Draft 1: 

Reproduction: The Order of Printing

The first step of my research was to reproduce Alan Kitching’s letterpress work, The Great North Run. Kitching’s design highlights the physical quality of type, relying on the arrangement of letter blocks, the layering of ink, and precise printing control. Each character is firmly pressed onto the paper. By replicating his work, I gained a deeper understanding of the fundamental principles of letterpress: typography is built on order, and the value of printing lies in precision.  

However, does this stability imply limitation? David Jury (2006) states in Letterpress: New Applications for Traditional Skills that “Typography has long been constrained by the rigid structures of print, but contemporary designers seek to challenge this by exploring new ways of arranging type.” This led me to question: modern digital printing is more precise and meets the demands of standardised production better than letterpress. So, what continues to attract designers to letterpress today?  

Perhaps, as Kitching’s work demonstrates, the uniqueness of letterpress lies in its natural creative process—it achieves a delicate balance between order and individuality.  

If letterpress is a typographic system, can its logic be disrupted? If letters no longer follow a linear sequence, does the information still exist? If reading becomes difficult or even impossible, does printed text still hold meaning?  

These questions guided me towards the next stage of my experiment: to explore whether letterpress can go beyond its traditional function and become an experimental medium for expression.

Draft 2: 

The Variability of Information: A Letterpress Experiment

Introduction

As I arranged the type blocks, adjusted the spacing, and inked the surface, everything appeared precise and controlled. Letterpress is built on order—each letter is fixed, and every print aims for clarity. But I started to wonder: what happens when this order is disrupted? Will the information still remain?

Raymond Queneau’s Exercises in Style (1998) explores this idea by telling the same story in 99 different ways, proving that meaning is shaped not only by language but also by its form. In some versions, he deliberately rearranges sentences, making the text unreadable (Queneau, 1998).

This inspired my experiment: If letterpress text were restructured, fragmented, or even erased like Queneau’s linguistic experiments, would it still communicate meaning?

Experimental Methods

1. Skip Code: Partial Breakdown of Information

At first, I tested Skip Code, a method of selectively omitting letters:

– Skip-2 (every second letter remains): The text was still partially readable, though disrupted.

– Skip-4 (every fourth letter remains): The text became fragmented, making reading almost impossible.

However, I realized that Skip Code primarily disrupted the text itself, not the physical properties of letterpress. This method could be easily replicated digitally, meaning it did not challenge the mechanics of printing.

To truly experiment with letterpress as a medium, I needed a different approach.

2. Maze Typography: Disrupting the Reading 

After finding the limits of Skip Code, I explored Maze Typography to disrupt reading order.

Design Choice: I first considered two layouts—one with a curved path and another in a strict grid. I later abandoned the curved version and chose a more randomized spacing system.

Printing Process: Letters were arranged chaotically, making linear reading impossible. Unlike Skip Code, which mainly broke language structure, this method challenged the physical constraints of letterpress, requiring manual spacing and alignment adjustments.

Results & Reflection: Even after the first print, the 

text was already hard to read. With overprinting, the layers of ink further distorted the words. This experiment gave me confidence to push letterpress beyond its traditional limits, and I found myself becoming more skilled and efficient in the process.

Conclusion

Queneau’s work demonstrates that meaning can shift depending on how a text is structured (Queneau, 1998). My experiment revealed that letterpress, too, can transform information—from clear to unreadable—through different typographic arrangements.

However, not all methods were equally effective. Skip Code fragmented language, while Maze Typography challenged the physical process of printing itself, breaking the traditional order of information.

For this reason, I chose Maze Typography as the primary method for further experimentation. 

References 

Queneau, R. (1998) Exercises in Style. New York: New Directions.

Jury, D. (2006) Letterpress: New Applications for Traditional Skills. RotoVision.