Course title:

Print is (still) not dead

Course description:

This workshop explores manual printing techniques with a focus on screen printing as an experimental tool. In a digital world, we will work completely by hand to rediscover the joy, surprise, and visual power of traditional craftsmanship.
Participants are encouraged to create their own aesthetic approach by developing self-made printing methods, custom tools, or improvised inks. The process is playful and open: testing colours, layers, textures, and embracing imperfections as part of the result.
After exploring this experimental free-flow method and learning about repetition, rhythm, failure, and imperfection, we will arrive at bold visual outcomes that can be further developed into large-scale poster designs, combining handmade printing effects with strong composition and typographic expression.

Bio:

Stefan Guzy, Visiting Professor of Visual Identities, Folkwang University of the Arts (Essen, Germany) Stefan Guzy teaches Visual Identities and Design Practice with a focus on cultural branding, typographic systems, and experimental print techniques. He studied Visual Communication at the Berlin University of the Arts. Early in his career he worked in performance-based visual media contexts before developing his own design practice.
In 2001 Guzy co-founded Studio Zwölf, a Berlin-based design office known for posters and interdisciplinary projects for cultural institutions. In 2010 he established Handsiebdruckerei with studio partner Björn Wiede, a screen-printing workshop dedicated to traditional craftsmanship and contemporary artistic collaboration. Since then both have produced more than 600 editions with artists from Germany and abroad and, in 2020, founded Handsiebdruckerei Editionen, a publishing imprint for contemporary print graphics.
Alongside his design and print practice, Guzy conducts research in manuscript studies and design history. His work on the provenance of the Voynich Manuscript gained international attention. He is an elected member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) and has held guest professorships at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle and Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. He has also given lectures and led workshops in Stuttgart, Bremen, Düsseldorf, and Paris, among other locations.