Since 2016 Dafi Kühne is hosting Typographic Printing Program. Over the past years more than 100 people have participated in one of the 13 sessions. They all had different backgrounds—from type beginners to type nerds. However, after two weeks of excessive sketching and experimenting with typography and analog tools, they all finished with their very one typographic letterpress printed poster. It is an intense but rewarding time, and there are obviously many ups and downs.
To give you some insights about this process, I asked former participants what they liked best when reflecting the time in Näfels. One of them is Brielle Stein. Her favorite memory is:
«During the sketching process for out event poster project, I remember wanting to go ahead and sketch these wild ideas and big shifts in thought, but Dafi encouraged us to move in small and slight changes. Tracking the evolutions of refinements is important as it could lead to greater ideas! He reminded us not to rush ahead and to invest in the details, rooting everything in our concept. I remember feeling overly eager at the beginning of that process, but by the end I had hundreds of ideas and options that would not have existed if I rushed the process. Some of the best parts of my poster were born out of those early sketches. They added depth to my process. I remember looking at all my sketches laid out on the floor and feeling really proud because there were so many papers full of ideas. I was proud because the craft deserved to be carefully considered and the project deserved my patience. Also, I got to walk home with like a million sketches. Proof of our hard work. Seeing everyones sketches fill the room brought me so much joy and an eagerness to get home and change the way I work on projects!»
Brielle Stein, TPP 2022, Session IV