How Kristin met Bess
I first encountered letterpress at college in Wisconsin, where I was earning my BFA in graphic design. I loved design, but missed the tactile quality and unpredictability of materials from my fine art classes—and all of a sudden here was a medium that was the perfect marriage of the two. My very first project was an edition of 20-page letterpress and intaglio printed books that kept me setting type and printing for hours—and loving it. (A few years later, one of the books was my very first etsy sale!)
I went on to graduate with a snazzy portfolio and get a job at a regional magazine. By 24, I was art director of that magazine—realizing a dream I didn’t think I’d reach for decades—and stayed there for the next 5 years.
In the mean time, I came across a small clam press on craigslist only an hour from where I was living. Presses are rare, and even though this was a completely different style than what I had learned on and I didn’t know if it actually worked, I knew I had to take a chance. Oh, and I was also living in a tiny second-floor apartment at the time which meant for the next several years I drove 45 minutes to print in my parents’ basement nearly every weekend. This was actually fairly convenient since my dad is rather mechanically minded and boy, did we have some fixing to do!
Fast forward to the present and I’ve been pursuing letterpress as a weekend and evening hobby/business for more than six years. I have greeting cards and limited edition prints in a handful of stores across the country and have printed business cards, invitations and other custom work for countless clients. I’ve also set a new goal of a brick-and-mortar shop and working for myself full time.
I generally print on 100% recycled cotton paper that is specifically designed for letterpress. It’s just the best! I currently print with oil-based inks and clean with a low-toxicity solution. My press is a Pearl Old Style from 1882, and I named her Bess. She’s an oldie—meaning she’s completely mechanical (no electricity here!) and all her moving parts are powered by me.
I’ve collected a fair amount of vintage wood and lead type over the years that I absolutely love to print with. All the other designs in my shop are either vintage printing plates or designed by me and made into plates by a small company in Michigan.
I recently took the plunge and moved in with my boyfriend—in Bermuda. This meant taking the first step toward owning my own business: going down to part time at the magazine and growing both freelance design and letterpress! I blog about my adventures at 622press.wordpress.com.
Stay tuned for more new designs and please get in touch if you’d like to work together on a custom project at six22press [!at] yahoo.com. Can’t wait to hear from you!
Kristin
