Last week, I finished a class called Letterpress Basics, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, not because of what I made, but because of how it made me feel.
The class was at WNY Book Arts, which I discovered last year during one of the tours I took with Explore Buffalo. At the time, I didn’t know much about the organization, but I remember walking through the building and eventually making my way down to the basement.
That’s where I saw them: three working letterpress machines.
…And it made me so emotional.
It sounds dramatic, but standing in front of those presses, which represent centuries of printing history, hit something in me. So much of how we write, share ideas, publish stories, and communicate traces back to this printing technology. Seeing it in person made all of that feel tangible in a way it never had before.
So, when I was looking for more things to fill my calendar with, I started on the Book Arts website, and saw the lettpress class… and signed up immediately!
A Brief History of Letterpress
Before I get into the class itself, it’s worth understanding why letterpress matters at all.
Letterpress printing dates back to the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century.
It revolutionized the way information was shared; books became more accessible, literacy rates increased, and ideas could spread faster than ever before. It quite literally changed the course of history.
The process itself is simple in theory but intricate in practice: individual letters (called type) are arranged by hand, inked, and then pressed into paper to create an impression. Unlike modern digital printing, letterpress is physical, tactile, and permanent. You’re not just typing words, you’re building them.
The Class Experience
The class was three sessions, each building on the last.
In the first session, we learned about the history of letterpress and got familiar with the tools and terminology. We were introduced to the proof press (a smaller, more approachable version of a traditional press) and practiced setting type.
And by “setting type,” I mean manually placing each individual letter into a composing stick, one by one, backwards and upside down.
It’s a little tedious but also kind of mesmerizing.
In the second session, things really clicked. We started designing our own pieces, thinking not just about what we wanted to say, but how we wanted it to look. Font choice, spacing, alignment; it’s all so much more intentional than typing on a screen.
By the final session, we were printing!
I designed a postcard with text paired with a simple visual element and ended up printing about 20 copies. There was something incredibly satisfying about pulling each print, seeing the slight variations, and knowing that I had physically created every single one.
We also learned how to properly clean the press, which, in its own way, felt like part of the ritual. Respect the machine, respect the process.
Why It Meant So Much to Me
On the surface, this might not seem like a big deal. It’s just a class.
But for me, it felt like reconnecting with something I’d been missing.
Lately, I’ve been struggling with feeling excited about… much of anything. I don’t know if it was the winter blues (itr’s still snowing here) or the stresses of daily life, but I’ve questioned a lot—what I enjoy, what my purpose is, whether writing is still the thing that lights me up.
And this class reminded me that it is.
Not just writing in the sense of producing content or hitting deadlines, but writing in its fullest form: the words, the presentation, the history, the physical act of creating something from nothing.
Letterpress forced me to slow down, to be present, and to care about every detail.
It reminded me that creativity doesn’t have to be productive to be meaningful.
The Bigger Takeaway
If there’s one thing I’m taking with me from this experience, it’s this:
It’s important to have things in your life that exist outside of your job, your goals, or any expectation of success.
Things you do just because you want to.
For me, this class was one of those things. It didn’t need to turn into anything more. It didn’t need to be monetized, optimized, or shared (though, obviously, here I am sharing it).
It just needed to be enjoyed.
And it was.
About WNY Book Arts
If you’re local to Buffalo (or ever visiting), I can’t recommend WNY Book Arts enough. It’s a nonprofit space dedicated to book arts, printmaking, and creative exploration, and it truly feels like a hidden gem. I recently became a member because I love what they stand for, and, I’ve already signed up for more classes!
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