Letterpress studio · Bermondsey, London
Pressed, not printed.
Quoinwell sets type, mixes ink and presses it into thick cotton paper on a 1961 Heidelberg Windmill. Wedding suites, business cards and prints you can feel with your thumb.
The press
Windmill, 1961
Paper weight
Up to 1,200 gsm
Smallest run
50 pieces
Job No. 0418
On press
Wedding suite · 120 sets
Paper
Cotton 600 gsm, pearl
Impression
Deep
Inks
This season’s ink drawer
Every colour mixed by hand, by weight, to a written recipe.
Quoin Ultramarine
QW-07 · 2:1 blue/trans.
Vermilion
QW-12 · warm red 032
Press Navy
QW-01 · black + reflex
Moss
QW-19 · green 347 + black
Blush
QW-23 · 1:6 red/trans.
Antique Gold
Foil · matte 8
01 — What we print
Paper you keep in a drawer for decades.
Wedding suites
from £540 / 50 sets
Invitations, RSVP cards, menus and place cards, set as one matching suite.
Business cards
from £210 / 100
Duplexed cotton, painted edges, one or two inks with a deep bite.
Notecards & correspondence
from £180 / 50
Personal stationery with your name or monogram, plus envelopes.
Art prints & posters
from £45 / print
Wood-type posters and limited editions, signed and numbered.
02 — The bite
How deep do you want it?
Letterpress is defined by impression: how far the type is pressed into the sheet. We print three depths and send you a proof of each.
Kiss
The type barely touches the sheet. Crisp ink, almost no texture.
Best for · Fine text, thin papers
Medium
A clear bite you can see in raking light and feel with a finger.
Best for · Business cards, notecards
Deep
The signature letterpress look. Needs 600 gsm cotton or heavier.
Best for · Wedding suites, blind deboss
03 — The paper
Three sheets we keep in stock.
300 gsm
Cotton 300
Tooth
Soft vellum
Colours
Pearl · Bright white
600 gsm
Cotton 600 duplex
Tooth
Deep, felted
Colours
Pearl · Ecru · Blush
450 gsm
Bamboo 450
Tooth
Smooth, firm
Colours
Natural · Charcoal
04 — Brief to box
Five steps, about four weeks.
01
Brief
Tell us the piece, quantity and date.
Day 1
02
Proof
Digital proof and a printed ink test.
Week 1
03
Plates
Photopolymer plates made from your artwork.
Week 2
04
Press
One colour per pass on the Windmill.
Week 3
05
Pack
Trimmed, edge-painted, boxed in tissue.
Week 4
05 — Learn the press
Spend a Saturday setting type.
Sat 22 Nov
Intro to letterpress: print your own notecards
Beginner
3 seats left
£145
Sat 6 Dec
Wood-type poster day
All levels
5 seats left
£165
Sat 17 Jan
Wedding stationery masterclass
Intermediate
Waitlist
£220
From a client
“Our guests kept running their fingers over the invitations. Six months later, people still have them on the fridge.”
Anya & Joel — wedding suite, Cotton 600, two inks
Have a date in mind?
Most jobs take four weeks from approved proof. Send us the details and we’ll reply within two working days.