Edition Seven Feature
Words by: Doug and Danika Aplin
Location: Albury, New South Wales, Australia
Photo Credit: ©Bec Haycraft @bechaycraft

Husband-and-wife team Doug and Danika Aplin had never even laid hands on a letterpress before winning a classic 1920s machine on eBay. Having mastered the art of the deboss, the pair turned what had been intended as a hobby into a full-time business creating wedding and business stationery.

What is it that you do and how do you do it?

Doug: We do letterpress printing, using big, old, vintage printing presses. We start with the artwork on the computer, convert that into printing plates and then mount them on these big, old machines. Each printing plate has a raised surface – which usually gets inked up in the press – that pushes into the paper as it prints, so you get a beautiful deboss in the paper.