The Printing Museum Animated Poster

The Printing Museum, located in Houston, Texas, collects, displays, and maintains artifacts of print history. The Museum features printmaking and letterpress studios, a papermaking studio, and a book bindery, operated and maintained by volunteers and resident artists. They offer workshops in printmaking and other print-related art forms for adults and children.

Through the digital manipulation of type, the final inkjet printed version looks as if it has been letterpress printed. The animated version of the poster mimics the process of letterpress printing, but has been created entirely on and for display on digital screens. In both instances, the boundary between new and old technologies blur, the juxtaposition emphasizing their relationship through time: one led to another, but both still exist simultaneously. As print preserves history, so the Museum preserves these artifacts which themselves have become a piece of history.

At the time this poster was designed, the Printing Museum was still in the recovery process from a fire in May 2016, which caused substantial smoke and water damage both to the building and artifacts on display. While the exhibitions were unavailable to view until renovations were complete, the Museum continued to operate its studios and workshops on a limited scale. The tagline emphasizes the fact that the Museum still needs help to become fully operational again.