Typecase Industries creates new designs

Doenlen is one of the three co-owners of Typecase Industries, a District of Columbia-based letterpress and design studio. Founded in 2012 with Alessandra Echeverri, 27, and Stephanie Hess, 26, Typecase Industries designs and prints everything from custom posters and coasters to cards and wedding invitations.

But in a digital era where “fast” and “mass” are often the default for everything, including design and production, Typecase takes a different approach. The company uses traditional printing techniques and machinery to create modern and edgy designs. Letterpress is a relief-printing process, meaning a plate with raised designs is covered in ink and pressed into the paper.

“It’s a physical printing process. The paper and the plate get pressed together in an opening and closing motion,” Echeverri says.

The ink for the designs is hand-mixed and the paper is hand-fed into what Echeverri describes as a “cast iron, indestructible” 800-pound platen letterpress from the ’20s and the larger, more modern, Vandercook.

So why do Doenlen, Echeverri and Hess go through the trouble of cleaning, oiling and maintaining old machinery instead of pressing a button and retrieving a job from a lighter, and much less expensive, machine?

“It’s real easy to print something off the computer. It may not be real pretty — maybe it is, you know. But there’s a lot of stuff that gets made that’s really fast and quick and not a lot of thought goes into it,” says Echeverri, who studied fine art and design prior to starting Typecase. “So, I think people, when they see nice things, they really appreciate it.”

In addition to the demand for high-quality design, a surplus in the country’s old printing presses, formerly owned by newspapers and other print shops, has fueled a comeback in letterpress. Small design startups and schools are purchasing the forgotten machines and giving them new purpose.

“There’s a lot of letterpress equipment in the U.S. … People aren’t printing newspapers on them anymore, you know, so they’re using them for a different type of printing,” Echeverri says.

Typecase obtained its first press, the Vandercook, five years ago, when Hess and Echeverri were still in school.

“We were perusing, always perusing for equipment back then, and we saw it as were like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ It’s rare to find one on eBay at a low price that works,” Echeverri says.

Hess’ dad loaned her the money to purchase the machine, which was freighted from Ohio to Hess’ home in Pensacola, Florida. Boat cranes moved the machine to a dry dock where it was stored until the three artists opened their studio. Getting the press to the District was even more of a hassle.

Doenlen and Hess loaded the machine into a U-Haul and drove it back to the District in the middle of a hurricane they didn’t know was headed their way.

“It took a couple of years off my life, moving this thing,” says Doenlen, who estimates the Vandercook retails for about $10,000 today.

The three purchased the platen a couple of years later from Amish mechanics in Pennsylvania. Unlike the Vandercook, the platen is not motorized. The printer uses a foot pedal to open and close the clam-like machine and press the design into the paper.

All at once, the printer has to pedal the machine, pull a lever to roll the ink, hand-feed the paper, push the lever back to create the design and then get the paper out. It’s not the safest machine for those who have the tendency to “zone out,” and it’s definitely not one for the physically weak.

“You get a serious workout. We keep joking that we’re going to make a ‘Total Body Letterpress’ video” Doenlen says.

The owners of Typecase say they can create “basically anything and everything on paper,” but a large portion of their clients are future brides and grooms.

“I think people who come to us for wedding invitations aren’t really looking for a super traditional, super formal invitation. We love to make something a little unique, a little off the norm,” Doenlen says. “I think that’s becoming our thing is making these extra different, extra special invitations.”

Clients, whether couples or local businesses — such as Gordy’s Pickles, Counter Culture Coffee and Toki Underground — meet in person with Doenlen, Echeverri and Hess to discuss creative concepts and design ideas.

“You come in, we get a feel for each other, they get to see the space, they actually get to know what letterpress is,” Doenlen says. “We really just go from there. You take an idea of who they are, what they’re looking for … and then we just turn it into something that they’re going to be super proud of.”

“They’re finding us because they want this custom work,” Echeverri says. “It’s a great crowd here in D.C. and I feel like we really hit that niche.”

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Typecase Industries also hosts workshops for those interested in learning more about the art and history of letterpress. All of the classes are beginner-friendly and teach letterpress through a one-day, start-to-finish project. Workshops are $150 and include lunch.

Art Print with Wood Type Workshop: Oct. 25. This class teaches the craft of letterpress through wood type printing. The beginner-friendly workshop lets participants play with chunky wood type to create their very own artist prints. Take home an edition of eight prints.

Linocut Card Workshop: Nov. 8 and Dec. 6. This workshop teaches participants how to carve and print a linoblock design. Instructors take participants through each step in detail, and each participant will carve a card design and then print his own set of 20 cards.

Journal Print and Bind Workshop: Dec. 7. Each participant will carve his very own 5×7 linocut for printing a journal/planner cover, and run a few extra prints to take home as well. After that, instructors will teach participants how to hand-bind a journal/planner. All necessary carving and binding supplies are included.

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Information from: WTOP-FM, http://www.wtop.com