Letterpress printing · Academic research project
Making the Intangible Tangible
As part of my final project at university, I researched the nature of rituals - what makes an action feel ritualistic, how repetition and symbolism combine to create personal meaning. A ritual, in this sense, is a causally opaque series of actions laden with symbolism and meaning (Kapitány & Nielsen, 2015, 2016; Legare & Souza, 2012, 2014). Meaning, the connection between what you're doing and why isn't obvious or logical - the steps don't have to make practical sense - but the actions carry symbolic weight and personal meaning anyway. You do them because of what they represent, not because of what they accomplish.
The Ritual
To better understand the essence of rituals, I developed one of my own during this course. Every Friday afternoon for almost the entire past year, I dedicated my time to the letterpress studio. What began as an experiment to explore whether I could transform a set of repetitive actions into something meaningful soon grew into a practice I genuinely looked forward to. Each week, I immersed myself in the craft -ideating, typesetting, printing on the press, figuring out the technicalities of print production, putting type away and even meticulously cleaning the equipment afterwards. (the cleaning is my favourite part)
Initially, this routine was a way to step away from coursework while staying creatively engaged through hands-on making. However, over time, I found myself drawn to the space not just as a reprieve but as a source of inspiration and exploration. The ritual became a catalyst for creative projects, encouraging me to try new things. It was no longer just an activity; it became a meditative process where the challenge of perfecting each print brought me joy.
To create a physical manifestation of my ritual, I handcrafted a book that served as a tangible representation of my practice. Within its pages, I repeatedly printed the definition of a ritual using various typefaces, celebrating the iterative and repetitive nature of rituals. This book became more than just a project—it was a symbolic representation of the time I spent in the letterpress studio, embodying effort, reflection, and the joy of hands-on creation. Through this process, I deepened my understanding of how personal rituals evolve through repeated actions, acquiring meaning that transcends the act itself. It highlighted the importance of creating space for experimentation, exploration, and reflection as integral aspects of a broader creative journey.
Where It Led
While this experimentation provided a strong foundation for creating a visual language inspired by my ritual, I recognized that this approach risked imposing a narrow, personal interpretation of what a ritual is. By focusing solely on my own ritual, I would potentially restrict the open-ended and subjective nature of rituals—something I wanted to avoid. This realization led me to revisit my approach, initiating another round of brainstorming and ideation. My goal shifted to exploring how rituals could be symbolically visualized without limiting their interpretation, ensuring the concept remained inclusive and adaptable to others’ experiences.
This reflective process not only shaped my understanding of rituals but also informed the direction of my final resolution. It underscored the importance of creating a resource that enables others to discover and develop their own personal rituals. This became a central challenge for my project: how to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and the practical application of tacit knowledge, particularly in helping creatives navigate creative blocks. While I didn’t aim to solve creative blocks outright, my goal was to provide a framework that would help creatives build their own reservoir of inspiration. This reservoir would be formed through reflective practice and active learning, drawing inspiration from the rituals of others while honouring their unique creative identity and process.
