More About Archetype Press
Archetype Press was established at ArtCenter College of Design in 1989, with the generous support and patronage of five donors, former ArtCenter President David Brown, and the dedicated efforts of Vance Studley, the founding Director of the Press.
Archetype Press at 40 Mills Place © Stephen Heller
The Press thrived for over 12 years at 40 Mills Place in Old Pasadena, California, until 2004 when it was relocated to the 950 building at ArtCenter’s South Campus. Since 2018, its operational and educational programs are shared jointly between the HMCT and ArtCenter Graphic Design Department.
The extensive collection of American and European metal foundry type, wood type, and ornaments—originally belonging to Vernon Simpson’s legendary typesetting shop in Hollywood—resides in over 2,500 cases and is among the largest collection of any design school in the country. Included are fonts from American Type Foundry, Hamilton Wood Type, Nebiolo, Bauer, Klingspor, and Stempel.
Archetype Press offers students, the public, and visiting artists, the opportunity to practice what has become a digital-age rarity: setting type and printing by hand. Past visiting artists include Amos Kennedy, Dafi Kühne, Alan Kitching and Kelvyn Smith [The New Typography Workshop], and Jim Sherraden.
Amos Kennedy
photo: Christina Aumann
Dafi Kühne
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Kelvyn Smith and Alan Kitching
Jim Sherraden
photo: Christina Aumann
As an integral component of the typographic studies of graduate and undergraduate degree programs, students learn from an exceptional group of dedicated and talented faculty. Inherent in this experience is the intimate relationship to the physical structure of words and knowledge gained from the historical nuances of the development of letterforms. Imparted is the value of this analog technology to the understanding of, and continuing influence on, the development of typography in digital spaces.
Social and political issues, poetry, music, and subjects related to the history of design and typography are the topics that fill over 200 limited edition collaborative books, broadsides, and chapbooks that address the relationship between text, image, and the written word. Collaborations with writers and poets include Paul Vangelisti, Martha Ronk, Harmony Holiday, George Albon, and MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant” recipient Fred Moten.
Archetype Press, South Campus, ArtCenter College of Design
photo: Juan Posada
Archetype Press continues the tradition of an older but not outdated technology as an experimental typographic workshop. The Press mantra, “Type First,” pays homage to the value of preserving the history of the printed word and establishes the Press as a sustainable cultural artifact.
Our People
Gloria Kondrup
As a professor at ArtCenter College of Design, Gloria has been a design educator for over two decades; as Director of Archetype Press, ArtCenter’s letterpress studio, she redefined the value of typography and analog technology in the digital landscape. Gloria currently serves as Associate Faculty Director of the Press and is Executive Director Emeritus of HMCT. She holds a BA in fine art and an MFA in design, and currently serves on the board of Association Typographique Internationale.
Seth Drenner
Educator, printmaker, and illustrator Seth Drenner works in a variety of media, including letterpress. His instructional time on the ArtCenter campus is divided between the Illustration, Graphic Design and Fine Art departments. He holds a BA in Art History from Northern Iowa University, and a BFA in Illustration from ArtCenter. Included in the Society of Illustrators, Seth was a longtime commercial letterpress printer at UNO Studio, and his work is exhibited nationally. He previously taught fine art classes at California State University, Long Beach and continues to teach letterpress to K-12 students at Children’s Community School in Los Angeles, where he has worked for over 16 years.
Leslie Prussia
For Leslie Prussia, design remains the elemental over riding transference of everyday. Having moved through multiple areas of artistic fascination and commerce, her visual interests are now held by sharing the creative process on weekends at Archetype Press.
Janet Kupchick
As an alumnus of Art Center, Janet worked as an art director in Advertising for 20 years. She took one workshop at Archetype in 2006 and was smitten with the tactile nature of handling and printing metal and wood type. It was great to be reconnected to her alma-mater, but even more exciting to her was to use the phenomenal collection of type at Archetype as she set out to print her first project, a book. Janet works at Otis College of Art and Design’s Laboratory Press as well, and loves teaching workshops to delight—and hopefully “hook”—the next group of printers.
Lorna Turner
Lorna received her two-year master’s degree at the Royal College of Art London. She is an academic lecturer, graphic designer, and creative explorer. Her roles have included UX designer for an internet start-up, arts educator, designer for company identities, art director for print editorial publications, information designer, and a juggler for many other collaborations. She has a passion for typography, explored through letterpress sculpture lockups. She is very interested in experimental processes pushing texture, messaging, and imagery in her projects. When not at Archetype Press, Lorna teaches workshops at the International Printing Museum.
Joshue Molina
Joshue is a visual artist and designer of Salvadorian descent, born and raised in South East Los Angeles. He earned a BFA in Photography and Digital Imaging from Art Center College of Design and a Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Otis College of Art and Design. The power of imagery has always been a fixation for Joshue; this innate focus has facilitated his creative growth. While his practice is image-based, it encompasses a range of processes in photography, printmaking, and design. The methodology for his work is labor-intensive, which allows him to slow down, leaving space for experimentation. Molina considers the most astonishing thing that happens when working analog to be accidents, embracing these accidents as a part of his imagery which relies on the essence of Wabi-sabi. For Joshue, analog is a way to reconnect, not only with his work but with the ordinary.
