After years of working in print design, I named my studio “Letterpress” after the elegant technique of relief printing. The stylish type, beautiful industrial machines and subtle, labour-intensive processes of letterpress printing represent to me much of what I love about my work.

 

I graduated from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad in 2002, moved to Delhi, and initially freelanced with various organisations working on museum design, newspaper design, identity design, a crafts documentation project and so on before joining Outlook magazines as a designer.

 

After several years of work on magazine design at Outlook—both news and travel magazines—I joined a photography gallery, Photoink, which also had a publication design section. It was here that I began to work on books with artists, publishers and museums. My interest in photography and photobooks led me to write to the famed publisher, Steidl Verlag, in Germany. I was invited to work there in 2007 and again in 2012. As a guest designer there, I worked closely with some of the finest artists of our times and had the privilege of working with Gerhard Steidl, a master printer whose unique set-up in Göttingen made me love and understand the act of making books in deeper ways.

 

Back in India, I set up Letterpress in 2009. Ever since, artist-designer-editor-printer collaborations have kept me busy with books, magazines and other publications. I have a solo practice in which I team up with fellow designers and clients across cities and continents.

 

I have been teaching basic graphic design, typography and editorial/book design since 2014 at my alma mater, NID, as well as at other institutions in India and abroad. I followed up my design education with a post-grad diploma in Indian Aesthetics and other related studies at Jnanapravaha, Mumbai. My writing on design, art and photography have been published on various platforms—print as well as online—and I collect them at medium.com/@rukminee where they can be read through the "Writing" link. I regularly write in detail on my book design projects and post them along with photographs on my Instagram page to which a link has been provided. Altogether, my practice encompasses a complete engagement with book-making: from advising, editing and writing to designing and overseeing production.

 

Welcome to Letterpress  —  Rukminee Guha Thakurta