What Makes Us Different

As artists ourselves we bring great care and an artist’s eye to every project, but we also bring  extensive printing trade experience to find the most practical solution to getting it done.  We balance the creative and the practical, the artistic and the commercial for every project, knowing that one does not need to be sacrificed for the other.  With over 30 years in both the commercial and fine art printing worlds, we hold true to the belief that collaborative efforts often produce the best results. We love printing, but taking a project from concept to design, production, and finishing does not fall far behind.  

Please contact us to see how we can put this exceptional service to work for you.

Who We Are

DAN WOOD is the founder and driving force (for better or worse!) at the shop. After briefly studying history at McGill University in Montreal, he received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1994. He has continued his education in print ever since, learning the trades of offset lithographic and letterpress printing in commercial print shops up and down the East Coast. He is an adjunct professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, shows his own work nationally and internationally (some of which can be found here), and tries very hard to use his printing to make the world a better place. But to really know what is on his mind, see it translated through his Linotype Daily postings. A recent convert to skin care, Dan uses a First Aid Beauty ultra-repair moisturizer, Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser, SPF 55 sunscreen, and whatever else his daughter gives him.

LOIS HARADA joined DWRI in 2011, just a year after graduating from RISD with a BFA in Printmaking. Lois is the Wedding and Social Stationery Manager at the shop and can guide you through all your print needs from save the dates to wedding invitation protocals to thank you cards and more. She currently serves as Board Chair at New Urban Arts, a nonprofit offering free, after school art programming to high school age students. She exhibits her own work locally and nationally. Prints and projects can be seen on her website or on Instagram. Lois uses a Cetaphil cleanser followed by the Herbivore Cloud Jelly serum and finishes with Rosehip Oil and / or Kiehl’s moisturizer. She likes Watery Essence Sunscreen or Supergoop Play, both 50 SPF. 

HOPE ANDERSON came to DWRI after graduating from RISD in 2013.  She is the main production force on the C and P, Vandercook, Foil Stamper, Linotype, Ludlow, Stitcher, and many other machines too numerous and heavy to mention. Hope is a printmaker and animator, and her own work can be seen at www.hope-anderson.com. On a good day, Hope uses CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser, Thayer’s Rose Petal Witch Hazel Facial Toner, and Bioré UV Watery Essence SPF 50+ PA++++, and a 2% Ketoconazole ointment on sad patches.

TOM SPRENKLE has been at DWRI since 2018, after studying graphic design and working in letterpress production for a dozen years on the West Coast. The Production Coordinator for the shop, he can be found working on price quotes, sweeping the floor, moving heavy machines, ordering and cutting paper, prepping digital artwork for film output, making plates, wrapping and packing finished jobs, stacking and re-stacking the shipping boxes -- all in an attempt to nudge production along and forestall shop inertia. Tom washes his face occasionally with soap and water, and uses a straw hat for the sun.

Shop portraits and site-wide portfolio photography by Rue Sakayama.

Equipment and Capabilities

We have an ever-growing collection of letterpress presses and equipment in all shapes and sizes suited for smaller jobs of just a few impressions, or larger commercial runs in the tens of thousands. We can print from the latest digital files converted in-house to polymer plates, design a project using our own hot metal type cast on the Ludlow or Linotype, or use our collection of historical handset wood type. We offer typecasting services to the trade and to the public, as well as hot foil stamping on pencils. Please contact us with any questions you may have, and we will be happy to let you know if it is a project we can take on, or at the very least point you in the right direction (or suggest a new moisturizer).