Primary responses.

During the Christmas period it was suggested that I email some letterpress studios to generate some primary research to help with the writing of my final chapter. The first lot of emails I sent out I had no response because it was so close to Christmas so was kind of expected. As I still needed primary research I took the risk of emailing a few different studios well after the new year with the hope of achieving a fast response. Below is the email which I sent to everyone.

I kept the email quite short with little questions on it in order to generate more responses by presenting the questions as easy as possible with little pressure on them for a massive answer. To my surprise within a few days I received several responses that were suitable and informative that would work well with the points I had already made in my last chapter and also for my practical. 

Below are the responses which I received. 

Green Girl Press [Responded by email 12/01/2014]

Amy: Q: What is your opinion on letterpress or traditional hand crafting and its
aesthetic role in design?
A: I respect traditional hand crafting methods a great deal. It is my
belief that there is often a deeper consideration and a more intimate
knowledge of type and design principals that comes with working tangibly.
If one is forced to hand set type for a broadside, for instance, a good
deal of thought about which typeface, what font size, and what layout will
precede the action of setting type. That being said, traditional methods
do not suite every aesthetic and should not be employed for unsuitable
jobs.

Q: Do you think there is still a need for it even with all the digital
available?
A: Need is a very subjective word. When I letterpress print I feel alive
and fulfilled in a way that no other medium affords me. So, yes, I do need
it to achieve that feeling.
When the first photographic images were being captured people thought that
it would mean the death of painting. But what it meant was the rebirth of
painting. Painting was no longer confined to documenting a way of life or
recording history though portraits. Painting was freed. Letterpress
printing is no longer the go-to printing method for publishing a book or
creating a catalog. Letterpress has been freed.

Q: And do you still use digital within your work?
A: I do. I often design in Adobe and have photo polymer plates made to
print from. I like the flexibility of digital design and I find that it is
a useful tool for providing proofs to clients.

Bliss, D. Wishbone Letterpress [Responded by email 09/01/2014]

Danielle: Sorry I don't have a lot of time, but we do all of our work on the computer and then have plates made from digital files, we don't use metal type, so for us it's all the same.

 I think that probably about 75% of modern letterpress shops use digital files and have plates made. That's not a real statistic, but most of the companies that I know do that too. Good luck with your research.

Hutton, S. Letterpress of Tulsa [Responded by email 13/01/2014]

Sharon: Electronic Media has been the best and the worse thing to happen to Typography in our lifetimes.

The idea that Microsoft created fonts like papyrus so they would not have to pay for type usage has enabled anyone with Word to design a logo for their book store, bakery, coffee shop or spa. It makes me cringe every time I see it - even Hollywood has been dumb enough to use it on the block buster Avatar. It's a belief system now that anyone can do anything. And we can, but not always well.

Treble, P. Muttons & Nuts [Responded by email 10/01/2014]

Phil: When I design for letterpress printing I use a computer to provide me with a rough layout for book typesetting. When I typeset in metal type the result is always different. This is because you can’t match type size and letter spacing with digital type. So decisions on line breaks and word spacing have to be done on the fly.

Turnbull, C. Turnbull Grey [Responded by email 10/01/2014]

Chris: I am not sure I quite understand your question. Are you talking about the way typefaces are designed or about the type on a finished piece of design?

If the latter then I think there is little difference between digital and print type, the shapes and letterforms are the same; some typefaces work better when printed on poor quality paper and some typefaces work better on-screen. They are the same things though.

If you are talking about production of finished items, then there is the whole tactile element to be considered - in fact probably the only consideration. Letterpress feels good. Digital type doesn't feel at all.