Infographic planning

In this lesson we were asked to look into different printing methods, for each method we wrote down the benefits, difficulties, cost implications, the process and the uses. After completing this task I decided that letterpress was the method that I found most interesting.
I will be creating an infographic focusing on letterpress, at first I had some difficulty planning the layout because I wanted to use techniques that correspond with subject and I mentioned to my teacher that I would like to write the text in speech bubbles she highlighted that hasn't got much to do with letterpress; after this I did a bit more research and found a couple of images that I could take inspiration from, for example I like the idea of using the wheel from a rotary letterpress machine to separate my information. 

Here is a very rough sketch, just to get an idea of the basic layout. 

Content

Benefits:

• Has the ability to create bold crisp images with high quality ink.
• The hand-made quality of letterpress creates a sense of intimacy and craftsmanship.

Difficulties:

• Due to the multi-step process and custom plates, letterpress can be expensive.
• Multiple colours with letterpress is far more time consuming than in other processes since each colour requires another run through the press.

Process:

• Polymer plates are produced using a photographic process,  A separate plate is produced for every colour being printed, and the paper is run through the press at least once for each colour in the design.. 
• The plate is affixed to a machined metal base which is in turn locked into the press.
• Ink is mixed by hand.
• The press is inked.
• Printing begins.  This plate prints an area half the size of the sheet.  The sheet of paper is hand-fed through the press twice, once from each end of the paper.  This produces 8 cards per sheet in a process called a work-and-turn. 
• Allow to dry.

Uses:

• Stationary 
• Wedding invitations