The site was initially launched on 18 March 2007 with a blue and fawn design which was designed to cover the whole width of the screen. This was my first attempt to produce a useful website for those beginning letterpress—initial responses were good: some 1259 vistors visited the first version and asked for 9450 pages.
I have always asked for feedback and contributions and a small number of people have been good enough to offer honest and useful words. One key suggestion was to be a little more letterpress like by ‘borrowing from the book’. This has shaped the new site—
- Typography is dominant, with fewer shades and devices on each page
- There’s a strict grid (6 columns) spread between 960 pixels
- All text is set on a basline and excepting some browsers, all text should follow this vertical rhythm
- Images and other elements are all aligned to the grid
- There’s a very limited colour set: drawing from the Arab (pillar box red and my interpretation of ‘Arab Blue’)
I hope you enjoy the new site and will feel able to both contribute and let me know what you think of it.
Benjamin Brundell