| The Caseroom, Glasgow School of Art, is the largest collection of letterpress printing equipment in a higher education institution in Scotland. This workshop houses approximately 300 cases of metal type and an extensive collection of wooden type comparable with the most significant in UK/EU Higher Education Institutions. It is home to multiple printing presses and associated machinery, the oldest of which was produced in the mid nineteenth century. As a working collection, The Caseroom is an example of how, given the right interpretation, the tools of the past can diversify and enrich contemporary design work. Students engaging with this equipment gain direct, hands-on experience of historical practices and how these evolved into the rules that underpin our digital typographic systems. Allowing users to engage with how and why contemporary typography works the way it does and introducing a deep, rich history based in the 550 year evolution of type and the 4000 year history of the alphabet. The Caseroom is a member of the European Association of Printing Museums and a founding member of the International Association of Printing Museums. |
