Meet the Presses!
What would IS Projects be without presses? An inert library of tools, ink and type.
If you’ve ever visited IS Projects, you know that our presses are at the heart of our shop. While we are grateful to be printing a steady stream of custom orders, the truth is that press activity is much quieter these days. So, we thought we would take this opportunity to highlight the equipment we hold so dear and share some insights into each press: how old it is, what it’s used for and how it came to IS Projects.
What would IS Projects be without presses? An inert library of tools, ink and type.
If you’ve ever visited IS Projects, you know that our presses are at the heart of our shop. While we are grateful to be printing a steady stream of custom orders, the truth is that press activity is much quieter these days. So, we thought we would take this opportunity to highlight the equipment we hold so dear and share some insights into each press: how old it is, what it’s used for and how it came to IS Projects. Whether generously donated, discovered through serendipitous happenstance or scrolled by on Craigslist, each press has its own story and as their caretakers, we feel responsible in upholding that history.
DID YOU KNOW?
Our presses have come from all around Florida, New Jersey, Maryland, and Canada!
Each press in our shop is named after its previous owner in an effort to preserve its history.
Our oldest press is one of our smallest and the first to be acquired for the shop.
Our lightest press weighs in at 18 lbs and our heaviest at 2,800.
Only one press in the shop was moved by professionals and the rest by Ingrid with the help of friends and family.
To date, we have 18 presses and counting!
Let’s begin in the
LETTERPRESS ROOM
TERRY
Blick Magnetic Sign Press
Purchased in 2018
Terry is one of our main travel presses and can be seen making wood type masterpieces all over Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County. Used for printing: posters, cards, books, etc.
Terry was purchased from an eBay auction that happened to end during the lunch break of a bookbinding workshop that was being taught at the studio. Ingrid had run out to grab additional supplies for the workshop and pulled into a Wendy's parking lot in order to bid on the press in the final minutes of the auction. The press was shipped from Michigan via UPS and received some damage on the journey. The damage was repaired with the help of a metal file and a vice grip and this press has gone on to be one of our most used and most beloved presses in the shop.
BILL
6.5x10” Craftsman Superior, Circa 1973
Purchased in 2014
Bill was purchased on eBay and is the first IS Projects press from Florida. The man who I purchased Bill from and the presses namesake, Bill, had purchased the press from a storefront in Fort Meyers, Florida, that had previously been a print shop. Bill bought the press from the shop when the shop changed owners. During the price negotiation, I mentioned that the press was missing it’s chase (the metal frame used to hold the type in the press) and after describing it to Bill he thought he may have one in his garage. Mind you, chases are not easy to come by, they can sell individually for over $100 and each press requires a specific chase that fits its unique dimensions. So when Bill said he happened to have one in his garage from years before I was reasonably skeptical, but to my surprise it was, in fact, the correct chase for the press! What are the odds? Used for printing: greeting cards, business cards, coasters, postcards, etc.
BONITA (left)
5x8” Kelsey Excelsior Model O, Circa 1910
Purchased in 2014
Bonita was found on Craigslist in Annapolis, Maryland shortly before I moved back to Florida to start IS Projects. The couple who had the press beforehand, Bonita and Tom, were very sweet and excited to hear that the press would be printing again soon. The press had belonged to Tom’s father who was a journalism professor and used it to print greeting cards and small notes. Used for printing: business cards, greeting cards, postcards, etc.
TERRI (right)
5x8” Kelsey Excelsior, Circa 1898
Purchased in 2014
Terri is the oldest press in the shop and was also the first printing press acquired for the shop. Named for Terri Hunter, former proprietor of Fine Point Press in Annapolis , Maryland. Terri had an immaculate letterpress studio in her suburban home where she did custom printing solely from hand set type. Her main printing press and the apple of her eye was her Chandler and Price 8x12 Old Style and the star of her type collection was her nearly complete set of the font Eve, she had over 200 pounds of it in every size, weight and style available. While I was unable to acquire her collection of Eve, I did invest in some beautiful ornaments, borders, and monograms from her fantastic collection that she salvaged from an old print shop in San Francisco when she was in her 20’s. A large portion of her collection went to the Maryland Institute College of Art Printmaking Department after I introduced her to Allison Fisher, the manager of the Globe Collection and Press at MICA. Used for printing: business cards, greeting cards, postcards, etc.
SAM
1963 Vandercook SP20
Purchased in 2018
Jon came from West Orange, New Jersey along with Vote For Letterpress, formerly owned by Jon Selikoff. The story of how this press came to the shop is a long and serendipitous one, which we will save for another day. Needless to say, this press is beloved in the shop and inspired our specimen poster series. Named after Jon Selikoff’s son, Sam Selikoff. With it's large bed size, this press is ideal for printing poster projects and broadsides.
CB
1965 Vandercook SP15, Circa 1965
Purchased from Don Black Linecasting in Toronto, ON in 2014
This was the press that started IS Projects. I put a deposit on this press in February 2014 after months of scouring the internet for an SP Series Vandercook. The SP in SP15 stands for “Simple Performance” referring to the presses simplified design making it easier and less costly to maintain. It was shipped to my grandmother's garage in Boca Raton, FL from Don Black Linecasting in Toronto, Ontario in March as the renovations to the soon to be home of IS Projects at 15 NW 5th Street, Fort Lauderdale began. CB has been the main workhorse press for IS Projects ever since and has printed fine art books, business cards, posters, coasters, invitations, patches, and everything in between. It was named for Craig Black who restored the press, son of Don Black. Craig has since lost his long fight with cancer and this press now stands as a memorial to all of his knowledge of and care for these machines.
A brief note about Craig "When I met Craig in 2014 to inspect the press it was clear from the first minute that he actually knows everything about these presses. His gruff demeanor subsided after my 4th or 5th extremely nerdy letterpress joke and I got him to crack a smile. I'm not sure if the smile was at the joke itself or how hard I was trying to impress that I share a love for the machines and maybe even a tiny fraction of his knowledge. Craig was the one to call if the press was ever acting funny. He was always incredibly patient and full of tips and troubleshooting ideas. His presence will be sorely missed here at IS Projects and in the letterpress community at large."
JON AKA THE BEAST
10x15” Heidelberg Red Ball, Also known as the Windmill, Circa 1965
Jon came from Vote For Letterpress in 2018 and is Jon Selikoff’s namesake. This is the only press that we've ever had professionals move. Everything else in the shop has been moved with friends, family, and a lot of patience and care. Jon lovingly referred to this press as “The Beast” and it was the main workhorse press at Vote For Letterpress printing business cards, wine labels, coasters, postcards and everything it could. Used for printing: large runs of letterpress cards, typically business cards and invites.
LAWRENCE
14x22" Nolan Proof Press
Generously donated by Lawrence Ressler in 2020
This press was generously donated by Lawrence along with a couple other presses and some fantastic type. The studio is a haven for presses in need of a home. I’ve spent several nights and weekends on trips to save presses from an uncertain future and bring them into the fold. We don’t keep every single press we acquire, some are repaired or restored and sold to help other printers dive deeper into their practice and help build up the community of printers here in South Florida. Used for printing: posters, cards, etc.
L
3x5" Baltimorean
Generously donated by Lawrence Ressler in 2019
The cutest and lightest press in the shop by far! This baby weighs about 18lbs and was beautifully restored. L made it’s debut at our first ever holiday party in 2019. Used for printing: business cards and small tags
LARRY
5x8" Kelsey Excelsior Model P circa 1965
Generously donated by Lawrence Ressler in 2019
Larry is the newest model Kelsey Excelsior in the Shop and it was beautifully restored by Letterpreservation in Ohio before Lawrence acquired it. Used for printing: business cards, postcards, greeting cards etc
GEORGE
10x15" Chandler & Price, Circa 1911-195
Generously donated by George Cuevas in 2015
A graphic designer walked into the shop during our grand opening party in 2014 and hinted that he may be looking to re-home the C&P that was living in his garage in Coral Gables. George was looking for a small press on Craigslist to print holiday cards and other experiments with when he came upon this press. He cut a hole in his garage to move it in and spent long nights cleaning and restoring it to the beautiful condition it is in today. When it was time for his family to move he wanted to make sure that it would go to a safe home where it would be appreciated for years to come. About a year and a half later he had it transported to ISP where it has been a staple to our custom printing operation. Used for printing: book covers, handmade paper, invites, business cards, etc
CARLOS
Write-A-Sign Model 711
Purchased in 2017
I found this press on craigslist in Davie, FL and initially wasn’t sure if I wanted it because it uses non type-high magnetic rubber type, but it’s lightweight and ease of use makes it a total rockstar for offsite demonstrations. This press is so cute it even came with it’s original vinyl cover! Used for printing: greeting cards, postcards, zines and signs.
BOOK ROOM
WB
Kensol K50, Circa 1960s
Purchased in 2019
This was acquired from an auction in Ohio for our in house custom printing business Nocturnal Press. It took a lot of work to get this press back up and running and we were lucky to find and work with Eddy Fontus who did a fantastic job bringing this press back to life. Used for printing: luxury stationery, business cards and invitations
ETCHING ROOM
MARY
43x96" Custom Etching Press
Generously donated by Mary Fisher in 2018
By far the largest press in the shop though not the heaviest! Mary is a custom built electric etching press. There were only 3 of these presses made, one resides in Tampa and the other in Boston. When I was a sophomore in college I met the man who owns the press in Boston and fawned over cell phone pictures he showed me while explaining how his press was so nice that they had artists paint directly onto it for monoprinting. Flash forward 9 years and my uncle and I are wheeling this press onto the liftgate of a 26’ box truck to move it from West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale. Used for printing: monoprints, linocuts, woodcuts, etchings, drypoints, and chine colle.
MYRON
36x72" Praga Etching Press
Myron was purchased with funds from a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014
Myron came down from Don Black Linecasting in Toronto, CA after a successful Kickstarter campaign in the first month of IS Projects being open. I drew an outline on the floor in chalk for Myron's spot when we first moved into the studio with the kickstarter url written in its place. The press was named after our largest Kickstarter contributor Myron Munger. The press has moved in the studio 5 times since acquisition and now resides about 6 feet to the right of where that original chalk outline was drawn. Used for printing: monoprints, linocuts, woodcuts, etchings, drypoints, and chine colle.
FRAN
12x24” Ettan etching press
Generously donated by Francie Bishop Good in 2017
Donated to ISP by Francis Bishop Good, founder of the Girls Club Collection here in Fort Lauderdale. We fabricated a temporary MDF bed for Fran until we can have a steel bed machined. Used for printing: Small relief and drypoint plates and monoprints.
SCREENPRINTING ROOM
JORDAN
25x38” Cincinatti Screen Printing Press, circa 1990
Generously donated by Jordan Pettingil in 2019
Jordan coudn’t have come to the studio at a better time, during a huge screenprint order and right as we expanded into 19 NW 5th Street (our current screenprinting shop and retail area). The vacuum table feature and assisted printing arm make screenprinting large images a breeze! Used for printing: large screenprints, long editions
DEB
25x38” AWT Accu-Glide built in March 2019
Purchased in February 2019
Deb is the only press in the shop that was purchased new. So I named this press after my mom, Deborah Schindall, who has been so integral to the creation and development of IS Projects that it seems almost criminal that she didn’t have a press named after her yet. This press is our main workhorse press for screenprinting jobs and believe me, it gets the job done right. This press is only available from the manufacturer in teal which was fine by me because she fits right in to our teal sanctuary! Used for printing: pretty much everything we screenprint except tote bags
Well, that’s the whole gang (for now)! We hope you enjoyed getting to know a little more about our presses and how they came to be at IS Projects. In our nearly six years in business we’ve printed thousands of prints, worked with countless local and visiting artists and taught hundreds of workshops with these very presses. Just imagine all they’ve printed in their lifetime and will continue to print long after us. As you’ve now learned, acquiring our trusty tribe of presses could not have been possible without the generosity and support of our donors, patrons, family and friends so I’ll end this with a huge and heartfelt ‘THANK YOU!’ and a video by Johnny Zhang highlighting the beauty of the printing process.
How to Run a Printshop at the End of the World
This new blog is an attempt to document behind-the-scenes of what goes into the prints, the presses, the workshops, the books, and the art. This particular post is meant to give me a little space to share, in a time when natural, deep conversations are scarce and to give you something to read, a voice of encouragement and, hopefully, some insight into how to run a printshop at what feels like the end of the world.
For the first-ever IS Projects blog post, I thought it might be fun and potentially helpful to write about how things have changed at the studio since we closed our doors to the public two months ago. As a business owner, the COVID-19 crisis changed all of my plans and sent what was going to be our year to blast off into what looked decidedly more like a tail spin. Now that it’s starting to feel like we’ve got a couple of good things going for us, perhaps it’s the right time to share how we’ve been coping.
This new blog is an attempt to document behind-the-scenes stories of what goes into the prints, the presses, the workshops, the books, and the art. This particular post is meant to give us a little space to share, in a time when natural, deep conversations are scarce and to give you something to read, a voice of encouragement and, hopefully, some insight into how to run a printshop at what feels like the end of the world.
1. Breathe and Take Stock
When I opened IS Projects over 5 years ago, I never would have expected that right as the business was truly hitting its stride and expanding to where I had always dreamed it would get to, the entire world would go through a massive setback that it would bring everything I was working toward to a screeching halt. In the beginning, I was in a daze while printing the last few orders for the foreseeable future. It’s okay to let yourself feel the heartbreak of an international tragedy and sit with the feeling of despair and dread that come along with the responsibility of running a business which supports not only yourself but all of your employees.
Eventually, what I found helpful to moving past the deep sense of loss was taking stock of what resources (staff, knowledge, community, etc) we had to help us weather the storm. I am so grateful to have a team that has been so supportive, understanding, flexible and encouraging throughout the crisis. They handled the transition to working from home with ease and came up with incredible and thorough to-do lists of ways to improve our web presence, tasks that could be done from home, and new digitally oriented projects. Amongst the event cancellations and postponements, my inbox began to receive a steady stream of emails from family and friends offering help and suggesting resources as well as our regular clients reaching out to let us know that they weren’t going anywhere and would send us projects as soon as they realistically could. The energy of the team and the encouragement from the community were a huge morale boost and made it possible to begin to imagine the next steps.
2. Learn All You Can about Available Resources
Our team worked together with determination and compassion to find new ways to adapt and exist in quarantine. After the stay at home order went in place, we spent the first couple of weeks delving into all of the resources available for financial support and increasing our virtual presence. We learned as much as we could about platforms that could help amplify our virtual efforts and make us easier to find and interact with online. Knowing how many other artists and businesses were in a similar position, we created an artist resources page on our website in hopes of creating a succinct space for artists (and ourselves) to more easily locate opportunities.
3. Find a way to share knowledge, provide a reprieve, and see your people (online)
As a public-access studio, the adjustment to quarantine is hugely felt. Not only do we miss our patrons, but so do our presses. Typically, we run anywhere from 4-6 workshops in a given month, and with our expansive collection of equipment, we teach everything from beginning to advanced applications of screen printing, letterpress, book binding, etching, monoprinting, relief and more. Our equipment is also normally available for artists to use through our studio rental program so we have grown used to a constant hum, and sometimes clatter, of print related activity during open hours.
Since going virtual, we have taken a new lens to our offerings, asking ourselves ‘What doesn’t require a press?’, ‘What affordable alternatives can be used in lieu of our specialty tools and supplies?’ and above all, ‘How can we make printmaking and book arts accessible from home?’. With this in mind, we made a plan to transition our workshops into an online format. We decided to run our workshops through Zoom, so they can be easily accessed no matter where you are and at a ‘pay what you can’ rate so that affordability isn’t a concern while so many are struggling financially.
4. Ask for Help
We wanted to make sure we could offer virtual content that matches the standard of quality we expect from our in-person programming, so we teamed up with Johnny Zhang, a professional videographer, to film and produce all of our virtual workshops and create our virtual artwalk and gallery. We pre-filmed the workshops with a three camera setup and professional lighting, enabling us to document even the smallest details of the technique being taught so workshop participants can get a clear view of how to do each step. Johnny documented the entire studio and gallery with a 360 camera and helped us load the resulting images into a virtual tour platform that allows viewers to virtually walk through the space and investigate the details of artwork, presses, items and more. As traditional printmakers, who regrettably lack interest in a second career in videography, we would not have been able to produce virtual video content that fit our expectations without Johnny’s help. It’s easy to get caught in the DIY mentality, especially when funding is tight and uncertain, but it can be beneficial to take a step outside that mindset to examine other options and reach out for help when necessary.
5. Reach Beyond Your Usual Geographic Boundaries
We’ve since created four workshops - Suminagashi Paper Marbling, Drum Leaf Binding, Monoprinting with Gelli Plates and Accordion Book Binding. We are also offering two fiber-based ‘Visiting’ instructor workshops with our exhibiting artists in Bobbin Lace and Pixel Pattern Embroidery. Our visiting instructors will be teaching from their homes with Christina Humphreys in San Francisco, CA and Sasha Baskin in Baltimore, MD. Before going virtual with our workshops, we would have never thought of a way to have the distance learning and collaborative opportunities that are now becoming the standard. Overall, the reception to our virtual workshops has been amazing. Not only have we connected with familiar faces in our classes, but we’ve been able to meet new people from across the nation and world, allowing both a creative and social outlet for all involved.
Throughout our time in business we have maintained close relationships with local universities and art schools with strong printmaking programs throughout the country. When these schools started to close we received a wave of messages and emails from students looking for options for how to continue and eventually display the projects they had been working so hard on throughout the school year. As a studio full of former art students, we were horrified at the reality that all of the art students who were set to graduate in May were going to have to move their thesis exhibitions online. So we decided to do what we could to help get their work seen by as many eyes as possible and feature student work in our Instagram stories during our Virtual Artwalk programming every Artwalk until higher education institutions are able to reopen and conduct in person exhibitions.
We’re in talks with several artists and arts institutions to discuss potential future collaborations and guest appearances that we never would have thought of before and look forward to being able to share a mountain of new content very soon!
6. Oil the Presses
Any printer will tell you that a press that goes unused is a press that deteriorates. Jim Sherradin from Hatch Show Print coined the phrase “preservation through production” which was drilled into my head when I was just a newbie printer studying printmaking in college. Throughout quarantine our job shop, Nocturnal Press, has remained open for custom printing orders and while the stream of orders has slowed to a trickle, we have made a point to keep the presses oiled and cared for. We have made progress on some long backlogged in-house projects and printed custom orders with fervor. It’s a mini victory each time we’re able to set up the press for a project, so we’ve made it into a little ritual: oil the press, set up the press, print, clean the press, celebrate the successes.
7. Assess, Adjust, and Keep Going
We’ve received a pretty fantastic response to what we’ve done so far and we’re so thankful to have the incredible support of our inky community. As the situation evolves, we’re focused on providing whatever we can to be helpful in whatever way we can. We’re continuing to develop new workshops and ‘stay home’ friendly activities. We’ve completely overhauled Nocturnal Press’ website and released a line of Semi-Custom Wedding Stationery and online business card ordering to make it easier to get quality stationery without having to leave the house. We’ve made several improvements to the IS Projects’ Exhibitions page with lots more web-based updates on the way. We’re making plans for the next exhibition to be virtual and also drive-by friendly. It’s been heartbreaking, challenging, interesting, revolutionary, eye-opening, terrifying, and encouraging all at the same time so we’re doing our best to take it in and turn whatever we can into something positive, like this brand new blog adventure!
Thanks for making it to the end, let us know what you think or if there’s anything you’d like to read more about.
Stay safe!
Ingrid