During this workshop we tried three different ways to letterpress which could be used to create our business cards.
Photopolymer
The first technique we tried was using photopolymer plates which were then inked and pressed. Photopolymer plates are essentially a sheet of polymer that has one side which is sensitive to light. Your design is transferred on to this by placing it on top of the polymer sheet and exposing it to UV light. Once it has been exposed you must wash off the excess, in warm water, in order for your design to show through. This can be the tricky part as it is easy to rub away small pieces of the text therefore ruining the design.
Typeset Letterpress
A technique that we have tried before. This involved typesetting our names and chosen taglines then using the electric letterpress to ink and press our designs. As you can see from the results below this can be temperamental. Some letters didn’t come out clearly as the letters had started to rub away over time. Personally once mine had been pressed I could see that the gaps between my wording were way too big.
Blind embossing
In order to blind emboss the machine had to be heated and the type set backwards. We then place transferable plastic on the card and placed into the machine. The lever is pulled down, pressure is applied and quickly removed. The plastic can then be removed leaving the embossed lettering. This is by far my favourite technique, although it is still slightly temperamental I definitely got the best results from this (see below). I really like the texture it creates as the letters are pressed onto the card. It was also really fun to experiment with the limited colours, I was surprised by how well white on white went together!
Emily-Rose Cripps 