Letterpress: The Cockney Alphabet

Final day at the New North Press before the Reverting to Type exhibition at Standpoint Gallery. I spent the first day setting the press with the curator, Graham Bignell, and my Chelsea College tutor, Nigel Bents. It's amazing how long the whole poster takes to set. Measuring and adjusting each letter as thin as a hair space is very time consuming. However, I learnt so much about printing and type so I loved the experience.




Measuring a boarder to fit. Only one poster was printed with a boarder for the exhibition so hopefully I can return in the New Year to help print the remaining 99 sheets.



Inking up. First with a wide roller all over the leads. Then we went over the main letters with a much smaller roller to ensure they printed boldly. This was how day two was spent with Jasper, a fellow graphics student. We printed something between 60-80 posters that day. He had to do all the pressing, my little arms couldn't take the pressure.





Dismantling. Looks like a battle ground. So many tiny pieces to put back in a draw. Locating the draw in the first place took quite a while.




The final poster at Standpoint Gallery.