3 minute read
A Matter of Design A glimpse inside MATTER’s design and bookshop
A Matter of Design
An inside look at MATTER, our new favorite shop in town
Take a drive down Market Street between 21st and 22nd and you can’t miss the Shop at MATTER. Its colorful façade is far and away the most vibrant on the block. And, as we discovered when we sat down with owners Rick Griffith and Debra Johnson, so are the people and purpose behind it.
Q: Tell us a little bit about MATTER. What kind of a shop is it?
A: MATTER is many things. We're a design studio, a print shop, and a bookstore, and we place a significant focus on design and education. Before COVID-19, Rick traveled to universities around the world to teach and inspire the next generation of designers, and that's become a very meaningful part of our work here. The bookshop is where we sell the things we design, make, and print, as well as a tightly curated collection of books and gifts from our travels.
Q: Do you design all of the prints in-house?
A: Yep! Rick is the design director and master printer at MATTER. We both have decades of graphic design experience and have worked with great local companies like Novo and Super Mega Bien. Our prints have been a great way to combine creativity with purpose-driven messaging to create prints that impact our community.
Q: How do you print the designs?
A: We use any one of our 19th- and 20th-century presses. We have a large press in the bookstore from 1951 and smaller ones stationed back in the printshop which date back to 1895. Most of our prints are made by combining old wood type letters from the 1850s with new plates we make right here in the shop with our laser cutter.
Q: And what's your role, Debra?
A: I curate the bookstore, update the website, manage our small team, work one-on-one with recommendations for educators and book clubs,
"June 1 was the day that our internet sales spiked dramatically. Nearly every title by a black author or about antiracism sold out in about two hours … Since then, we've figured out how to stay ahead of demand. When we were recently recommended in O Magazine, we were ready. Thanks, Oprah!”
— DEBRA JOHNSON
and handle all things customer-facing. We stock books and products that are focused on topics we care a lot about—what we call "resistancefocused"—things like justice, feminism, antiracism, LGBTQIA, and history. We also always stock plenty of gifts, home goods, stationery, and other quirky and relevant things made by people and businesses we love, both local and from our travels.
Q: What was this past summer like for your shop?
A: As a black-owned bookshop, we experienced an outpouring of support since the murder of George Floyd, on both a city-wide and national level. June 1 was the day that our internet sales spiked dramatically. Nearly every title by a black author or about antiracism sold out in about two hours. We take our responsibility to provide educational materials to our community seriously and hold tremendous gratitude for those who want to participate in this racial equity wave that is permeating the country. Since then, we've figured out how to stay ahead of demand. When we were recently recommended in O Magazine, we were ready. Thanks, Oprah!
Shop at MATTER
shopatmatter.com @shopatmatter 2134 Market Street
MATTER Studio
morematter.com @matterdesign
Photos courtesy of MATTER
