Save, Fix, Teach, Change.    

The brainchild of Department of Design Chair Amy Johnson, M.F.A., “Save, Fix, Teach, Change” encourages students in Central’s Clocktower Studio, a student-run graphic design agency, to become social change agents by researching a problem of their choice and then using design to create and implement solutions.           

Students will use the emotive, tactile power of the letterpress as a medium to promote positive change that benefits both the community and the individual students.           

“If design students learn they have a social responsibility to the larger community now, the likelihood of students taking this perspective into their professional practice increases exponentially,” said Johnson.           

Funds from the Kirkpatrick Foundation will be used to purchase all printing materials needed for the project as well as a second letterpress for Central’s Letterpress and Prototyping Lab. The additional letterpress will double the reach for the current initiative as well as allow for the expansion of future design projects.           

“The Department of Design is overwhelmed by the generous support of the Kirkpatrick Foundation,” Johnson added.Connecting Theory to Practice. 

In the Letterpress Lab & Prototyping Lab theory is connected to practice, which is in turn embedded within production techniques. This represents a significant advance in the discipline of graphic design and in design pedagogy. Much of present day vocabulary in typography stems from letterpress technology, enabling students to make better connections between content and practice. In terms of educational value and portfolio creation for the design student the relatively small number of letterpress machines available in the printing world coupled with the knowledge required to use a machine make letterpress available to a select and enviable few. Coupled with the seamless blending of the ‘fast’ technology of digital printing and the ‘slow’ tactile process of letterpress the Lab will allow our students to create portfolios that will be unique in the state, region and nation. This brings us one step closer to our goal of becoming a National Design Center on an academic level.