Limited Run of Founders Letterpress Posters Handmade in Michigan Available Now!

We have released 190 one-of-a-kind Founders letterpress posters, available for purchase in both our on-site and online stores for $75 each.

There are parallels between letterpress and the brewing processes: letterpress is becoming a lost art—similar to how the art of brewing was almost lost until its recent rebirth—and both require a great sense of design, a high degree of craftsmanship and strong attention to detail.

Each of these Founders posters was hand struck, one at a time, by a team of three operators/artists, and has been printed on 100% Cotton, 140# Archival Legion Revere, standard white paper. The press used was a Vandercook 219AB Proof Press (1950s era) with an adjustable bed; it was originally owned by the Detroit Society of Arts and is still housed in downtown Detroit. The ink is a Van Son Letterpress ink, Rubber Based plus. Owosso Graphics in Owosso, Michigan, made the plate. Due to the complexity of the project, the printing plate was created using an acidic etching onto a solid magnesium plate. From there, this magnesium plate was mounted onto a 1″ thick wood base and prepped for striking. Here’s a video (with original music by Founders favorites Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys!) that demonstrates the process:

Handmade letterpress prints are highly desired collectibles and have the added benefit of looking great in a home bar. Founders’ lead designer and artist on this project, John Cymbal of Driven Solutions Inc., shares some decorating tips: “These prints deserved to be framed carefully in either a thick wooden black frame or an ornate vintage silver frame. Yours should be hung on the wall where it can be viewed with a refrigerator full of Founders within arms reach, because simply reading this poster will make you thirsty.”

**Get yours here!

Call for Founders Memorabilia!

We need your vintage FBC stuff!

Examples of the types of goods we're looking for. Clockwise from top left: A ticket to the 2006 Breakfast Stout Breakfast, a Rübæus label, a poster from the 2005 Black Party, and an old Breakfast Stout Breakfast mug.

If you have any Founders Brewing Co. treasures from the past 15 years that you are willing to donate, we will do our best to put it on display in our taproom for others to enjoy! Help us “dress up” the brewery with any news articles, pictures, posters, glassware (we’d especially love some old Mug Club mugs), t-shirts, stickers, buttons, hats, flags, tin-tackers–anything that captures the history of Founders.

We make great beer, but we don’t claim to have been anything close to great archivists since starting the brewery in 1997. We’d really appreciate you digging up any of the things that remind you of your favorite Founders experiences over the past 15 years. We’re going to make something kickass with all of the things we receive–and the more cool stuff we get, the more kickass it will be!

If you have items to donate, please contact Christina McDonald at christinam [at] foundersbrewing [dot] com or (616) 325-2694 by June 1.