Introduction
Graphic Design as a profession with institutionalized training within western education contexts was formalized in the early twentieth century. Yet it took several decades until colleges and polytechnic schools from countries such as Portugal to finally implement specific Graphic Design curricula in the early 1980’s. This contributed to shifting the main competences addressed into a curriculum focused on digital production and offset printing (Amado, Oliveira, & Morais, 2020).
Although much was improved in education and professional practice — the adoption of the computer and development of software within the Desktop Publishing environment allowed for faster turnout times, explorations of alternative visuals — the classrooms and the relation between the student or the professional with production changed. This process meant that the professional or student designer was gradually “detached” from the craft, focusing on the ideation and digital design project. And less emphasis has been put into the production process. This is mainly due to the “black-box” nature of digital production. In time, the “clean” digital outcome (eg. graphics, colors) and the “production-as-service” steered students, teachers, and professional designers away from the analog and physical nature of past graphic works. It has been making designers gradually more dependent on the information and skills of printing offices to explore materials and aesthetic qualities.
This has not only led designers to be gradually less trained in the craft aspect of the profession, but also less knowledgeable of past authors and graphic techniques and aesthetic options. On the education side, there has been a growing lack of investment in the research-led, design process, as well as hands-on experience of the production of tangible artifacts (Pontis & van der Waarde, 2020).
This brings us to the current state of affairs in graphic design. At the same time that there is a strong urge to pursue the digital and computational design of artifacts and systems, there is another trend on the rise. We are currently experiencing an analog design and production process revival. Spearheaded by letterpress printers and artists. An international trend that has become more evident in the past two decades. As a technological process and craft-based activity, letterpress printing is an empowering and pedagogical process with multiple benefits not only for Art & Design education but also for literature authors and general citizens.
As this technology was offset from professional practices by the current digital technologies, material, printing equipment, and expert know-how have slowly been disappearing. Thus it has been increasingly difficult for students, designers, and artists alike to explore and learn this process. The role of schools and associations is paramount to maintaining and promoting its legacy. As well as to integrate this practice into current activities. But as material becomes increasingly scarce and expensive, or in order to provide this experience to individuals or students at home, we have to find alternatives to explore this process and technologies into current traditional, or hybrid practices.
Currently, there are several initiatives — such as conferences, workshops, or online communities — and projects — such as affordable presses, instruction materials, and (re)fabrication of letters and printing material — that aim to maintain this practice. As a side effect, these have also been promoting the cultural and artistic heritage of the local and international scope.
The persons and institutions behind these initiatives form a strong-tied network of collaborators that help and nurture each other, supported by the current online communication and Social Media platforms. In this presentation, we focus on a specific topic that has been promoting this practice and specific media literacy — the research and development process of DIY or affordable proof presses. These can be fabricated by individuals at home or in educational environments, allowing for the process' actors to learn more about the history, purpose, and (mechanical and graphic) possibilities of this tool and process. There have been several projects developed since 2018 and used throughout the international community, in which we include the process and early results of developing a custom-designed press with graphic and editorial designers. Having conducted two experiences we have learned that by being able to iterate back and forth between design, fabrication, and composition, we believe that fabricating and operating our own tools and processes provides better and more comprehensive graphic design skills, as well as a more comprehensive media literacy — providing some insight into historical and technical print production processes by achieving control and intervention in all stages of the design and production process.
In sum, the goal of this exhibition is to showcase the process of designing, fabricating and experimenting with a custom provisional proof-press within the context of recovering and reinterpreting Graphic Design and Printmaking tools and processes, in order to stimulate and explore novel approaches in research and education.
We've employed a form of practice-based applied research (Muratovski, 2022, pp. 242–244) in the form of a custom action research & development methodology. Using our own collective inquiry and requirements on how such a tool and process of using a provisional press in academic environment should work, we've set up a larger set of questions — what are the best dimensions and materials to use? how can students and printmakers build and adapt this to their own practice? — alongside a design brief — the press had to be made from readily available over-the-counter materials and able to be built and operated by novice printers.
Hence this work was highly "experimental, interrogative, inquisitive, and critical" (Burdick, 2003, 82. Cit. by Muratovsky, p. 244) aiming at producing a new, or at least a novel iteration of designing and using a provisional press in an art and design academic environment. By exploring printmaking with it, we are able to reflect on the experimental and critical side of teaching communication and editorial design, and hopefully fo obtain new and applicable knowledge through the use of the XT-Press.
The structure of this exhibition is therefore oranized into six sections:
In this section, we present and describe several initiatives of similar presses, or collectives that explore the communal printing or DIY maker movement, which allowed us to extract features and good-practices to explore on our own.
This section is mainly focused on presenting the requirements and features implemented in our own custom-built cylinder press.
The build section presents an illustrated step-by-step journal of the design and process of building the press. It consisted of three main phases: parts research and fabrication; press assembly; and test printing and press tuning.
Initial pilot experiences with the press
Refinements and next iterations
The process of testing the press and printing the first compositions has led us to discover some issues with its design and use. Here's what we've learned so far and what's ahead in the future revisions of this press
The last section of this exhibition presents our own critical assessment and reflection on the opportunities created by designing and building a press within the educational context of Graphic and Communication Design.
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