Established 2023
Pressing Boundaries- How Technology and Technique Shaped the Eastern Echo
Monday, November 11, 2024
Jean Park
The Eastern Echo magazine, leveraged color in a restrained yet impactful way, influenced significantly by the printing technologies available at the time. The magazine’s layout was a single gathering of bifolium stapled in the middle. Thus each sheet was folded to create two leaves of the magazine. There were different types of binding methods however, commonly used was the saddle wire stitch.
Thank you to Aline Seiler for the helpful image. https://www.alineseiler.com/blog/saddlestitching-vs-machine-stitching
For example, this is the first and last page of the magazine, but they would have been printed on the same sheet, which is why the color and even designs look similar. Walter Stepper and John Greco, photographers, and Robert Cullen, William Wright, and Robert Yurkin, artists, created the visuals for the Spring 1958 edition.
Though labeled a "full-color" magazine, Eastern Echo contained color on only two full sheets—green for the cover and back leaves and tan/yellow for a small design element on two leaves—demonstrating how technological constraints led to a strategic use of color.
The Eastern Echo was printed on the Miehle horizontal press for six years, which was the largest and most difficult machine to use.
The Eastern Echo was printed on the Miehle horizontal press for six years, which was the largest and most difficult machine to use in the plant. Those who used the machine required “a greater degree of training” (Eastern Echo, Fall 1966, p. 10).
In the Fall 1966 issue, the printing team switched from the Miehle horizontal press to the Miltilith 1250-W Offset Duplicator. This machine was much faster than the Miehle horizontal press and could print “9,000 impressions per hour” (Eastern Echo, Fall 1996, p.11).
Photographs of the printshop, found in the Fall 1966 issue, further illustrate the craft and physical process behind the Eastern Echo. These images capture the magazine's reliance on a hands-on, manual production method, where each artistic decision—from color choices to page layout—was influenced by the capabilities and limitations of the press. In this way, the Eastern Echo demonstrates how early color printing technology shaped both the aesthetic and emotional qualities of the publication, turning technical constraints into opportunities for artistic expression.
Further Reading: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/o/offset-lithography https://www.inplantimpressions.com/article/printing-provides-escape-from-prison-life/