Starshaped Press

Jennifer Farrell of Starshaped Press has become a living legend in the letterpress printing world. She's particularly known for meticulous compositions using type and ornaments to create images, and for photographing the lockups because they are (almost) as beautiful as the printed results.

Here's a recent example she shared on Instagram:


That's not Notre Dame, by the way; it's a church representing Chicago, her city. The words within the door arch say "The city is my religion. Studs Terkel is the preacher. The Staple Singers are the choir."


The larger of these two bicycles is a detail near the top left of the church, so that (with the pencil for scale) gives you a sense of the size of the whole composition.

This is part of a special project called The City Is My Religion, done with support from the Newberry Library.


A black print with Pantone colors selected...


...and a glimpse of what Jen is doing with the colors.

Incredible work.