May 28, 2014

HATCH SHOW PRINT, NASHVILLE

The typography, images, and unmistakable ‘aesthetic’ of Hatch Show Print, based in Nashville, is one of the oldest working letterpress print shops in America, creating a panoply of creative and distinctive promotional posters for entertainers such as Hank Williams, Bill Monroe and Minnie Pearl. This tradition continues today with their workshop producing memorable typographic pieces for Pearl Jam, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Mumford & Sons, to name just a few. They make beautiful wrestling banners, advertising and for us at Vintage Design they produced the cover for Lovesick Blues: the life of Hank Williams by Paul Hemphill (Secker and Warburg, 2005).

On a recent trip to Nashville, one of the team visited their inspiring new workshop and gallery where the layout remains exactly just as it has always been. Crammed with stunning hand-cut woodblock type, Hatch maintains and thrives on an historic typographic tradition. Its walls are covered with antique shelving sagging and warped with their weight. The shelves themselves are fabricated from large sawn up and long-discarded woodblock typefaces once used to create huge adverts. Hatch has just started tours of their studios where you can see a selection of their historic posters and pull a print yourself.

Click here to see a time lapse video of Hatch moving offices.



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