Teacher Resource Kit

Exquisite Monsters of the Industrial Revolution

Moveable Type Studio (MTS) is a mobile printmaking studio dedicated to hands-on creative learning. This year, MTS is undertaking a six-week artist residency at the Queensland Museum Railway Workshops, exploring the intersection of two world-changing 19th-century innovations: the steam railway and the printing press.

Our pilot schools program, Exquisite Monsters of the Industrial Revolution, invites teachers and students to discover traditional letterpress printmaking and draw connections between the power of trains and the power of print.

Historical Background: Railways & Printing in the Industrial Revolution

During the Industrial Revolution:

  • Steam engines transformed transportation.
  • Steam-powered printing presses revolutionised communication.

These innovations reshaped society. Rail companies used printed ephemera to promote schedules and routes, while printing presses relied on trains for distribution. The aesthetic of wood type, iron locomotives, and mechanical power forms the foundation of this project.

Project Overview

Students will design a steampunk-inspired monster using mechanical references from the Industrial Revolution. The project uses the exquisite corpse method to encourage collaboration and imaginative thinking.

  • Classroom Collage Activity: All students contribute to the monster’s head, body, and legs.
  • School Collaboration: Each school is assigned one section (head, body, or legs) to produce as a large-format relief printing plate.
  • Festival Finale: Plates are assembled and printed collaboratively at the 2025 Galvanised Festival at Queensland Museum Rail Workshops.

Design Process – Step by Step

Stage 1: Research & Brainstorming

  • Introduce the Industrial Revolution, rail transport, and the printing press.
  • Discuss societal impacts.
  • Explore steampunk as a genre.
  • Prompt students to imagine trains as living monsters.
  • Focus on design elements: line, shape, texture.

Stage 2: Exquisite Corpse Collage Exercise

  • Use curated reference images from QMRW archives and open sources.
  • Students draw/collage the head, fold and pass.
  • Next student adds the body, fold and pass.
  • Final student adds the legs/feet.
  • Reveal and repeat to generate multiple designs.

Stage 3: Allocated Section for Large-Format Plate

  • Reveal assigned section (head, body, or legs).
  • Select final design based on collage elements.
  • Transfer design onto provided plate material.

Stage 4: Plate Preparation – Cutting and Drawing

  • Photocopy final design and place on plate.
  • Trace shapes, cut bold forms.
  • Add linework and textures with pencils or styluses.

Stage 5: Mentoring and Refinement

  • Send photo of completed plate to moveabletypestudio@gmail.com
  • Adjust as needed for print clarity.
  • Ensure clean alignment with adjoining sections.

Stage 6: Plate Drop-Off

  • Deliver plates to the Railway Museum Thursday 4th September, or Friday 5th September, or Saturday 6th September

Stage 7: Final Printing Day at Galvanized Festival

  • Gather at Queensland Museum Railway Workshops.
  • Ink and assemble multi-school monsters.
  • Print collaboratively using MTS equipment.
  • Celebrate final works in the festival exhibition.

Design Elements in Focus

  • Line – Motion and detail (e.g., rivets, smoke)
  • Shape – Bold silhouettes (e.g., wheels, stacks)
  • Texture – Pressed or drawn surface detail adds character