First Person

With ink on paper, connecting a global community

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Hatch-Show-print-Oxfam
Photo: Heather Moulder

Hatch Show Print has been making posters for a very long time. The Nashville, TN-based printer is one of the oldest working print shops in the country, producing live music and event posters for pretty much every important artist of the last 100 years.

“We create posters the same way they did when the shop started in 1879, hand-setting wood and metal type,” said designer and printer Heather Moulder.

But while Hatch Show Print is an American institution, its designers also have global roots—including Moulder, who created this custom poster, above, supporting Oxfam’s typhoon relief and recovery effort in the Philippines.

“Although I didn’t grow up in the Philippines, my mom is from there, as well as friends and family,” she said. “The Filipino community here in middle Tennessee has become a bit of an extended family, and has exposed me to what a great culture it is.”

When Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in November, Moulder chose to support Oxfam America’s relief effort. “Being able to see the steps Oxfam was taking almost daily following the typhoon felt really inclusive,” she said. “I knew I could trust that my donation would be put to work.”

Then she had an idea: What if she could use her printing and design skills to help in another way? “Having an appreciation for [my] heritage, as well as the privilege of working here at Hatch, I wanted to put the two together to create a project that could reach a little farther than I could on my own,” she explained.

The poster she created, above, combines elements of the Filipino flag—red and blue stripes, a yellow sun—with a statement about the worldwide movement to rebuild. On top, Moulder added the word bayanihan, a Filipino concept that refers to communities working together and helping one another. “[It] seemed to be a perfect motivator for the relief effort,” she said.

Some of the 250 copies of Moulder’s limited-edition poster will be distributed as a thank you to Oxfam supporters who raised funds for the Philippines. The first 10 prints in the series will be auctioned off on eBay, with all proceeds going to Oxfam America’s Typhoon Haiyan Relief and Recovery Fund.

Though the hard work of printing was all hers (see slideshow below), Moulder credits Oxfam staffers for making her vision a reality. “[They] helped me to turn an idea into real ink on paper,” she said, “which will hopefully help [Oxfam] to reach many more people.”

Above, photos of the poster printing process, courtesy of Heather Moulder and Hatch Show Print.

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