Michelle Dwyer, originally from New York, is the founder of Nice & Graphic, a letterpress studio in Peckham, southeast London, where she uses traditional hand-printing techniques to create striking modern designs. She demonstrates her creative process and printing techniques on popular, engaging TikTok videos. ‘I set up a TikTok account in lockdown when I started my letterpress journey,’ she said.
Nice & Graphic’s new line of letterpress Christmas cards – now available online and in store at Selfridges – were printed with big wood type on a vintage Vandercook press using Fedrigoni papers. On some cards, litho-printed botanical backgrounds are overprinted with striking letterpress messages.
With a background in graphic design, Dwyer has always gravitated toward designing with type. During her first letterpress course at the London Centre for Book Arts, she knew she had found something special: ‘I loved it so much, working with type and making something by hand.’
Nice & Graphic’s cards are available under Selfridges’ ‘Project Earth Edit’, a range of products ‘that put style and sustainability hand in hand’, so it was important that the papers were fully FSC certified. The cards were paired with recycled Kraft envelopes featuring the studio’s embossed logo. No plastic is used in the product or its packaging. The cards are also available via Nice & Graphic’s website, where you can see more of Michelle Dwyer’s work, including cards for all occasions and prints.
Paper:
Materica Gesso – White 250g/m2
Sirio Color – Foglia & Lampone