Our Story
Nesja Press co-owners, Christy and Paul Nesja, are Wisconsin natives and a married couple. Nesja is pronounced Néh-sha with an “sh” sound. Christy (she/her) has a degree in fine art and graphic design. Nesja Press is her long-time vision built on a 30+ year career as a creative professional. Paul (he/him) has a degree in business administration and is a talented writer with a keen sense of humor. He likes cartooning and entering cartoon caption contests. He’s won TheNew Yorker cartoon caption contest several times and is a founding co-host of The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest Podcast.
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Stepping into my letterpress studio is like taking a step back in history. Using moveable wood and metal type, I'm passionate about preserving the art and craft of hand typesetting and letterpress printing. I obsess over fine detail and enjoy bringing new life to vintage type and images. I also love playing with color and printing ink to paper. My collection of early to mid-twentieth century ephemera inspires me, as does nature, my faith and the people I meet.
From an early age I gravitated to both artistic expression and letterforms. I loved coloring, drawing, construction paper creations and learning to neatly print the alphabet. A favorite childhood toy was the Fisher Price school house that came with a tray of brightly colored, plastic alphabet letters. I remember how those letters felt in my hands and how they looked when stored perfectly in their tray.
Today as I work in my studio with cases of moveable type, my penchants for design, color, paper and letterforms have naturally manifested into one creative outlet. I enjoy the tactile nature of hand-typesetting, carving linoleum and the puzzle challenge of fitting type and images of a fixed size together. I affectionately call what I do “old time graphic design,” but I’m not working completely in the dark ages. I use a computer to help me visualize new designs. I also have the capability to design and print with photopolymer plates, giving me freedom to turn digital files into relief printing plates.
If you’re looking for an extremely deep paper impression, you won’t find that in my hand-typeset work. Consistent deep impressions can damage our antique metal type, and can also wear out the bearings on our cylinder press. If I’m using photopolymer plates, a deeper impression (or bite) is more possible, especially on our platen presses.
With every print run I aim for perfection, but each piece is hand-cranked through the press and ink is reapplied as it runs out. All of these factors can create slight variations from print to print, but this is also the charm of this historic relief printing technique.
In 1991 I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from the University of Wisconsin–Stout with a Concentration in Graphic Design and a Minor in Journalism. I’ve made my living as a graphic designer and creative professional in both the Minneapolis, Min. area, and the Madison, Wis. area.
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Hi, this is Paul.I like to think that Christy is the heart and soul of Nesja Press and I’m the brain and muscle. I know how to count, I can stand for long periods of time and I’m able to lift 50 pounds. Some people say that I am also a very funny guy (I’m pretty sure they mean that in a good way). I do have a degree in business administration, but that was more of me looking at my credits after 6 years of college and realizing I just needed a few more in that area and they’d let me graduate.
After working in a number of business oriented positions for 25 years, I consider myself to be semi-retired and now I do things I like to do. Nesja Press is one of them. I also have a booth at a local antique store (Isaac’s Antiques in Mount Horeb) where I sell records from my substantial record collection - 20,000 and shrinking!
For fun I like to enter cartoon caption contests. I have won a number of the contests including The New Yorker contest. I also host a weekly podcast with two other cartoon contest devotees. We discuss the current New Yorker contest and interview cartoonists and other guests on the show. If you’re interested it’s called Cartoon Caption Contest Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Nesja Press for me is the best of two worlds. I can help run the business side of it and I also get to have fun writing copy for some of the wonderful creations Christy comes up with. We’re like peanut butter and chocolate, two great things that are even better together!
Nesja Press Origin Story
During the 1990s we lived in the Minneapolis area and we both worked for the design and branding firm, Yamamoto Moss. During that time Christy took a few introductory letterpress and book binding classes at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. These classes planted the seeds for what has grown into Nesja Press.
In 2008 we had a special opportunity to purchase a Vandercook SP15 printing press, assorted type and equipment from a friend, but we had no place to put it. We ended up purchasing an older home that had the perfect walk-out basement/tuck-under garage for a studio space, but much renovation was required. We were up for the challenge and embarked on a five year journey of home remodeling while the printing press remained in storage. In 2013 we completed our home renovation which included a brand new studio space.
Next came several years of learning by trial and error as Christy taught herself to compose moveable type and how to operate and maintain the Vandercook. In 2017 we introduced ourselves and some of our greeting cards at a local holiday pop-up market. We had our first sales and received positive feedback which inspired us to continue designing and printing new things. Wanting to expand our market we began building a website, launching nesjapress.com in May 2021. Later that year we purchased our second press, a C&P tabletop platen.
In 2023, Christy left her long-time corporate job to pursue her passion for letterpress and relief printing. She considers herself semi-retired and enjoys creative time in her studio, making things that she wants to make.