We are a small letterpress studio based in the City of Exeter in South-West England, owned and run by Melissa Lockhart, a twenty something Illustrator (Falmouth BA) and Graphic Designer from Devon.
I am now in a beautiful studio in our own Letterpress Cafe "The Press House" in Exeter, Devon after moving from our previous studio in Honiton and before then Newcastle upon Tyne.
We pride ourselves on our one to one service from first contact. You can discuss every aspect of your order with us, and whether it's one from our collection or a custom design just for you, we’ll focus on your needs and wants for your special day. Once you’re happy with your design, we meticulously cut, print, finish and package every piece by hand. Every piece you receive will have been designed and illustrated in-house and fed, one by one, into the press for that beautiful tactile quality that can only be achieved with letterpress.
Please do send us an message with any questions, or just for a chat!
No, our sizes are slightly smaller than standard invite sizes at 105 x 148mm however we do also offer A5 or 5x7 as alternatives.
The way in which the letterpress effect is achieved is by pressing a raised plate into the surface of the paper, leaving a deep impression. The raised part of the plate can either be inked or inkless. With ink, the impressed detail is coloured, which is how we print most of our pieces. Without ink, the impression is just as deep but is not coloured, and can be a great way of really emphasising the inherent beauty of letterpress. A commonly confused point of terminology: de-boss is what we do. It is where the detail is impressed below the surface of the paper. Embossing is where the detail is raised above.
Yes! We ship all over the world generally prices range from £25 - £60 depending on the location. Shipping to the UK is £15.00 as standard.
We don't offer refunds or returns all orders are final. Please see our Terms + Conditions for further information on this.
Yes! You will receive an initial digital proof of your design followed by a series of further proofs with subsequent development proofs followed by a final proof for your final approval. We however don't offer physical proofs as this is not possible with the nature of letterpress printing.
We don't have a fixed minimum order, however the smaller the order the higher the price per item as the cost for letterpress is in the initial setup costs.
As a general rule we will not print work that was not designed in house, we are open to collaborative designing on a case by case basis however we suggest if you are looking for a print only service do reach out to us and if we think its a fit we would love to print it!
No, we will not copy another designers work under any circumstances. This is a violation of copyright law we suggest that if you have found a design you love else where they you order directly from the designer.
As standard and orders will come unassembled, however we can hand assemble them for you for an extra fee, please get in touch with use for more details and to get a pricing quote.
No, we currently don’t offer foil printing as a full service. We do offer two kinds metallic ink in Gold and Silver. These are not as metallic as foils but do have a sheen to them, especially on darker papers. For smaller items we can foil print please enquire with us via email.
The Press House
132 Fore Street, Exeter
EX4 3AN
Open by appointment only