Kickstart the Typographic Workshop

This is a recently launched Kickstarter project which I think you might like to support...

Theo Hersey in the workshop. Photo by Owen Tozer.

Theo Hersey is a young designer who graduated from the LCC. Whilst at university and during his 'gap year' he has been assisting Alan Kitching at The Typography Workshop in Kennington. Even though he now has a full time job as a graphic designer, he continues to assist and collaborate with Alan.

Alan Kitching & Theo in the Workshop. Photo by Tom Gifford.

Alan Kitching floated the idea of Theo purchasing the workshop from him and he needs your help.

There is a vast collection of fonts held at the workshop, from Caslon Old Face to Futura and everything in between in both metal & wood type. The collection is a brilliant array demonstrating the rich history of type design from both British and overseas type foundries, many having been purchased from the type foundries in their closing years. Theo is now in the extremely fortunate position to be able to take over the space and continue the legacy of The Typography Workshop and develop letterpress in his own style into the future.

One of the 250+ cases of wood & metal type. Photo by Theo Hersey.

Fenner Paper has been in contact with Alan Kitching and the Typography Workshop for over 30 years, I first met Alan back in the Clerkenwell workshops back in the early 90's and he designed the Fenner Paper diary cover in 2010 and uses our diary in the workshop to this day. We are very happy to continue this collaboration and support Theo in his endeavour.

Theo is being supported by friend and collaborator Anthony Burrill and they have designed three exclusive prints for this Kickstarter campaign.

Theo Hersey & Anthony Burrill. Photo by Owen Tozer.

So, how do you support Theo? ...it's easy! have a look at the Kickstarter page HERE, where you can choose to either simply donate or purchase some of the excellent rewards. Do it NOW and ensure the continuation of The Typography Workshop and the craft of letterpress printing in its South London home whilst also helping a talented youngster who will take it forward into the future.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theohersey/letterpress-heritage-the-typography-workshop

Posted by Justin Hobson 29.05.2023

 

From _______ To ________

People's History Museum (PHM) in Manchester is the national museum of democracy, telling the story of its development in Britain: past, present, and future. The museum holds the largest collection of political material in Britain.

From 1819 to 2019, from Peterloo to… where?  Marking the 200 year anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre, this exhibition features a wide selection of artworks inspired by that event. While Peterloo undoubtedly remains a horrific chapter in British history, the displayed work is also an exploration of correspondence; looking further than one single time and place.

These crowdsourced works (both from invitees and via an open call) all utilise the humble envelope to creatively explore the idea of ‘From _______ To ________’ highlighting a range of examples where force has been used to control citizens and suppress dissent.

The exhibition includes a fantastic selection of submissions from established designers and artists, alongside emerging student work. Displays include artwork by Craig Oldham, James Cauty, Extinction Rebellion, film director Mike Leigh, and many more.

...and just to reiterate - all the works are either printed on an envelope or are inserts or a montage on an envelope - an inspired idea!

You can see all the exhibited pieces on Instagram on the following link: https://www.instagram.com/frompeterloo/

 

Below is a small selection...

Submission from Thea Koutas / @theakoutas

letterpress submission from Alan Kitching / @thetypographyworkshop

Submission from Craig Oldham / @officeofcraig 

 

Submission from Tony Pritchard / @tonypritchard_

 Darren Leader & Jason Hyde / @studiogram& @jasonleehyde 



Rob Scargill and Alex Finney / @robertscargill and @xelafinney

...and our involvement was in supplying the humble envelopes! A box of our lovely Colorset, Light Grey 120gsm (100% Recycled) 155mm square envelopes...as you can see in the picture below. The exhibition is coordinated by Dr Daniel Cookney who is a lecturer at the University of Salford.

The full list of contributors is as follows: Adelina Court, Alan Kitching, Amrit Randhawa, Anthony Sims, Bill Hards, Callum Dawes, Cleon Peterson, Craig Oldham, Daniel Cookney, Darren Leader and Jason Hyde, David Mauger, Dr.ME, Elaine Loader, Emily Schofield, Erik Brandt, Extinction Rebellion, Goodness, Guy Field, Harry O’Brien, himHallows, Ian Morris, Jimmy Cauty, Jody Barton, Joel Sleet, John Rooney, Jonny Pell, Laura D’Eath, Laura Jones, M-Four, Malcolm Garrett, Mark James Works, Mark Kaufman, Mark Murphy, Mark Stewart, Matthew Challenger, Michelle Murray, Mick Marston/du.st, Mike Leigh, Miroslaw Ogorzalek, Nick Bax, North or Nowt, Optigram/Manuel Sepulveda, Rick Myers, Rob Ryan, Rob Scargill and Alex Finney, Simon Harrison, Simon Palmer/ Show\Trial, Supermundane, Tara Collette, Tea Uglow, Thea Koutas, The Print Project, Tim Isherwood, Tony Pritchard, Vicky Carr, Will Bindley.

The exhibition identity is by Jenny Hall, Nicole Candiotto and Harry Steele. The exhibition is coordinated by Dr Daniel Cookney who is a lecturer at the University of Salford.

You should go and visit NOW as the exhibition at the PHM (which is FREE) only runs to 8th September.

https://phm.org.uk/visit/

Posted by Justin Hobson 20.08.2019

On Press - Alan Kitching at the Guardian

Yesterday evening I was lucky enough to be invited to the opening of an exhibition showing the work Alan Kitching produced for and in collaboration with the Guardian. The exhibition is hung in the foyer of the Guardian offices in King's Cross and features some really great original letterpress prints that Alan has created for the Guardian over the years.

It is a well laid out exhibition and even includes an exhibit with the letterpress blocks used on one of the artworks.

The exhibition runs from today (Friday 23rd January) to 28th February 2015. It will be open each day from 10.00–18.00 with admission free!

The address is: The Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, N1 9GU

www.guardian.com
www.thetypographyworkshop.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 23.01.2015

ISTD Student Awards 2013

On Friday evening I was invited to the ISTD Student awards ceremony, hosted at the lovely Pentagram building in West London. Pentagram partner, Angus Hyland, presented the certificates to the successful students and tutors.

It was a beautiful summer evening, and as with all ISTD events it was a very warm and friendly event with the drinks provided (kindly sponsored by Mike Daines of eLexicons).

Angus Hyland presenting the awards

This presentation evening was for the main Student Assessment scheme held in the UK and Ireland. Students from Universities and Institutions around the UK and Ireland answered a number of briefs written by the ISTD's Education team. Judging took place in March and in total, there were 64 passes, 12 Merits and 5 Commendations. This year, the University of West England (Bristol) had most success, with 18 passes, merits and Commendations. Tutors are Gabriel Solomons and John Paul Dowling.

As a special presentation, Angus Hyland was awarded Fellowship of the ISTD in recognition of his contribution and typographic achievement over the years. The picture shows Angus receiving his certificate, presented by Alan Kitching.

After the presentation, Angus gave a short talk which included a description about his early beginnings as a designer and his start in typography using sheets of his parent's Letraset rub down lettering, sitting at the kitchen table!

 

The Student awards take place over all over the globe throughout the year, the next being the South African Assessments and then the Australasian Assessments covering Australia and New Zealand.

 

My thanks to the ISTD board for inviting me and as I have said many times on this blog before, it's very important to support organisations such as the ISTD and events such as this. A big thank you to all those members of the ISTD who freely give their time for the benefit of others, in particular, Freda Sack, who has been such an important figure in the society for so many years.

www.istd.org.uk
www.pentagram.co.uk

www.elexicons.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 09.07.2013

Jobs from the past - Number 41

Regular followers of this blog will know that my first post of every month is a "job from the past" so that I can show some of the really good work from years gone by. This is perfect timing as it's exactly ten years ago since the anti war protests.

Why Iraq? Why Now?



On 15th February 2003, the Stop the War Coalition (StWC) held a protest in London which is claimed to be the largest political demonstration in the city's history. The estimated attendance has been anywhere in between 750,000 and 2,000,000!

The day before the protest, a full page advertisement appeared in The Guardian, which was organised (and maybe funded?) by the architect Richard Rogers. He approached Alan Kitching to design the advert, which you can see above. The ad is designed to work both as a 'make yourself banner' and also list the some of the prominent public figures who opposed the invasion of Iraq and who were lending support to the Stop the War Coalition.

I confess to neither have seen the original ad in the Guardian or in fact going on the demonstration but I did see it reported in DesignWeek the week afterwards ...which I still have!

 ...so I called Alan and offered to re-print the page for him (with The Guardian's permission) which we did, on our Redeem 100% Recycled 70gsm. This gave them lots of extra copies and me some file copies on our lovely paper. Printed in one colour, black, only.The size is 600mm x 378mm (or the same size that The Guardian used to be)

Alan Kitching and the late Celia Stothard with the posters outside their home in Kennington

www.thetypographyworkshop.com
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/did-millions-protesting-against-the-iraq-war-on-15-february-2003-achieve-anything
www.theguardian.co.uk
www.designweek.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 01.03.2013

Typography Workshop

Letterpress aficionado, Alan Kitching, has announced two dates in September for his popular and renowned workshops. First established in 1989, Alan has run these popular workshops for over two decades, in recent years with his partner, the late Celia Stothard.

Once again there is now the opportunity join with a wide ranging group of design practitioners and be immersed in a world of hands on setting and inky type. The images below are from previous courses and give you a flavour of what goes on...

Alan will be assisted by Jon Kielty and Ross Shaw, both experienced letterpress practitioners in their own right.

To read more about it and see the dates, follow the link:

http://www.thetypographyworkshop.com

Ditch the plans for the summer holiday, rob the piggy bank and book yourself a couple of most rewarding days in Kennington!

Posted by Justin Hobson 11.07.2011

Celia Stothard 1949-2010

Today I received the sad news that Celia Stothard died on 8th December (because of the snow, I only received post today sent on the 13th December which is why this announcement is quite so late).

My sincerest condolences go to her husband and partner Alan Kitching.

It was barely a year ago that I was invited to a private view in London, celebrating the work of Alan Kitching and Celia Stothard at The Typography Workshop. Derek Birdsall paid tribute to Alan and Celia's fifteen year partnership. In his response, Alan touchingly referred to his having been rescued by Celia from his former 'vagabond' life camping out at the Chelsea Arts Club!

The cover of the 2010 Fenner Paper diary was designed and produced by Alan at The Typography Workshop and Alan and Celia were genial hosts when I popped in with mock ups and proofs and most forgiving when the printing and binding of their copies ran later and later...!

She will be sadly missed by all that knew her.

Below is a picture of Celia and Alan working together at the Typography Workshop.

Photo taken by Phil Sayer for Eye Magazine.

http://blog.eyemagazine.com/?p=387

Posted by Justin Hobson 23.12.2010 

2010 diaries are on the way!

Don't panic! The 2010 diaries are on the way.

We managed to get a small quantity in the post before Christmas, but the majority have not yet gone out. Sadly, because of the snow before Christmas, we were unable to get the printed sheets from the printer to the binders!

However, unless the snow arrives to muck things up again, we are hoping to get them all out in the post tomorrow.

... and here's a sneak preview of the cover designed by Alan Kitching.

Happy new year and best wishes for 2010

Justin