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A row of colourful screen-printed cards and postcards are displayed on a white table. In the background, a person works beside a green printing press and a black manual press.

Graphic Design: Letterproeftuin set up The Smallest Printing Company

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Date
15 October 2013

In a society seemingly obsessed by size, it’s reassuring to know that one Dutch design collective are prepared to take a stand. Letterproeftuin – founded by Yorit Kluitman, Timon Van Der Hijden and Jaron Korvinus – have built a portfolio of interesting and unusual graphic work which emphasises (nay revels) in process as much as finished product.

For the Chaumont International Poster and Graphic Design Festival held recently, the trio decided to experiment with The Smallest Printing Company, a mobile installation comprising of a Viprotech silk screen table and a scale model Roco-Ets V50. Their aim was to print the smallest posters at the fair – which they duly achieved – but by bringing the printing process to life in such a fun and accessible way, Letterproeftuin once again provided much more than great looking end products.

A person’s hand holds a small piece of paper with a red logo, appearing to pull it from a miniature printing press. Beside the black press sits a small green printing machine on a white shelf. Red text in the top left reads “The Smallest Printing Company”.
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Letterproeftuin: The Smallest Printing Company

A person in a white coat works at a small printing station on a patterned blue floor. The table holds a miniature press and several small prints featuring smiling faces and the words “Klep Klep”.
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Letterproeftuin: The Smallest Printing Company

A person uses tweezers to carefully arrange 3D wooden letters on a white sheet of paper. The letters are mirrored and stacked, with a pencil and small wooden fragments scattered nearby.
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Letterproeftuin: The Smallest Printing Company

A person in a white lab coat leans over a green printing press, carefully adjusting a wooden frame. Beside them on a white table sits a black manual roller press and a stack of small white papers.
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Letterproeftuin: The Smallest Printing Company

A person holds a white card with embossed text that reads “KAREL HARTENS WALLPAPER CHAUMONT”. The card is held in front of a printing press in a studio.
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Letterproeftuin: The Smallest Printing Company

A white industrial workstation holds a black mechanical printing press on its top surface. The front of the unit features the word “Letterproeftuin” in red text above a metal handle and two red arrows.
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Letterproeftuin: The Smallest Printing Company

A person's hands place a sheet of white paper onto a manual printing press. Wooden letterpress blocks are arranged on the bed, spelling out words in reverse.
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Letterproeftuin: The Smallest Printing Company

Two wooden blocks feature carved, 3D typographic letters, some highlighted in red. Beside them lie thin wooden dowels and a technical drawing of geometric shapes.
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Letterproeftuin: The Smallest Printing Company

A row of printed cards stands in white slots on a table. The cards feature bold, colourful graphics including a smiling face, a blue document icon and a pixelated blue and red shape.
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Letterproeftuin: The Smallest Printing Company

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

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Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.

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