Get-To-Know: Danielle Feliciano Wethington of Panthera Press

Panthera Press, Established in 2010
Virginia Beach, Virginia

Editor's Note: I first became aware of Danielle and Panthera Press through her How-To videos on YouTube. Among other videos, Danielle posted a detailed tutorial on edge painting, a notoriously guarded secret for many shops. Danielle seems to delight in generously sharing tips, tricks and techniques she has learned along the way. I am thankful for her willingness to be featured in the first of our new series: Get-To-Know.

When people ask you what you do, how do you describe yourself?
I am a designer, illustrator, and printmaker.

Tell us about your shop. What is your setup? What equipment do you have? Is it just you?
It is just me. I do all of my work on a 7x11" C&P Oldstyle.

What originally drew you to letterpress? Who were your mentors along the way?
Letterpress started for me during a fortuitous apprenticeship with illustrator and pressman Barry Moser. I have never even heard of letterpress before meeting him. He taught a letterpress course at Smith College and I was allowed to sit in and participate. It ended up really changing the course of my career. My time as an apprentice really turned me on to teaching, and the love of letterpress never left. When I completed my internship and moved back to Virginia I got lucky and found someone down the street selling a small C&P for a steal. I snatched it up, and it's been a big part of my life ever since.

Tell us about your current business. Who are your main clientele and what are they asking you to design/print?
I work with local clients primarily. I find a lot of my work is wedding invitations and business cards. My press' small size really limits the work I can take, but even with the size restrictions, I feel I've been able to make a really interesting range of work.

How has your business changed over the last few years? How do you expect it to change moving forward?
It's been growing slowly. By staying out of debt and keeping my overhead low I've been able to grow organically through word of mouth. I'm starting to realize though that the next step will require marketing - something I really don't enjoy doing.

Tell us about your creative process. What is it like for you to take an idea from concept to production?
My process is very straightforward. I think having a repeatable process makes it easy to estimate your timelines and budgeting for your clients. I start with research. There is a lot of back and forth with clients to get an idea of their vision. Much of my work incorporates illustration and typography. For me it's key the typography happens first. Type is less flexible than image. You can always draw a different flower, but you can't force type to fit where it doesn't want to be.

Who and/or what inspires you? Where do you look for inspiration when you're stuck?
I love pattern design. Looking at illustrations and fabric design really gets me excited. Seeing the work of others really inspires me. That and finding a new challenge.

What is your most frequent challenge when printing a job? (eg. registration, impression, coverage, etc)
For me it's coverage. With such a small press I have difficulty getting nice even solids. I work around this by doing my best to design for what will print best on my machine, and by educating the designers who bring me work. When they understand the process they can better design for it as well.

Tell us about one of your more challenging print jobs.
I remember early on I wasn't really acquainted with the challenge of working on a small press so I took on a job with a large 5x7" honeycomb patterned solid. In the past I had only printed on large cylinder presses so I didn't imagine it would pose an issue. I ended up having to carefully hand dampen every sheet with a sponge wrapped in a microfiber cloth. It wasn't too bad, but when you're on a deadline finding the right work around can be a challenge.

Tell us about one of your favorite print jobs.
I have learned so much from the many jobs I've done I can't really choose a favorite. I love jobs where I'm in charge of both the design and the printing. Likewise, I love a project that incorporates a new technique or challenge. Every time I overcome a new challenge or learn a new technique it is incredibly motivating.

What's one thing you wished you learned faster when you were just getting started?
Lining up multiple colors. I use a technique now that is so simple and easy I just wish I could go back and time and take the five minutes to explain it to my former self.

What other advice do you have for aspiring printers?
Keep trying. You have to work your way through problems as they arise. Give yourself time and room to figure it out. Don't be afraid to ask for help. I still like to ask other printers when I'm working through a problem.

If you could add anything to your shop today, what would it be? Why?
That is so hard because there is so much equipment out there I'm dying to get. I think I would most love a nice cylinder proof press. Truthfully, though I need a better stack cutter more than anything. I'm constantly getting draw on my cutter and nothing I do seems to solve it, as the paper is just too soft, and the cutter can't clamp right enough.

What is your letterpress superpower?
If there is a way to do it cheaply without the proper equipment- I can find it. I am an amazing researcher. It's always preferable and awesome when you can just buy a the right press/tool/machine for the job, but when that isn't an option, I will fight to find another way.

Favorite Press: Vandercook SP20 - it's what I used in grad school, that machine could do anything.
Favorite Typeface: Goudy Oldstyle
Favorite Paper: Wild by Neenah