We started off our day grabbing some pastries at Bread 41 – a fellow B Corp crafting bread, pastries and great coffee in the heart of Dublin.
We then headed on to the National Print Museum where we were shown some demos of the letterpress printing presses by Ciarán, who was so knowledgeable and passionate about print, and he even printed some of his artwork for us to take home – thanks Ciarán! We spent time learning about the different presses, as well as perforation machines and paper lining machines, and spent an endless amount of time admiring the intricate craftsmanship of some Celtic drop cap blocks.
Once we’d had our fill of wooden and metal type, we headed upstairs to see the Poster Boys exhibition, consisting of various printed posters created for the Abbey Theatre during the 70s and 80s. There was an array of different printing techniques on display from Kevin Scally and Brendan Foreman, with this wave of poster design largely credited as pioneering the genre in Ireland through the moving away from a fully text-based poster to a more imagery-based design.
Although our brains were full from all the learning, our stomachs were not, so we made our way to the beautifully branded MASA (by Manual Made) to grab some tacos to refuel.
Our next stop was Marsh’s Library to see some of the oldest printed books in the world as part of the Gutenberg’s Cradle exhibition. The level of detail in such small type and illustrations in books from the 1400s blew us away.
We spent the rest of the day browsing some local shops including Chapters Bookstore, the Irish Design Shop and Spin Dizzy Records, before having a drink in audiophile bar The Big Romance to finish off our trip.
Safe to say we had a really creatively inspiring day in Dublin City – it’s amazing how designers and creatives have an innate appreciation of the origins of our craft. In a world where technology seems to be pushing things into overdrive, it was lovely to spend a day slowing down and appreciating the roots of our craft.
