Further primary response.

Unfortunately this response was too late to include in my appendices as I have already bound my dissertation but it was nice to get further information that I could possibly add to my practical.

Sat Kalsi from Leicester Print Workshop

How do you go about starting to design for letterpress? Do you take a tactile or digital approach?

I start by designing a grid by hand, drawing out a 6 x 6 line grid on the size of paper I will be printing on, I then go on to choosing a typeface to suit the design - where possible I prefer to work with families of typefaces e.g. the same typeface in varying sizes or weights, rather than working with a number of different typefaces. However depending on who you're designing for and what your designing you may be working with a varied number of typefaces.

I prefer a hands-on approach, however I ask students to design their layout digitally and come with some sort of idea of what they intend to set and print, therefore I have a guide of what they're looking to achieve and can help them accordingly. For students who are often working to a deadline and busy timetable, time is of the essence.

What is your preferred way of working with type and letterpress?

With a hands-on approach, I prefer to work as traditionally as possible, however I still use design software.

Do you feel letterpress is just a current trend or do you think print is here to stay?

Letterpress will continue to be apart of the printing community who are currently working with this method of printing as long as others can see the benefits of learning about type and typography - there is no other way to learn directly and deeply about type than a hands-on approach. There is certainly a place for both tradition and digital as well as a combining both.

Please let me know if there is anything you'd like me to expand on, and if I can be of any help.