WHAT WE DO

Hammerpress is a letterpress print shop and design studio located in Kansas City, Missouri. We specialize in letterpress cards, stationery, ephemera, show posters and art prints here in our studio in the Crossroads Arts District.

Our store front is a hand-crafted retail space offering all our letterpress products alongside a curated selection of home goods, desk supplies and personal accessories. On a visit to Hammerpress, you may overhear the presses clanking, peer into the print shop in operation and take in the nostalgic scent of ink and paper.

Here in our studio, we design and print each one of our letterpress cards and prints. We also offer custom letterpress printing and design services, which can include business cards, identity development, personal stationery, wedding suites and event invitations. For more about our custom services and to request a quote, head over to our Custom page.

OUR HISTORY

Owner Brady Vest established Hammerpress in 1994 after graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute. At the time, the shop consisted of one old press and a cabinet of type. Vest quickly earned recognition by creating distinctive record covers and show posters for independent bands and printing letterpress jobs for local design firms.

25 years later, Hammerpress has grown to a small team that produces lovely letterpress products and strives to continue the craft of letterpress printing. Now one of the most widely known letterpress studios in the the United States, Hammerpress has garnered much attention for our distinct approach to typography and design.

WHAT IS LETTERPRESS PRINTING?

Letterpress printing is the process of using metal or wood type that is inked and pressed against paper. It is a relief printing technique that produces an impression in the paper making it distinctively different from offset printing. Originally, letterpress was limited to the type and ornament that a print shop had "on file" (big, heavy type cabinets), however, now we can design for letterpress digitally and have plates made of the final design for print.