FRIENDS OF LETTERPRESS
THE CONTEXT
This proposal has been put together by Ananya, a post-graduate student of Graphic Design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad under the guidance of Tarun Deep Girdher, Senior Faculty, Graphic Design and Head, Print Labs.
There was a time when Print Labs was the cornerstone of NID. The staff did award winning work and constantly pushed boundaries. But as graphic design became more and more digitally driven, Print Labs began to lose its relvance too. The current scenario is such that students only ever go there to cut paper or bind notebboks (or worse, as a passage). Most students are completely unaware of the rich resources available there and their potential for exploration. NID is the only design institute in India to have an operational letterpress setup. The origins of printing lie in letterpress and though the technology is obsolete commercially, the possibilities of the medium are limitless, and so are its benefits. It is a very efficient medium of short run printing, uses minimal power, its tactile feel and human engagement is unmatched by any other form of printing, not to mention its an extremely fun activity. A strong need is felt by the student community of Graphic Design for a revival. Hands on learning needs to be brought back to graphic design. Its time to get off the computer and get our hands dirty. And what better to kickstart this initiative than letterpress printing. It has been witnessing a strong revival in the west and its about time we started this movement here as well.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES 1. Creating a space (an activity-oriented community-centric club) for sharing ideas, stories and engage students in a medium of hands on, extra-curricular, interdiscplinary learning.
2. Encouraging experiments in relief printing and revive and reinvent the medium of letterpress printing and promote it as a fun, hands-on activity.
3. Changing perceptions of Print Labs and utilise the existing resources available in Print Labs effectively and providing a platform to people (who are masters of the medium) to share their experiences.