Workshops → One of the joys of running a letterpress studio is to share the experience with others. At p98a we regularly set up workshop sessions for a group of individuals or entire teams. Workshop sessions start with a historical introduction to letterpress and with a look at different printing methods as well as the typographic measurement system. This is followed by a tour through the work-space. → Sign up here.
p98a is an experimental letterpress workshop in Berlin dedicated to letters, printing and paper. We are a group of multi-disciplined designers, exploring how letterpress can be redefined in the 21st century through research, printing, collecting, publishing and making things. We work with hot metal- and wood-type, several proof presses, a Heidelberg “Windmill” platen and other traditional analogue equipment, and combine those with digital technologies.
Collection → We have more than 500 cases of poster type made from wood and alternative materials, ranging from 8 to 60 Cicero (the German equivalent of a “line”) and around 450 cases of foundry type from 6 to 96 point. Gauges for measuring the height of rollers and type as well as the thickness of paper are tools we use daily. We also have type specimens and a large collection of books—old and new—about printing, typesetting and typography.
Post-digital printing → We expose polymer plates, cut large size type from digital data, mill punches to make matrices for casting new hot metal type and will be 3D-printing poster type as soon as the materials become affordable. We use a direct-to-plate process to output digital plates for letterpress-printing books on a Heidelberg Cylinder and a giant (130×96cm) Johannisberger stop-cylinder press from 1924. Erik and Ferdinand recently talked about the process and some projects at a conference → watch it here.
Suhrkamp Letterpress does not seek to serve a bibliophile market. Our aim is to produce pieces of literature that exceed the pleasure of reading and also satisfy other senses. Many trades are necessary to produce a book. A book is only a book, once it has become a book.
Publishing → Our journal P98a Paper is a collection of stories, opinions and illustrations by people we know and whose work we like. In its first volumes, the project began on a Risograph, a “digital silkscreen” printer used for small publications with spot colors. Through Paper we continue to explore different printing technologies: letterpress, offset, post-digital letterpress, and digital printing. Buy it here.
Material → We are experimenting with different materials and methods for producing our own large type. After trying out acrylic glass and 3D printing, CNC-milling from hard surfaces like Formica mounted on plywood turns out to be the most promising way.
Analog is p98a’s shop. Nils Holger Moormann supplied the furniture and his shelves are filled with books by Gestalten, Niggli and Kehrer and magazines from Do You Read Me. We supplied one of our proof presses and printed things. There are typographic espresso cups, antique toy typewriters, postcards, posters, and individual books by colleagues who share our passion for all things type and typographic. We have space for exhibitions, lectures and readings. And, of course, you can test the espresso cups there and then—our own Letterpresso is on tap.
p98a.berlin
typographic workshop
Potsdamer Str. 98a
10785 Berlin, Germany
+49 (0)30 8321 9070
info@p98a.com
instagram → @p98a
twitter → @galeriep98a
—
analog
Potsdamer Str. 100
10785 Berlin, Germany
Monday through Friday from 12 to 7 pm.
instagram → @analog_berlin