Have a go on the World Record-holding People Powered Press and take home a print featuring letterforms you've designed and printed yourself.

Try your hand at making giant letterpress prints on the largest printing press of its kind in the world, using Brico – our modular type system – to design a letter in your own, unique typeface. And you’ll be able to take your print home with you.

The pictures of prints below show just one possible style. You'll get to design your own letterform, at any set of proportions, at any size up to 150cm x 100cm.

Brico is a collaboration between Oli Bentley of Split; designer, visual artist and printmaker Anthony Burrill; and wood type maker, designer and printer Thomas Mayo. Comprising just four shapes cut into small, square wooden blocks, it offers near endless possibilities of letter forms, weights, sizes and styles. Brico was created so that anyone might share in the joy of type design.

What to expect



You’ll work in a team of four, including Oli, for three hours. Couples can attend to make one print together, or to make a matching pair, two tickets would be needed.

Working on the People Powered Press can’t be rushed – it’s a leisurely, creative process that brings people together, always provoking really interesting conversation while you’re making your prints.

You’ll design your letterform using Brico blocks on the press, ink them up and print your giant prints, guided by Oli to help you do a beautiful job.

You’ll also get to hear the whole strange tale behind the creation of the People Powered Press – designed to amplify local voices and spread words worth spreading as part of Split’s 2018 project, These Northern Types – and its accidental world record.

What to bring with you

  • Clothes that you wouldn’t mind getting a little bit dirty, though we'll provide you with a fetching apron.
  • If you have long hair, please bring something you can use to tie it back, and don’t wear anything too flowy, especially baggy sleeves, to avoid getting trapped in the press’s roller or dangling in the ink.

Price includes refreshments and a free, limited edition visual booklet telling the story of the People Powered Press and the creation of Graft.

Making the People Powered Press' workshop Covid-safe

Although we’re opening the People Powered Press at the very moment restrictions are being lifted nationwide, we’re making sure that the workshop is designed and equipped to keep you safe and comfortable now, and in the event of any future developments.

So here’s what's being to make the People Powered Press a safe, creative place.

  • Staff will be tested for Covid twice a week.
  • Workshops which can take place in our covered outdoor space will do so.
  • The capacity of all workshops has been capped to ensure that social distancing is possible and comfortable in the studio and in the outdoor workshop space.
  • The space will be well ventilated, using our in-built extraction system and windows when needed.
  • We have sanitiser stations around the space and there are wipes for cleaning surfaces and shared equipment.
  • Masks will be worn inside the building if and when official guidance indicates that they should.
  • We will provide perspex workspace dividers if and when official guidance indicates that we should.

We’ll regularly review all these measures against the latest government guidance, and we hope that this will reassure you that you’re in a comfortable, safe environment, and that we’re taking your safety very seriously indeed.

All proceeds from this workshop will be used to support the People Powered Press' work with community groups around the Bradford district and beyond, amplifying local voices and spreading words worth spreading.