Hello!

I'm a Letterpress printing kiwi living and working in the UK with my husband and son. I am the sole designer and printer of Biplane Press & Design, a letterpress studio dedicated to creating bespoke hand printed ephemera rich in colour, design and texture. My favourite pastime other than spending time with my family is designing and printing custom made business cards, wedding and birthday invitations.

All stationery is printed on my beautiful vintage Arab platen printing press, dating back to October 1900 (that's old!) and weighing in at a hefty half tonne (that's heavy!)

Each piece is patiently and lovingly printed one piece at a time using nothing but good ol' fashioned elbow grease and foot treadle power.

The technique of letterpress printing began in the mid 1400s with the invention of movable type by Johannes Gutenberg. This printing technique originally employed raised metal type, each letter individually cast from hot lead. The type was then carefully hand set, inked, and pressed onto a piece of paper. It was considered a printing sin to leave any kind of ‘dent’ behind. The flatter, the better. Now, in the 21st Century, the preferred method is to press the type deep into the paper, creating a textured 3 dimensional design, making it addictive to touch! This makes it highly valued because of the tangible indentation it leaves behind and its artistic and modern look. The end product is unmatched and impossible to replicate with any other form of printing.

Letterpress, why not leave a lasting impression!

Pia