Brisbane letterpress centre under threat

The Bacon Factory, which is the primary letterpress educator and advocate in Queensland, is being evicted, and given less than four weeks to vacate its premises, and is now seeking industry support to carry on its mission, from a mobile basis.

Owner Clint Harvey says he is determined to continue to educate designers, young and old, about the letterpress process. His plan is to pivot the studio into a mobile facility, using a 40" shipping container with a cut-out side, and transport that to colleges, unis and festivals on demand.

He has set up a GoFundMe page to get support, with $11,000 of the $28,000 target already raised, mainly from individuals in the design community. He is now looking to the print industry for the next tranche of support. Click here to donate.

Harvey said: “We don’t do commercial print, if someone wants a letterpress print job we point them to a couple of outfits in town, but what we do is educate. Knowing how print, how typography developed is vital to designers. We will do everything we can to keep the studio going, and having a mobile facility gives us the best chance of doing that.”

Harvey set up The Bacon Factory five years ago after 15 years of running a design college, and runs it as an open access studio, teaching designers about the delights and history of letterpress, and how that created the platform for print today. Designers can come in to create their own work, young designers come in from various local colleges, TAFEs and unis.

The Studio has been located in Eagle Farm since its inception, but the industrial area is now in hot demand, which means real estate wants The Bacon Factory gone.

Harvey said: “We have a lot of equipment. The mobile container will have a press and wood and metal type. I am aiming to get three more containers for all the equipment, and have them permanently placed on a block I have 45 minutes out of town.”

Click here to donate.