[Jennifer Farrell] Starshaped Press began more than 10 years ago in a tiny but light-filled garden-level studio in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood. As my clientele grew, I happened to walk by one of my favorite commercial buildings in the area with a For Rent sign in the window. Fortunately, it was managed by the same landlords as the tiny space I already occupied, and they were happy to transfer my lease to the new digs.
Outside, the building is a lovely ’20s Deco two-story, with the original name of the business still emblazoned outside in large metal letters —The Bulldog Lock Company Building. It’s subdivided now into a handful of studios, approximately 900 sq. ft. each. The location is everything I love about Chicago: close to the trains, a mix of residential and commercial properties, quick eats, and many art studios and businesses intermingling every day.
We have ample room for our Chandler and Price job presses, the Vandercook SP-15, our ever-expanding type collection and all of the bits and pieces necessary to make an old-school letterpress shop function. We work strictly with handset metal and wood type for all of the projects we do, whether it’s a business card or a poster. Our type collection is meticulously organized, labeled and proofed so we can function quickly while designing the myriad projects we tackle each month. Sometimes we spec out the more demanding projects on paper or the computer to get a quick idea of what will work and what won’t, and sometimes we go right to the typecase to generate ideas. Much of our type collection (that which does not exist in digital form) is proofed and scanned so we can provide clients with quick mockups of how their project will look.
We have a small meeting area where clients can come in to share their ideas and look at our capabilities. The meeting usually ends with a trip around the studio to see how the typesetting comes together and how the printing process works. I have found over the years that clients love to see the process and understand what goes into creating their projects, as well as the bit of experimentation that we try with each job.
In the studio, I am currently assisted by Sarah Vogel, Starshaped’s Chief of Staff. Sarah’s talents, besides bringing to life the difficult typographic forms I throw at her, allow her to handle the majority of our linoleum-cut images. Most of the images we work with are hand carved, as this adds so much more depth to the final piece. We are also assisted by Marnie Galloway, who largely handles our wood type, and Jo Gonda, the printer’s devil every shop should have.
The editor seeks (in a serious, long-term way) workspace and workmates as fun and charming as those depicted in the photos above. Take a Starshaped tour for yourself here. Also recommended: Check out the Starshaped Press collection of paper products at the Felt & Wire Shop. And for a taste of Starshaped work, see the poster titled “Pre-Existing Conditions,” created for a show, Printervention, opening tomorrow, April 16, at the Chicago Tourism Center Gallery.
