Thornback & Peel ♥ Marby & Elm. We’re a match made in heaven: vintage letterpress printer meets traditional screen printer, marrying age-old techniques with a modern design aesthetic. So for Valentine’s Day we decided to get together and create a unique card: Thornback & Peel’s classic Jelly illustration letterpressed with Marby & Elm’s signature fluoro script. Ready to pop in an envelope, seal with a kiss and post to your sweetheart.
“This collaboration was a great opportunity to bring together our hand crafted printing techniques,” says Marby & Elm founder, Eleanor Tattersfield. “In fact you’re getting a product that is doubly hand made: a screen printed illustration by Thornback & Peel which is then over-printed on a vintage letter press by Marby & Elm. It’s a very special thing and a wonderful marriage of traditional illustration and modern graphics. Good enough to frame!”
Marby & Elm Letterpress Printing from Thornback & Peel on Vimeo.
Eleanor prints on a rare Adana letterpress printer which she found on ebay. “When I went to collect it, I discovered the seller was a descendent of William Caslon [who designed the classic Caslon serif typefaces]. He gave me a set of wooden type and showed me how to use the printer. It was so exciting!” Eleanor took the printer home, set it up in her garden shed and started printing the same night. “Those early experiments are still some of my favourite prints,” she says.
“Letterpress stationery is appealing as it is both made and used in an analogue way. Doing something with your hands, rather than just tapping a screen, is something that I think a lot of people want to get back to.”
“I think we have a similar yet complementary approach to design: mixing the traditional and old-fashioned with a more modern aesthetic. The Jelly print is a particular favourite of mine and is all over my kitchen at home. For Marby & Elm, this collaboration makes perfect sense.”
