LONDON.- Alan Kitching A Life in Letterpress is a stunning monograph presenting the work of world renowned typographer, designer and letterpress practitioner Alan Kitching in his own words.

Spanning over fifty years, this lavishly illustrated volume leads us from Kitching’s first typographical experiments under the auspices of mentor Anthony Froshaug to his most iconic creations at The Typography Workshop. It covers his years designing alongside Derek Birdsall, as well as his time teaching letterpress at the Royal College of Art, and showcases his most colourful and expressive pieces, including his prolific work for The Guardian and work for the National Theatre, British Library, Tate Modern, Penguin Books and Royal Mail amongst others.

Kitching has had solo shows in London and Barcelona, and contributed to various group exhibitions including the Pompidou Centre Paris, the British Library and the Barbican Art Gallery London. His work is also held in private collections.

Alan Kitching is one of the world’s foremost practitioners of letterpress typographic design and printmaking and is renowned for his expressive use of wood and metal letterforms in creating visuals for commissions and his own limited edition prints. Kitching cofounded the Experimental Printing Workshop at Watford College of Technology in 1964. He later became partner at Omnific Studios where he started letterpress printing.

In 1994 Alan Kitching was appointed Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) and elected member of Alliance Graphique International (AGI).

Alan is Honorary Fellow of The Royal College of Art and Visiting Professor, University of the Arts London. Alan has conducted his workshops and given talks to industry, art schools and design conventions in UK, Europe, Australia and South Africa.

Previous clients include: The Guardian, Borough Market, The British Library, Creative Review, D&AD, Dazed & Confused, The National Theatre, Penguin Books, The Times, Royal Mail, Saatchi & Saatchi, Scheufelen Paper, Clarks Shoes, Random House, AOL and the Tate Modern.

Alan Kitching A Life in Letterpress has been published in three editions. The Collector’s Edition, is a limited edition, including a hand printed letterpress signed print, numbered and wrapped round the book to form the jacket. Only 200 limited editions of the Collector’s Edition were printed, priced at £200. The second edition is the Special Edition with a 3-piece binding, priced at £75. Both the Collector’s Edition and the Special Edition were released on 7th April and aare only available from laurenceking.com.

Finally a Bookshop Edition priced at £40 will be released to bookshops nationwide in 2017. A small number of the bookshop edition will be available to buy from the Somerset House shop to tie in with an exhibition running from 21st April – 6th May.