H!L LETTERPRESS
EGG PRESS MFG
Egg Press MFG is a female owned and operated letterpress factory in Portland, OR. They’re a bunch of nice people who make things that make people feel good. They like to think of themselves as thoughtful people and we can attest to that fact. Obsessively focused on craft, kindness, and sustainability, you can feel the love in everything they do.
WHAT IS LETTERPRESS?
Letterpress is the classic printmaking technology, used to print everything from the Gutenberg Bible to the Life Magazine. Unlike digital processes, the image is transferred onto raised plates, then pressed into the paper on industrial presses. The press prints one color at a time, meaning that letterpress designs are forced to use a limited color palette of 2 or 3 colors. The nostalgia of both the form and function of a letterpress card calls to mind an era when letter-writing was the norm, not the exception. It’s the ultimate medium for writers, artists, and stationery-lovers.
WHY LETTERPRESS?
As design and craft-obsessed children of the 80s, we can’t get enough of letterpress. Maybe it was all those years of playing secretary with our dad’s office supplies, but we love that letterpress belongs to another era, while still feeling fresh and delectable to the modern eye. The nostalgic aspect of letterpress marries perfectly with our hokey humor and love of puns. Plus, neon prints incredibly in letterpress. And, the challenge of working within a constrained color palette (3 colors or less, though they can be mixed by “overprinting”) brings out our creative best. There is a minimalism to letterpress that we find exquisite. It is our favorite design medium!
WRITE_ON!
Letterpress is more than a print method – it’s a medium for thoughtful letter-writing. In 2013, we partnered with Egg Press to create the mission-driven Write_On! Campaign to build our letter-writing habits by writing 30 letters in 30 days during April, National Letter-Writing Month. Every year, thousands of people join us in this collection action to spread joy, creativity, and connection around the world through hand-written letters and notes. Get inspired here, and join us any time of the year!
ABOUT LETTERPRESS
Letterpress is the classic printmaking technology, used to print everything from the Gutenberg Bible to the Life Magazine. Unlike digital processes, the image is transferred onto raised plates, then pressed into the paper on industrial presses. The press prints one color at a time, meaning that letterpress designs are forced to use a limited color palette of 2 or 3 colors. The nostalgia of both the form and function of a letterpress card calls to mind an era when letter-writing was the norm, not the exception. It’s the ultimate medium for writers, artists, and stationery-lovers.
Step 1: Plates
Letterpress printmaking plates are the raised image of whatever will be printed. To make a plate, each color layer of a design is printed onto photographic film. The film is placed on light-sensitive plate material, which is placed under light. The exposed areas harden and the rest are washed away. This is the plate.
Step 2: Paper
Letterpress printing uses soft, thick papers that indent when pressed with a plate. They’re also a delight to write on. Stacks of paper are trimmed to be fed into the press, with crop marks where the card will later be trimmed.
Step 3: Ink
Each ink color is mixed and printed one at a time. After the plate is mounted to the press, ink is dabbed onto the rollers, which roll a thin layer of ink over the plate, when then is pressed into the paper.
Step 4: Printing
Letterpress machines are mechanical but require a human to feed paper, register layers of color, and check ink coverage. Letterpress cards are thus both industrially produced and hand-crafted.
Step 5: Finishing
After a card is printed, it is trimmed, scored and folded, checked, and packaged. We went plastic-free in 2023. Once you place an order, it is picked from our shelves, and packed by hand with a little swag from the Egg Press MFG factory. From our hands into yours!