TYPEFACE: Movie From Class

The documentary we watched in class on Monday was mainly focused on the impact that letterpress has (or had) on industry, society, communication and art. While its influence has mostly wained it is still a viable tool for those wishing to express an idea or message typographically.

The film focused a great deal on a town that was at one point very prosperous because of the importance of wooden type at the time. All that remains of that factory is a museum where a handful of locals (and the infrequent visitor) spend time amongst the wooden blocks and presses. There are a few locals remaining that still remember how to operate the machinery and how to create new blocks, but these people are in their 80's and there aren't any young people lined up to learn this trade.

We learn that woodtype was a huge business when it was one of the only ways to print, especially if you wanted to print something that was very large, like an outdoor poster. The cost of making a wooden stamp was tiny compared to one made of steel. The factory in Hamilton supported a whole town just by printing. In the 60's, we're told, offset lithography takes over and wooden printing business takes a nosedive.

Until recently no one cared at all about letterpress. However, lately there has been something of a renaissance in this method of print. It has become trendy within the art scene to embrace the uniqueness and hand made quality of a print made from a wooden block. There are defects and designs the wood creates that wouldn't be easily possible to make on a computer, certainly not if it were to be convincing. With each letter sitting on a different block the amount of variety between one and the next beats any computer font. In a time of digital immediacy, something that actually takes time to make becomes more valuable, which is good news for letterpress.

The film seems to suggest that it is possible that there will be a real reemergence of letterpress based on the level of interest that we see now, but while there is interest will there be enough to sustain the movement to the point of becoming mainstream? And if so, will it lose its charm and quirkiness and fall back out of the attention of the populace? I suppose we'll have to wait and see, but I think that there will always be some individuals that will hold onto this old school technique.