Daniel Swartz: Letterpress Designer

Welcome folks as we interview letterpress designer, printer, and educator Daniel Swartz, who returned to rural northern Indiana after a 2020 life upheaval, building a new practice in his late grandfather's garage studio. Swartz describes growing up around creativity, studying art at Indiana Wesleyan, shifting from illustration toward design and typography, and teaching starting around 2007–2008. After layoffs in late 2019 and a stalled job search as COVID hit, his wife returned to education while he became a stay-at-home parent, then began carving linoleum type blocks and hand-printing large work that gained traction on Instagram and sold. He explains letterpress setup, inking, proofing, kerning, and manual gradient techniques, notes prints can take about two weeks, and argues hand craft, historical awareness, and imperfection still matter amid digital tools and AI. Follow us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepencilpu... MRC Brand Design: https://mrcraleigh.com/ Host: Mike Rosado (mrcraleigh.com) (instagram.com/ekimodasor) Post Production: Max Trujillo (instagram.com/trujillomedia) Sponsors: MRC (mrcraleigh.com) and Burny Wild's (burnywilds.com)