Page 38 - Homes & Antiques (February 2020)

Meet the Maker THE LETTERPRESS COLLECTIVE

Meet the Maker

THE LETTERPRESS

COLLECTIVE

Nick Hand is keeping the heritage cra! of le"erpressing alive
from his traditional printing room in the heart of Bristol

INTERVIEW KATY LAYTON PHOTOGRAPHS JESSE WILD

The Le!erpress Collective "rst began in Le!erpress is the old form of printing;
2013 – a year a#er the last commercial the kind that Gutenberg invented in
le!erpress printer shut its doors in the 1450. It changed the world forever
city of Bristol a#er 600 years. Founder because it "nally meant that you could
Nick Hand saw an opportunity to learn print in quantity. That way of printing
from the last of the printers and now, became the way to do it for the following
with the help of his colleague, Ellen, 600 years, until very recently…
uses his business to give a voice to
local creatives, producing exquisite What inspires you and your designs?
le!erpress print work. Inspiration comes from everywhere.
I’ve just spent a few days in Madrid
When did you discover le!erpressing? going to exhibitions and looking at art.
It was in my last year of art college in The thing about le!erpressing is that
1977 – I spent a year in a le!erpress there is a really nice community – there
room and it had an e$ect on me that are probably only 20 full-time printers
I wasn’t aware of until much later. in Britain. I’m really inspired by other

38 Homes & Antiques February 2020