Who We Are

The Centre for Print Research (CFPR) is a distinctive centre of research excellence based at the University of the West of England. It is a unique, multidisciplinary group that combines knowledge and skills across traditional and digital techniques to reflect, innovate and find creative solutions for the future of print. Established in 1998, the CFPR has developed partnerships with world leading academic institutions and an outstanding record in working with collaborators across a wide range of sectors, including fine art, design, material science and engineering.

In 2019 the centre was granted an award of GBP 7.7M from Research England’s ‘Expanding Excellence in England’ (E3) Fund to increase its internationally acclaimed empirical investigation into the artistic, historical, and industrial significance of creative print practices, processes, and technologies. It seeks to develop into a major globally recognised research centre for new printing methods, a contemporary and truly inter-disciplinary centre for the future, where external partners co-create research with researchers in state-of-the-art facilities. The new CFPR Laboratory space at UWE Bristol’s Frenchay Campus was opened in 2021.

The CFPR continues to expand its research capacity under four key research areas:

New Materials: Towards Sustainable Technologies

Digital Manufacturing: Additive, Subtractive, Hybrid

Print and Imaging: Reappraising the Past

Visual Art, Print and Artists’ Books: Methods and Making

Partnerships with Industry:

Our collaborative projects include Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP’s) funded by Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board), undertaking contract research to solve tricky problems for industry, consultancy projects and supporting start-up businesses. We are currently working with Hewlett Packard, Denby Pottery, Burleigh Pottery, Bits from Bytes, Renishaw, John Purcell Paper, St Cuthberts Mill, Polycarta, Viridis 3D, Cranfield Colours, Canon, Roland DG, Society of Dyers and Colourists, The British Museum, The Arnolfini, Oce and The National Gallery. The research team have patented novel ceramic materials.

Partnerships with academic institutions:

These include the University of Bristol; Bristol Robotics Laboratory; Università Degli Studi Di Milano, Italy; Gjøvik University College, Norway; University of Leeds; University of Ulster in Belfast; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain; Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, France; Pannon University Hungary, and AKI (ArtEz) Netherlands.

Partnerships with artists, studios, contemporary makers, and galleries:

CFPR Editions functions as a publishing studio of limited edition prints and multiples. The studio primarily publishes digital prints using technologies such as inkjet, UV, 3D printing and laser cutting. The focus on new print technologies in the field of fine art printmaking places CFPR Editions within a unique area of the print publishing art market.

Read our latest newsletter:
Winter 2021
Summer 2021
Spring 2022
Summer 2022


Featured image: Postcard design by Laura Clarke Oaten

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