The Post Family: Digital designers get their hands dirty

Tired of living life only in the digital sphere, designers in Chicago founded Post Family, an designer collective and "family" of friends that that values hands-on creativity.

After their busy digital days at work, they share an industrial space in the outskirts of Chicago, where they work with their hands.

The analogue experience of letterpress, screen-printing and woodworking provides a welcome break from the digital designing they do at their day jobs.

At the same time, members of the Post Family say the two experiences are more alike than they are different. Being able to work in both worlds, they believe, makes the members of the group stronger designers overall.

"We believe that digital design itself is craft. A web site is crafted. Having your arms in both worlds, digital and analogue, is extremely important," explains one of the members, Scott Thomas. Also known as "Simple" Scott, Mr Thomas was the national design director of the iconic Obama campaign in 2008.

Call it a return to the 19th century guild model of the arts and craft movement - or a kind of Andy Warhol's Factory. Many artists and musicians of the Chicago scene swing by all day and night.

For the BBC, they show off some of their vintage equipment, such as a Chandler and Price letterpress made in Ohio in 1888.

"Communication hasn't changed that much," says Mr Thomas. "Whether you are using Twitter, whether you are using Facebook, you'll still see letters next to letters, words next to words and sentences next to sentences."

(Produced by Anna Bressanin, Camera by Ilya Shnitser)