A small peek into some projects we've affectionately created
OUR WORK
OUR STORY
District Dogs Designs is our small linocut and letterpress print shop in the District of North Vancouver, BC.
We are a husband and wife team whose work is inspired by our family (the four-legged ones in particular) and friends, the West Coast, and our fascination with nature, design, food and road trips.
We letterpress print on a variety of old-fashioned printing presses. But our workhorses are a 12" x 18" Chandler & Price Platen Press and a Heidelberg Windmill 10″ × 15″ Platen press. We love old-school and still draw our ideas by hand on paper. And just like any modern letterpress shop, we print digital designs using photopolymer plates, but we also have access to wood fonts and metal fonts available for hand composition. Occasionally we hand-carve some designs into linoleoum blocks and create all sorts of wonderful paper goods on hand-cut paper.
We offer Custom Design Services such as design consultation to provide letterpress friendly artwork. We would be happy to help you bring your ideas to print! Awesome Letterpress Print! Business Cards, Invites, Packaging and more. All the details will be considered…Design, Style, Character, Colour, Paper. We would love to work with you or your business to put together a beautiful letterpress package to suit your needs! Just get in touch!
HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?
District Dogs Designs
North Vancouver, British Columbia
Tel: 604-505-9258
If you'd like to know more about Letterpress, feel free to get in touch with us!
Letterpress + Linocut
Hand-drawn, hand-carved, hand-pulled - totally hand-made!
WHAT IS LETTERPRESS?
What is letterpress and what makes it such an alluring printing technique? Letterpress printing is a method of relief printing using a printing press. It is a completely hands-on craft and requires a certain amount of skill and time to get desired results right. The paper is individually hand-fed and each color is applied one at a time.
Click here for a little demo.
Letterpress printing was the normal form of printing text from its invention by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century until the 19th century and remained in wide use for books and other uses until the second half of the 20th century. Letterpress printing survived as the primary way to print and distribute information until offset printing was developed. More recently, letterpress printing has seen a resurgence as an art form.
Today letterpress is unique and different from conventional printing formats that we are currently used to. Its modern, unmistakable objective is to show the impression of type or image, to distinctly indicate that it is "letterpress". This inherent and contemporary feature of letterpress is unmatched in digital printing. It shows depth, plays with light, and has wondrous tactile qualities.
If you think letterpress is suited to a project that you are planning, feel free to contact us! We will be happy to answer any questions you may have.