About us
Design with timeless wood types
We are a letterpress creative studio from TOKYO, Tomigaya.
Our designs are based on beautiful typefaces printed using vintage wood types,
leaving faint scratches and print textures.
By combining the timeless beauty of the typefaces with the modernity of Tokyo,
we aim to develop new and unique products that are beautifully imperfect and analogue.
In cooperation with Japanese craft makers, we produce various paper and fabric products.
At our studio, we offer various workshops including hands-on introductory classes for beginners.
About Letterpress
What is Letterpress?
What is Letterpress?
Letterpress printing is a printing technique whereby raised wooden or metal plates are arranged and inked before pressure is applied onto paper. This transfers any design from the plate onto a sheet of paper. Originally developed in Europe in 1445 by Gutenberg, letterpress printing was first popularized and passed on since over 50 decades. However, with the rise of digital printing in the 1970s, letterpress techniques became out of use. But due to their unique finishes and craftsmanship, the technique was re-adopted by creators and designers alike, opening many letterpress studios in recent years mainly in the UK and the US.
Why is Letterpress?
The charm of Letterpress
The embossing effect created by letterpress came to be appreciated as the uniqueness and beauty of this craft.
By increasing the pressure applied and carefully choosing the paper type, the embossing can be accentuated, and the outline of letterpress blocks can be seen much more clearly on the surface.
This has attracted the curious minds of creators in recent years, leading them to re-adopt this technique as a method mixing craft and design.
How to Letterpress?
Letterpress method
Letterpress prints are all inked and printed by hand. After placing the letterpress blocks onto the machine bed and applying ink to the surface, individual pieces of paper are inked one by one manually. Because of this, it is very difficult to produce a large number of prints at once. With the slight variations of pressure, speed, and inking when printing, each print is unique with its own intensity of color and character. On the contrary, we believe that this is the beauty of letterpress printing!
Studio
press machine
galley press
risograph ink
font
Our Facility
スタジオ設備
Machine rental here
Press Machine
活版印刷機
The letterpress machines used in our studio are machines used in the 1960s and 1970s as proof printing machines. They are originally from the US, Switzerland and Germany and can print on any sizes from small card sizes up to A3 size.
Galley Press
ギャレープレス
Hand inking press machine.
Platen Press
小型活版印刷機
Small hand press machine good for small creations like name card.
Cutting machine
カッティングマシン
You can cut the printed works together to the desired size.
Binding machine
バインディングマシン
You can create notebooks up to Xx size.
Risograph
リソグラフ印刷機
One Risograph machine and around 20 colors available.
Our Font
活字
We have wide range of vintage Alphabet fonts to create diverse designs. Most of these are vintage wood types used in US, UK and Europe.
For Japanese, we have one KATAKANA font.
font