Today I made the trip to Shipley to talk to Nick from the letterpress studio The Print Project.
Questions:
1. What made you chose this profession?
2. Would you say crafted objects such as those you produce have gone up in value in the digital age?
3. Do you feel the enjoyment of creating feeds into the value of an object?
4. Why do you think this is?
5. Did you learn your craft from other craftsmen or were you self taught?
6. To what extent does the tradition of your craft play a role in how you work?
7. Have you found an increase in demand for your products as the digital age continues?
8. Do you find a sense of autonomy in being able to make a living with your own knowledge and hands?
Recording Metod: I have considered recording these interviews with a voice memo type arrangement but I found that we were in a place where there was a lot of noise interference which would have caused a lot of issues. Also it is rather awkward and strange to just ask someone if you could record their voice. I feel that it could effect what they choose to say and how they say it rather than them being open and relaxed in the conversation.
Instead I chose to make notes as fast and thoroughly as I can and then write out the responses to each question, from my notes and from memory in a way that details the areas that can be directly quoted. As I plan each section of my essay I will then print in what is relevant where. This approach varies from that of my earlier interview with Roger because of the later stage which my writing is at.
1 & 5. 'It chose me' - he came into printing by accident really. He was a graphic designer and began to hate it, all the working on screen had him down. He already had an understanding of the litho print process and a certain amount of that translates to letterpress. But right at the beginning, it all started with the DIY punk movement and making fanzines, and becoming more interested in how they could be made at a larger scale. He liked the "make your own shit" centre of the punk movement and the empowering enthusiasm of 'just do it'. This was all against the backdrop of the 80s, an era when you really had to search things out, no internet to help you on the way. The type was something that he had around for a wile but hadn't been using it, but it was through a link to an anarchist group in Bradford in 2010 when someone donated a press, they got together and started the press. Eventually people left and it gradually became self sufficient.
To start with they just set up at a zine fair and they got a lot of interest from that with slowly built until he knew he could just do the printing, and he got to travel all over the place because of it.
2 & 6. "no way to know" a lot of stuff is so immediately accessible that a "lot of things are loosing value". "over consumption is a bad thing" and we are sucked into buying things by peer pressure and societies ideas of what makes you happy. The real value is where you believe it to be. For him that is in the "conversation" the giving back, and being able to "inspire people to do their own thing", especially through "skill sharing" and involving other people in what you are doing.
Often it can be quite a risky business, working on your own and then you send it out biting your nails in hope people will like it.
There is a value that people see in something that is made by letterpress, but the process is a job nothing more. he loves the process, but it is a means to an end of communication. Nowadays he ttys and talk less and less about the fact that it is letterpress, because he wants the content to be pivotal too.
He also make use of polymer plates that are created from digital designs but he dislikes them because they are less authentic and truthful. He believes there is a certain store of reusable energy in movable type, you can use it again and again but with polymer plates, they are so specific to use they can only be used once most of the time and so "it's dead" made of consumables that are consumed. Some tools allow for flexibility though and that is just a case of necessity on commercial jobs. However, a lot of the time it is the limitations of this process which create an understanding of process and allows for greatest creativity.
3 & 7. Yeah, in two ways. he supposes in economic terms, how long it takes costed out but also in a less tangible sense. When he produces something, does he value it and does the client value it? to a certain extent to do so they need to buy into the craft process and appreciate the time it takes. There is also the value from his perspective of the understanding of self and work through slowing down to produce something in such a fast world. It's a challenge and a battle.
8. Yeah "hands down" a lot of freedom, you can come and go as you please and meet a load of great people. This is also quite scary because you are conscious of the time you are spending on each project because the buck stops with you and everything needs to get done.
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