Letterpress printing
DANIKA AND DOUG APLIN, OWNERS OF D&D LETTERPRESS
Tell us about the origins of letterpress. Doug: Letterpress is the oldest method of printing text. Prior to letterpress, monks would sit at desks for days on end, handwriting manuscripts to make copies. With the invention of movable type (individual printing blocks, each carrying a single letter) and letterpress, the written word could be duplicated en masse. Johannes Gutenberg was the first to use movable type in Europe which, combined with a printing press, created the letterpress printing process.
How did you come across letterpress? Danika: While studying design at university. After uni, we lived in the UK and visited markets around London where there was always someone selling old wood type. When we settled back in Australia, we noticed a 1920s platen press on ebay. It was love at first sight! We nurtured it back to life and threw ourselves into learning the art of letterpress.
Where did you learn your craft? Danika: We learnt about contemporary letterpress practices by reading books and scouring online blogs and forums. We also visited the Penrith Printing Museum to learn from retired letterpress printers. Doug: There, we met Des, who had been a letterpress teacher at Sydney Technical College. Des would stay with us on weekends and teach us the fundamental aspects of letterpress.
What do you create at D&D Letterpress? Danika: Everything from event stationery to business cards, limited prints, greeting cards, swing tags and die-cut bits and pieces.
Walk us through your printing process, please. Danika: We use cast-iron antique printing presses. Modern letterpress printing replaces lead and wood type with photopolymer printing plates, which are created from artwork in Adobe Illustrator and Indesign. Doug: The artwork on the plate reacts with UV light to create a raised relief print. Once the plates are ready, we trim the card stock and mix ink colours by hand. Using 10 tonnes of force, the inked-up printing plate is pressed into the sheet of paper, leaving a beautiful debossed print. It’s a labour of love.
Tell us about some of the machinery in your studio. Doug: D&D started with ‘Wendy’, our 1920s Chandler & Price platen press. She was rescued from a demolition site in western Sydney. Next is ‘Fritz’, our 1952 German Heidelberg Windmill. We heard a retired printer in Brisbane was keen to pass it on, so we spent a weekend heaving the 1.2-tonne press out from under his Queenslander. Danika: ‘Delphine’ is another Heidelberg press, and came from French Polynesia, complete with French instructions and signage. From her depths, we have pulled old prints of resorts and hotels. Our youngest press is from the late ’60s – a spring chicken!
What excites you about letterpress printing? Danika: Digital printing doesn’t compare to the quality you can achieve with letterpress printing: the detail, the deboss, the fluffy, thick, uncoated cotton paper!
How common is letterpress today? Doug: There has been a resurgence in recent years. There’s a strong community of letterpress printers worldwide who gather online. Letterpress printers from the heyday provide advice for the modern stationery printers. We all love that we’re keeping this craft alive.
See more from Danika and Doug at ddletterpress.com.au or on Instagram at @ddletterpress.