perfect results attest, we printed them ourselves, right on the dining room table.
Only slightly bending Lisa's car jack in the process.

We had fun doing it, and hope the effort excuses the irregularity.