Weekend Workshop: 2 day Vandercook Letterpress – 21st Century HeroMachine

Elliot Steele and Csilla Biro

Saturday 8 & Sunday 9 July 2023

10am-4pm

An exciting weekend exploring the interdisciplinary possibilities of traditional and digital printmaking processes—using the extraordinary Vandercook Press, our 21st Century Hero Machine! Acquired by SPS founder, Peter Reddick, the Vandercook is an iconic part of Spike Print Studio and is one of only 11 in the world. It is a unique piece of equipment. Vandercooks were traditionally used for making proof prints of books and newspapers so it can produce large-format prints with great accuracy and enormous creative potential.

During this weekend workshop we will go through the process of typesetting, planing layouts and printing on the rare Vandercook 232P press together. The workshop will allow students to discover the hidden fonts at Spike Print Studio’s letterpress corner, and we will work together on planning, printing and assembling a small edition of letterpress printed pamphlets with text and image in the spirit of antique chapbooks.