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Raven Press is an experimental letterpress printing facility located
on the second floor of the Studio Arts building near Old College (North)
campus of the University of Delaware. The press is maintained by Art & Design Department professors Bill Deering and Ashley Pigford who advocate for
the importance of typography and physical processes in the education of
Visual Communications students.
Students are encouraged to use this press to experiment with
typographic form and physical composition of the printed page as part of
a Visual Communications curriculum that balances traditional and modern
technologies. The physical nature of letterpress printing is a unique
component of the Visual Communications Program at the University of
Delaware and offers students a breadth of experience vastly different
than most graphic design programs in the U.S.
The Visual Communications London Study Abroad program's close
association with The Royal College of Art, University of the Arts, Alex
Cooper, Rose Gridneff and Ian Mortimer instigated the creation of Raven
Press. Visual Communications' faculty members have maintained strong
ties to London's preeminent graphic designers including the late Alan
Fletcher (founding member of Pentagram) who designed the Raven Press
logo.
The press enjoys support from the University of Delaware Library,
Mark Samuels Lasner, the English and Art Conservation departments and
the Center for American Material Culture Studies. Through generous
donations from all over the country, the press currently maintains a 20"
X 30" R. Hoe Washington style hand press, a Vandercook 219, Universal
1, and Number 3, over 800 cases of metal type and 2500 individual pieces
of wood type in a 200 square foot studio space.
Workshops and tours are available, please contact Bill Deering, bdeering@udel.edu or Ashley Pigford, design@udel.edu.
