Catherine Lowery, a designer and printmaker, is the creator behind Tiger and Fox, a letterpress studio based in Lincolnshire, UK. Inspired by her two young “wild and fun” daughters (who the studio is named after), Catherine creates a range of paper goods focused on simple colour illustrations and the idea of having fun with paper. From simple notecard designs, to bold greeting cards, and playful paper crafts inspired by her childhood in the eighties.
“I’ve always had a love of illustration, bold colours and the print process. From colouring and drawings as a young girl to a career that has taken me from magazine design, working with big brands in a London agency, to working freelance with a range of not for profit organisations – I’ve always had a focus on print, colour, illustration and typography.”
After travelling in 2009, Catherine fell in love with the range of letterpress prints found Down Under and in the States, and soon got to finding an old desktop Adana printing press when she returned to the UK. She then started to learn the traditional printing process, and today her collection of printing presses, inks and wooden type has grown, leading to Tiger and Fox, her new creative adventure.
Using the traditional craft of letterpress, Catherine hand prints each design, one by one. Her studio is home to a handful of different letterpress machines, including an Adana Desktop Press, a Galley Press for proofing / wood type, and an Arab Crown Folio which takes centre stage in her print studio.
Using polymer plates for most of her designs, each illustration is created digitally (with Adobe Illustrator) before being made into a polymer plate ready for printing. Printing her designs by hand, using a lovingly restored Arab Crown Folio c.1900, ink is applied to the paper using a polymer plate. Each print involves composing a design into a metal chase, known as a form, which is locked into the bed of the press ready to be inked with the rollers and pressed against the paper to transfer the type / image.
Operating with “a love to have fun and experiment with ink colours and coloured card”, Catherine’s colour palette includes black and flouro inks, carefully picked specialist paper suppliers, and sustainably made paper. She also prints in small batches to avoid waste.
She concludes; “I hope to inspire imaginative play (for young and old) and also look to explore how paper crafts can help with learning through play.”
www.tigerandfox.co.uk
@tiger__and__fox
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