Letterpress + Offset

This job is a fine example of using letterpress in combination with another print medium better suited to the task - in this case, printing a large solid. Designed by Christian from locals The Decoder Ring for the delicious sounding Maine farm/farmers' collective Farmers Fare.



The large color blocks were offset printed and we followed up with black letterpress. Letterpress generally does not produce great results with large solids - especially on a platen press (such as the Heidelberg) because the platen, or location of the paper, is raised with force to the plate and this force creates the impression. Full, crisp coverage on a large solid requires lots of force per square inch of the solid (I know there is a math problem in here) and there is only so much force possible within 15 square inches (size of the platen). Plus we love the rough edges of the bright solids, it looks a lot like a screen print and nicely complements the block font and handmade, sustainable qualities of the Fare itself. A great design complete with appropriate and excellent production.