Hatch Show Print

In all the excitement of getting classes underway and projects started, I forgot to blog about Hatch Show Print's presentation in Greenville a couple weeks ago. Jim Sherraden, chief designer and archivist at Hatch, came to speak about the oldest working letterpress in the U.S. (1879). He was a great speaker, interesting and humble. The prints spoke for themselves and each one was unique and amazing in its own way. I wanted to buy every one of the different designs. 

Sherraden began by saying that Hatch was still a working press today, designing new posters, wedding invitations, etc. while still drawing upon resources from decades back and keeping historical prints alive and in circulation. Despite the invention of the computer and its mass production for most of today's advertisements, Hatch is going strong. Sherraden remarked that the computer has actually helped Hatch establish itself in a specific niche in the design world. 

The computer has made ads so convenient today- compiling the files and adjusting with creative suite programs, and circulating them not only through easier mass printing, but through email and web design. The cleanness of digital representation and exactness is very helpful, but it lacks a kind of personality unique to hand-made design, letterpress, woodcuts, etc. Nice details like the variation of ink density and the indentions from the press give woodblock prints a more personal feel.

I'm the kind of person that cherishes the tactile qualities of paper, books, hand-done design, carefully crafted items that cannot be correctly duplicated in such a "human" way by computer. I'd like to think that as long as there are people like me to appreciate these valuable things, print will never die (or be overcome by the computer). Not to say that computers don't have their place, I just enjoy the unique qualities that can only come from print.

These are the 2 I bought at the Hatch Show Print presentation. I was ecstatic about the Elvis one. I spent days hoping that it would be there, and when I arrived, it was the only one being sold. When I thanked Jim Sherraden for it, he said that it was very rare that they take that one to sell at presentations, but somehow it got there. I'd like to think it was meant for me.