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.

2017 04 05 P98A Type Media Np 0023 — A group of TypeMedia students from the The Hague visits the workshop.

P98A Studio — Our proof presses in full color.

P98A Heidelberg — The Heidelberg “Windmill” in black and white.

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 Workshop 03 — Alexander (right), a trained typesetter, is one of the core instructors during workshops.

P98A Workshop 04 — Jannis (right) knows our wood type catalogue pretty well, because he’s proofed several of them himself.

181008 P98A Broschüre Erbar — Our favorite letter ‘ß’ in 48 point Erbar Grotesk halbfett, designed by Jakob Erbar and released with Ludwig & Mayer in 1927.

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.

181008 P98A Broschüre Schrifthöhe — Schrifthöhenmessgerät

181008 P98A Broschüre Gummituch — Gummidrucktuchspezialdickenmesser

181008 P98A Broschüre Walzengreif — Walzensteller „Greif“ a.k.a. Walzengreif

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 recently talked about the process and some projects at a conference → watch it here.

P98A Adlershof — Daniel checks a proof while printing the books for the Suhrkamp Letterpress edition.

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.

181008 P98A Broschüre Sv01 — Raymond Queneau: ‘Stilübungen’ → For this piece we selected predominantly French typefaces. Roger Excoffon’s ‘Banco’ seems legit.

181008 P98A Broschüre Sv02 — Ludwig Wittgenstein: ‘Tractatus logico-philosophicus’ → Designed in Questa (sans and serif), a type family by Jos Buivenga and Martin Majoor

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.

181008 P98A Broschüre Paper — A collection of stories, opinions and illustrations by people we know and whose work we like. P98a Paper explores printing technologies.

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.

181008 P98A Broschüre Buchstaben — [1] 20 cic Akzidenz Grotesk halbfett → Plakadur, a resin used by the Berthold type foundry since the 1930s; [2] 20 cic FF Real book → Formica on ply wood; [3] 16 cic FF Real book → Acrylic mounted on plywood; [4] 16 cic FF Real book → Milled from maple wood; [5] 8 cic Akzidenz Grotesk fett → Produced on a 3D printer; [6] 60 point “AG” halbfett → Cast in metal

20190205 165505 P98A Krautreporter Repros Np — Large newspaper format printed by p98a and Lettertypen last year.

Erik and Lilith printing the “Orbit” poster for a client.

Paper Susanna Rick — Susanna and visiting printer Rick printing covers for Paper #05.

P98A Calendar — Some of our favorite type in the workshop: Akzidenz Grotesk, HWT Artz, Signal, Fanfare, Fat Face, Reporter, Bernhard Fraktur

Analog is p98a’s shop. The concept store is not just a book and magazine store, but also a place for readings, exhibitions and workshops - for everything related to typography, design, photography and art.

In the current situation our store remains temporarily closed.

Tipoteca Italiana 2019 68 Copy — Proof of Italian wood type during our trip to Tipoteca Italiana in Cornuda, May 2019.

p98a.berlin
typographic workshop
Potsdamer Str. 98a
10785 Berlin, Germany

+49 (0)30 8321 9070
info@p98a.com
instagram → @p98a
twitter → @galeriep98a

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analog
Potsdamer Str. 100
10785 Berlin, Germany

Wednesday through Friday from 12 to 7 pm.
instagram → @analog_berlin