Students revive Toronto’s print history with 3D innovation

Graphic Communications Management and Creative Industries students collaborate with Mackenzie House for time-travelling exhibition

By: Mays Saifan

August 12, 2025

A group shot of four people posing among old printing equipment in Mackenzie House, a historical museum.

Instructor Lee Eldridge with students Kieran McGlade, Megan Quan, and Elianna Nghiem. Photo courtesy of Lee Eldridge.

A group of students from The Creative School have brought 19th-century Toronto to life through a unique collaboration with Mackenzie House (external link, opens in new window) , a historic museum and the former home of the city’s first mayor, William Lyon Mackenzie.

As part of the At Home in Toronto (external link, opens in new window) exhibition, students used 3D printing, UV-inkjet techniques, and digital illustration to recreate newspaper mastheads, print portraits on an iron press, and map the city’s transformation from 1860 to today. The work honours key historical publishers like Mackenzie, Mary Ann Shad Cary, and Henry Bibb.

Led by instructor Lee Eldridge, the project includes contributions from Graphic Communications Management students Kieran McGlade and Elianna Nghiem, as well as Creative Industries student Megan Quan. “Running a plastic plate printed on a modern 3D printer through a 180-year-old cast iron press feels like a sort of alchemy. Students aren’t only studying graphics or history here with these projects—they’re helping to co-print it and share it with the city!” Says Eldridge.

Catch the free exhibition at Mackenzie House (82 Bond Street) now through November 23, 2025.

A full shot of a half-folded newspaper propped up on a podium. The title of the newspaper reads “Mackenzie’s Toronto Weekly Message” and features other smaller articles and images throughout.

Photo of Mackenzie’s Toronto Weekly Message newspaper from July 30, 1859. Photo courtesy of Lee Eldridge.

Close-up shot of a person holding an ink roller and inking up a letterpress.

A Mackenzie House employee inking up a print. Photo courtesy of Lee Eldridge.

The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University

The Creative School is a dynamic faculty that is making a difference in new, unexplored ways. Made up of Canada’s top professional schools and transdisciplinary hubs in media, communication, design and cultural industries, The Creative School offers students an unparalleled global experience in the heart of downtown Toronto.