Ashley Fuchs Chromatic type, first produced in 1840, embraced the mesmerizing and impactful effect of layering two printed letterforms to create a third distinctive color area. The elaborate wood letterforms, made with two separate layers, were crafted with precision and attention to detail by various manufacturers. This style of typography and printing saw a steady decline with advances in digital technology in the late 20th century. However, with the onset of accessible interdisciplinary making techniques, specifically using digital fabrication and computer applications, the resurgence of the once almost obsolete historic letterpress printing method has gained traction, especially in higher education. This brings up a unique opportunity—to learn through a combination of digital and hand-crafted processes that help develop new strategies in creative conceptualization and print methods.
In an attempt to introduce students to these historic forms and new processes, I created a project that uses chromatic type as the basis for the conceptual development of new type high forms to use in the historic process of letterpress printing. In combination with laser cutters, digital tools, and hand-crafted forms, students were able to assemble and build new letterforms and a typographic system to create messages of activism in print. This project demonstrated how letterpress printing methodologies can remain current and accessible with the integration of new technologies and experiments in form-making. Beyond historical implications, students were also able to understand the art of typography, conceptualizing and creating new letterforms rooted in a historic movement and process of chromatic printing.
Ultimately, this presentation discusses and demonstrates the revitalization of craft and form through digital integration and assembly methods of type high forms to print with—discussing old and new, physical and digital, creative and finite through the lens of interdisciplinary explorations and making.