letterpress by Kim Galanto

Our 3 day letterpress workshop was definitely one of my favorite experiences in London. It felt good to get away from the digital world and to get our hands a little dirty. Ok, maybe way more than a little dirty. There was so much ink on my hands, I kept saying to myself "my hands are never going to look the same!" I wasn't a fan of the gloves (but don't tell Niku).

The letterpress was extremely exhausting and Kristine and I couldn't even think after we ran our 25 posters in the machine layer... after layer... after layer... after layer... (seriously, we had 4 layers). Dealing with color was another issue as I was never pleased with what I mixed. The entire process was a bit nerve racking as the usual comforting "⌘z" was not an option this time. Nevertheless, the colors turned out perfect, the concept was strong, and with our very own ink dirty hands we produced a beautiful poster that we are both very proud of!

I was also very proud of the work produced by everybody; everyone was hurrying around, looking for letters, testing different textures of papers, creating clever compositions and images. I am sad to say that I didn't experiment as much as I should have but I promise you, the others made up for it. This wall was empty when we first arrived but 72 hours later, this is what it looked like.

Being surrounded by such intelligent and creative designers can only benefit me.

Kim Galanto, Woodbury University, Graphic Design.