Thin Ice Press

A new future for heritage print in York, The Thin Ice Press is here to help save an endangered craft, build a community, and establish a unique creative centre in the heart of York.

We worked with the team behind the thin ice press to explore the archive with a number of hands on print sessions and a brand personality workshop. Using the key traits we uncovered in the sessions we created a bold new brand platform that perfectly balances the rich history of print in the City with a bold and confident creative direction.

So why ‘Thin Ice Press’?

In 1739 the winter frost turned all the rivers of York into ice and local printer Thomas Gent set up a press on the River Ouse, Gent wrote about his experience:

‘The frost having been extremely intense, the rivers became so frozen that I printed names upon the ice. It was a dangerous spot on the south side of the bridge where I first up, as it were, a new kind of press, only a roller wrapt with blankets.

The event received many spectators, but the thin cracking ice soon caused the audience to flee.