Beauty of Letterpress: The Art of Making an Impression

<p>Good morning&excl; I’m so thrilled to re-introduce Jill DiNicolantonio&comma; founder of <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;instagram&period;com&sol;parseandparcel&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Parse &amp&semi; Parcel<&sol;a>&period; She carefully curates paper and swatchbook samples to arrive on designer doorsteps&comma; and also acts as a personal paper consultant for that tough project or picky client&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Jill is co-sponsoring the Legion Paper NSS Trading Card Pack — and she&&num;8217&semi;ll be joining me a week from today to judge the LOUIE Awards in New York&period; Somehow she also finds the time to blog&comma; and I loved her post on <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;neenahpaper&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Neenah Paper’<&sol;a>s recent promotion so much&comma; I couldn’t not share it here&period; So&comma; take it away Jill&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Don’t get me wrong&comma; I love the conveniences of technology&period; The immediate gratification I get from the click of a mouse suits my impatient nature and life in the 21st century&period; But truth be told&comma; I’m old school&comma; my heart belongs to analog&period; Like many creatives&comma; I’m smitten with the tactile nature of print&comma; especially the techniques whose methods and tools of the trade remain largely unchanged&period; So I was thrilled when I saw the newest limited edition print added Neenah’s site&comma; The Beauty of Letterpress&colon; The Art of Making An Impression designed by <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;geechungdesign&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Earl Gee<&sol;a>&period;<span id&equals;"more-5719"><&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>San Francisco-based designer Earl Gee’s just-launched Edition 13&comma; The Beauty of Letterpress&colon; The Art of Making an Impression&comma; puts a modern twist on the time-honored process of letterpress&period; Prints are available for sale at The Beauty of Letterpress&semi; all proceeds go to help support <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;woodtype&period;org&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">The Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Gee pays tribute to this time honored print method with a fab design in a red and black palette inspired by a Russian Constructivist aesthetic&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The movement’s dedication to machines and technology&comma; functionalism and modern mediums&comma; and artists and engineers seemed like a natural fit for letterpress’ synthesis of art and machine&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13417" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;thepaperchronicles&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;process&period;jpg" alt&equals;"process" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"600" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The process of this old-world technique itself inspires the newly released Edition 13&period; Gee transformed iconic letterpress tools — platen press wheel&comma; ink blob&comma; composing stick&comma; line gauge&comma; wood blocks — into typographic forms cleverly arranged to spell out the Edition’s title&comma; and engage the viewer&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13418" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;thepaperchronicles&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;use&lowbar;me&lowbar;2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"use&lowbar;me&lowbar;2" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"533" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;These amazing tools and techniques have survived for centuries&period; They connect art and craft&comma; designer and printer&comma; and paper and impression&period; My design approach was to combine these elements in an unexpected&comma; surprising and distinctly modern way&comma;” explained Gee&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13424" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;thepaperchronicles&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;gears&period;jpg" alt&equals;"gears" width&equals;"500" height&equals;"547" &sol;><&sol;p><div class&equals;"inline-post clearfix"><div class&equals;"see-also byline">See also<&sol;div><div id&equals;"block-wrap-25818" class&equals;"block-wrap-native block-wrap block-wrap-23 block-css-25818 block-wrap-classic columns&lowbar;&lowbar;m--1 elements-design-3 block-ani block-skin-0 tipi-box block-wrap-thumbnail ppl-m-1 clearfix" data-id&equals;"25818" data-base&equals;"0"><div class&equals;"tipi-row-inner-style clearfix"><div class&equals;"tipi-row-inner-box contents sticky--wrap"><div class&equals;"block block-23 clearfix"><article class&equals;"tipi-xs-12 clearfix with-fi ani-base tipi-xs-typo split-1 split-design-1 loop-0 preview-thumbnail preview-23 elements-design-3 post-10018305 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-favorites category-papernerd-at-large category-the-chicago-stationery-scene tag-amarillo-stationery tag-chicago-stationery-fest tag-debra-skinner tag-design tag-faber-castell tag-field-notes tag-greeting-cards tag-kuboandlucy-stationery-co tag-letters-to-apollo tag-madhouse-crafting-co tag-mugobunni tag-papel-arcano tag-paper-pencil-chicago tag-paper-barista tag-pen-realm tag-sarah-schwartz tag-shady-pines-paper-co tag-starshaped-press tag-stationery tag-stationery-blog tag-stationery-design tag-stationery-designer tag-stationery-universe tag-the-creeping-moon tag-the-wasteshed tag-tiny-werewolves tag-washi-stationery" style&equals;"--animation-order&colon;0"><div class&equals;"preview-mini-wrap clearfix"><div class&equals;"mask"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;csf-a-love-letter-to-from-the-community&sol;" class&equals;"mask-img"><img width&equals;"100" height&equals;"100" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;04&sol;Cover-Photo&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;100&percnt;2C100&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1" class&equals;"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt&equals;"" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;04&sol;Cover-Photo&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;100&percnt;2C100&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 100w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;04&sol;Cover-Photo&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;120&percnt;2C120&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 120w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;04&sol;Cover-Photo&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;275&percnt;2C275&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 275w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;04&sol;Cover-Photo&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;372&percnt;2C372&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 372w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;04&sol;Cover-Photo&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;567&percnt;2C567&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 567w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;04&sol;Cover-Photo&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;882&percnt;2C882&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 882w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;04&sol;Cover-Photo&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;24&percnt;2C24&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 24w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;04&sol;Cover-Photo&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;48&percnt;2C48&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 48w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;04&sol;Cover-Photo&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;96&percnt;2C96&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 96w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;04&sol;Cover-Photo&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;150&percnt;2C150&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 150w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;04&sol;Cover-Photo&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;300&percnt;2C300&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 300w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;04&sol;Cover-Photo&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;50&percnt;2C50&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 50w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;04&sol;Cover-Photo&period;jpg&quest;zoom&equals;2&amp&semi;resize&equals;100&percnt;2C100&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 200w" sizes&equals;"&lpar;max-width&colon; 100px&rpar; 100vw&comma; 100px" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;div><div class&equals;"meta"><div class&equals;"byline byline-2 byline-cats-design-4"><div class&equals;"byline-part cats"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;category&sol;favorites&sol;" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;b79b0d" class&equals;"cat">Favorites<&sol;a><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;category&sol;papernerd-at-large&sol;" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;b79b0d" class&equals;"cat">Papernerd At Large<&sol;a><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;category&sol;the-chicago-stationery-scene&sol;" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;b79b0d" class&equals;"cat">The Chicago Stationery Scene<&sol;a><&sol;div><&sol;div><div class&equals;"title-wrap"><h3 class&equals;"title"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;thepapernerd&period;com&sol;csf-a-love-letter-to-from-the-community&sol;">CSF&colon; A Love Letter to &plus; from the Community<&sol;a><&sol;h3><&sol;div><div class&equals;"byline byline-3"><span class&equals;"byline-part date"><i class&equals;"tipi-i-calendar" aria-hidden&equals;"true"><&sol;i> <time class&equals;"entry-date published dateCreated flipboard-date" datetime&equals;"2025-04-17T15&colon;10&colon;15&plus;00&colon;00">April 17&comma; 2025<&sol;time><&sol;span><span class&equals;"byline-part likes-count"><a href&equals;"&num;" class&equals;"tipi-like-count " data-pid&equals;"10018305"><span class&equals;"likes-heart"><i class&equals;"tipi-i-heart-o" aria-hidden&equals;"true"><&sol;i><i class&equals;"tipi-i-heart" aria-hidden&equals;"true"><&sol;i><&sol;span><span class&equals;"tipi-value">0<&sol;span><&sol;a><&sol;span><&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;article><&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;tipimidc>&NewLine;<p>Gee&comma; Partner and Creative Director of <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;geechungdesign&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Gee &plus; Chung Design<&sol;a>&comma; and AIGA SF Fellow&comma; says his Silicon Valley technology client base doesn’t often afford him the opportunity to design for letterpress&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We’d definitely like to encourage more of our clients to make an impression with letterpress&period; What I appreciate most about the technique is the attention to craft that it signifies to its audience&period; Designing for letterpress creates a distinctly personal&comma; tactile&comma; and visceral communication that gets people to take notice through the dimension of touch&comma;” says Gee&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Though Gee has yet to visit the Hamilton Wood Type &amp&semi; Printing Museum &lpar;it’s on his bucket list&rpar;&comma; he is proud to be one of The Beauty of Letterpress designers who are helping to support the Museum&period;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The museum stimulates a much needed interest&comma; education&comma; and inspiration for this important art form&period; Supporting this wonderful resource is an important way to invest in our past&comma; present and future&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Edition 13&comma; The Beauty of Letterpress&colon; The Art of Making an Impression is printed on Crane’s Lettra® Ecru White 90 Cover&period; The prints are &dollar;5 and available for purchase at thebeautyofletterpress&period;com&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13415" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;thepaperchronicles&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;use&lowbar;me-2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"use&lowbar;me" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"1170" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;

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