Alan Kitching is the Printmaker of the Year 2027 ~

Alan Kitching is internationally recognised as one of the leading practitioners of letterpress typography and printmaking. Born in Darlington, United Kingdom, in 1940, he began his career as an apprentice compositor at the age of fifteen, developing a deep understanding of type and printing through traditional craft training.

In the early 1960s, Kitching worked at Watford College of Technology, where he collaborated with influential typographer Anthony Froshaug and helped establish the Experimental Printing Workshop. Since then, his career has spanned graphic design, education, and printmaking, combining the physical traditions of wood and metal type with a bold and contemporary visual language. In 1977, he partnered with Derek Birdsall and Martin Lee at Omnific, where he reintroduced letterpress printing in 1985.

Working from his London studio, The Typography Workshop, established in 1989, Kitching acquired a large wood-type collection sourced from Wrington Printers in Somerset, UK. He has produced acclaimed commissions, posters, books, stamps, and limited-edition prints for cultural institutions, publishers, theatres, and galleries worldwide. His work is celebrated for its expressive use of colour, scale, texture, and typographic form, transforming language into dynamic visual compositions.

Kitching was appointed Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) in 1994 and is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI). He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art (RCA) and Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts London (UAL). This exhibition presents a selection of works that reflect Kitching’s lifelong commitment to the craft of letterpress and the enduring power of typography as both communication and art.

www.alankitching.com