In a spacious 10,000-square-foot workshop blending vintage industrial aesthetics with meticulous craftsmanship, Arion Press continues to uphold the traditional art of letterpress printing. Located in San Francisco, the press remains committed to preserving methods dating back to the 19th century, combining historic techniques with modern digital tools.

Brian Ferrett, Arion Press’s production manager, described the intricate process used to print works such as "Declare." Unlike the painstaking method of hand-setting type letter by letter that was common during the era of printer Benjamin Franklin Dunlap, most of Arion’s books now utilize a Monotype casting system. This technology, invented in the late 1800s, accelerates the process by casting individual letters and assembling them into complete lines. At Arion, a vintage Monotype caster is controlled through a contemporary digital interface, bridging past and present.

Ferrett explained that while digital layouts provide a preliminary design, the real challenge lies in translating these into physical proofs. “It might look good digitally, but you don’t know until you get physical proof,” he said, highlighting the adjustments necessary before printing.

In the adjoining press room, Joel Benson, also a production manager, activated a classic single-cylinder Heidelberg press to produce sample sheets of "Declare." Letterpress printing is distinct for its tactile impression—the subtle indentation or “bite” of the type into the paper—that contrasts with surface-level offset or laser printing. While contemporary letterpress often emphasizes a pronounced impression, traditional printers have favored a lighter “kiss impression” to protect the type.

“There’s a correct amount of ink where it just sings,” Benson remarked, examining a freshly printed sheet. He noted that ink levels influence the clarity and tone of the letters: too little ink yields weak, sharp characters, while too much can lead to overly bold forms. Achieving the ideal balance brings out the type’s intended beauty.

Designer and printer Andrew Riley commented on the qualities of incised letterforms, describing their visible depth and subtle shimmer as engaging to the senses.

The bindery area, where Megan Gibes and Jocelyn Lee manage the finishing touches, resembles a workspace organized with precision akin to a professional kitchen. Their work involves adjusting components even late in the production process. Riley pointed to an assortment of red goat-leather tabs fashioned for the project to facilitate the removal of trays containing medallions—an elegant innovation over gripping the tray edges.

Gibes, operating a vintage skiving machine to thin leather, reflected on the intensity and complexity of such tasks. Although she had not yet read "Declare," the proofreading process at Arion involves one person reading the text aloud while a colleague cross-checks for errors, a method reminiscent of historic print shops.

Drawing a broader connection, Gibes noted that her craft echoes the often-unseen labor underpinning the founding of the United States. “My contribution to this is the skill, the craft," she said. “That’s what this country was built on—a bunch of people’s invisible hard labor.”

Regarding errors, Gibes acknowledged that despite meticulous care, typographical mistakes still occur. “As perfect as things look, they are not. It’s humans doing all of this—that’s the magic of it,” she said, underscoring the human element integral to the art of letterpress printing.