Living Letter Press of Champaign IL, represented by John Bonadies, was an official maker at the 2014 Heartland Maker Fest in Urbana on October 18, 2014.
What they do:
Created apps for people to experience the letterpress process in an accurate way. To make the experience as realistic possible, actual type was scanned and the press components photographed to create the apps.
Bonadies’s presses are housed at Dixon Graphics. He hosts school groups for field trips and teaches workshops in this space. A November 2014 workshop will feature holiday card making.
History:
These days, presses are hard to find; most have been scrapped. They typically weigh a ton or two. In 2011, a $40,000 Kickstarter campaign provided funds to purchase five presses and type.
The surprising thing about what he does:
These days, anything can be printed digitally, but it takes time and effort to set up a letter press. The hands-on nature of the press connects students to what they are doing. Bondaies has students set up their school name and crank it through the press. He is always surprised by how amazed the students are by the result when they pull the paper off the press.
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