Letterpress love with Nick and Pat from Double Dagger magazine

We delivered Double Dagger magazine to Stack subscribers in October last year, and got a great response to its big, beautiful letterpress pages. When I saw the first issue in 2016 I was struck by the fact that an ancient technique using vintage machinery could produce such fresh results, and it turns out that was exactly the intention of co-creators Nick Loaring and Pat Randle.

They stopped in at the Stack office this week to talk about their labour of love, and Nick explained that while most people think of letterpress as being a bit worn and rough around the edges, with that lovable, fetishised patina of age, they aim instead for the crisp lines and vibrant colours that can be produced by letterpress machinery working at its best. Their passion for the subject is unmistakable, and I loved hearing about the evils of photopolymer plates (they’re for cheaters, apparently) and the simple pleasure that comes from moving type around to create a true letterpress layout.

You can hear the whole thing below, and of course we have lots of other conversations with magazine makers just waiting for your ears. Check our archives on Soundcloud and iTunes to pick your way through those, and of course if you follow us while you’re there we’ll be able to deliver next week’s episode to you as soon as it’s ready.