Seven graphic designers in Dallas, working at six different studios, have a letterpress collective called Lone Star Letterpress Werks. All of them own presses, following in the slightly fanatical footsteps of Casey McGarr (Inky Lips Press and McGarr Creative), who bought his first press almost seven years ago; he currently has four presses, but has acquired and re-sold three more along the way. Casey offered to teach Rhonda Camp Warren (Color Box Design and on Etsy), so she acquired a press in 2004. Then, Kim Neiman and Virgil Scott (Studio 204 and kneiman@sbcglobal.net) decided to buy a press, and Casey taught them as well. As part of his letterpress life, Casey is an Adjunct Professor in Typography at Texas A&M Commerce. Kim is also on the adjunct faculty, teaching Advanced Processes (bookbinding, packaging, and letterpress). Virgil is a full Professor, teaching students in the MFA Graphic Design program.
Kim describes their first communal sale, in 2008, “Our theme was pop art, and it was a play on words. All the imagery was related to the soda industry. It travelled from the gallery space at Studio 204 to Clampitt Paper’s Creative Center and The Soda Gallery.” Because the works are limited-edition prints, they can be on exhibit in more than one venue at a time. The show is currently at The Coffee Haus downtown in Arlington, Texas.
Meanwhile, Lily Smith-Kirkley (Lilco Press and 214-213-8013) and Elizabeth Bailey (Inkarta) and Jason McDaniel (Missing Q Press) already had presses, so they joined the collective. All seven designers created pieces for The Art of Circus, which will move to a public venue soon. The next best thing to being there is the photo gallery, mostly taken by Kent G. Kirkley. (Editorial aside: I can’t miss telling you that Missing Q Press was named in the noble tradition of making lemonade out of lemons. Jason had acquired a wood-type font that was missing the letter Q.)
The real deal: The invitation postcard (4.25″ x 6″) designed by Lily was printed at Lilco on a Chandler & Price platen press, by Lily, Beth, and Michael — on Mohawk Renewal, Vellum Finish, 18 (whopping!) pt.
