"Form + Press: The Beauty of Letters," a solo exhibition of works by Scott Mann of Coastal Carolina University's graphic design faculty, will be on display from Sept. 14 through Oct. 6 in CCU's Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery. The exhibit opens with a gallery reception on Thursday, Sept. 14, at 4:30 p.m. Both the reception and the exhibit are free and open to the public.

Mann presents works inspired by his research during a sabbatical in Spring 2017 at the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wis. During this period, he focused on learning the process of letterpress printing and the technology it involved. His research advances the understanding of American printing and design heritage by documenting, archiving and drawing inspiration from the history and images of the industry.

"This exhibition is showcasing wood type," said Mann. "It's a mixture blending my exploration in creating letterforms as artistic expression and traditional methods of poster making."

The Hamilton is the only museum dedicated to the preservation, study, production and printing of wood types. With 1.5 million pieces of wood type and more than 1,000 styles and sizes of patterns, Hamilton's collection is one of the premier wood type collections in the world.

Mann joined CCU after 11 years in professional practice. He was co-founder of Tangent Design Group Inc., a creative solutions company providing design services in product development, corporate identity, business to business and consumer communications. Mann earned a bachelor's degree in graphic design from Illinois State University and a Master of Fine Arts in design from the University of Notre Dame.

The Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery is in Room 129 of the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts, located at 133 Chanticleer Drive W. on the main Conway campus; operating hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The gallery is dedicated to advancing the education of visual artists and cultivating the production, interpretation, and enjoyment of objects and images in society.

For more information on the event or the Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery, contact gallery director Jim Arendt at 843-349-6409 or jarendt@coastal.edu.