My Merit Badge
by Bennett Holzworth, (0 comments)
When I found out that a local printer had an operational letterpress shop, I had to check it out. It turns out he has around 500 trays of type and four letterpresses. I didn’t know the owner, but I thought I would try to get him to show me a few things about letterpress. He seemed a little confused as to why I wanted to learn how to letterpress, but after I explained I was a designer and had an interest in learning this great craft, he has been nothing but helpful. He seems happy to pass on his knowledge. Although he does very little letterpress work anymore, it is definitely at his core. It was fun to see his hands remembering where the type is located in the California Job Case.
A week before I was going to go in to the shop for my first lesson, he told me to stop by the shop and pick up the Boy Scout book. At first I thought he had me confused with someone else. I figured out he knew who I was, but I had no clue why he wanted me to pick up a Boy Scout pamphlet. So I stopped by the shop on my way home from work. The above graphic is the cover of the book that he loaned me. It has a different section for letterpress, screen printing and commercial lithography. It must have been made in the sixties, but it was just what I needed. The pamphlet was made for Boy Scouts to get their Merit Badges from learning a trade from a printer. I don’t know if I have received my letterpress merit badge, but I will take a Scout’s oath (even though I never was one) to keep on trying.
I realize that graphic design and the printing industry are very different, but I can’t help to wonder how the AIGA could give out Merit Badges in graphic design. Maybe someday a young energetic kid will ask me to show him how to actually use a computer to print on paper. On second thought, I hope that day never comes.
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