The Full Story
Meet Onward
Onward & Company didn't start from scratch: it began as an evolution, and will continue that way.
Allow me to introduce myself.
I'm Zach and I run Onward as both a personal and community project. As a studio it is an extension of my investment in heritage practice in ways that link with the needs and visions of creatives today.
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Onward grew (shrank?) out of a larger book arts project I began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2017. The Bindery was a glorious adventure: a preservation project to save the last standing heritage bookbindery in the city and transform it into a book-centric arts, event, and community center.
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My colleagues and I renovated the failing building, restored the historic equipment within, and spent years bringing life back to it with classes, events, and a host of services. The learning curve was steep and wonderful.
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I met and worked alongside a wealth of amazing folks at The Bindery who provided inspiration, tutelage and patience: master bookbinder Daniel Ehn, Riso/design studio BearBear, the community printers of Anchor Press, the writers and leaders at Woodland Pattern and the underlying thread of quiet support from afar: thank you Matt at FTBTIA. [To name a few, of course.]
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In 2025 I chose to close The Bindery and slow down. Onward & Company is the result.
onward (adverb) | toward or at a point lying ahead in space or time : forward
After several decades away I returned to my homeland in Central New York to reunite with the land, community, and myself. I brought my book, print, and community-education experience along with me to reinvest in my own past. Onward emerged as a way to share and create with others more intentionally than a larger venture would allow.
At first I thought closing The Bindery meant something was ending: I was wrong.
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My late father used to sign his letters as "Onward, Don." The closing of his message wasn't the end: it was looking ahead to the next interaction--leaving the door open for further correspondence and what was to come. My father was an optimist. I bring this ethos to Onward & Company now.
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For artists, writers, makers, and creatives, we exist in a world where it is hard to be optimistic: I feel that. As a Trans/Queer maker, I further align with the fights and frustrations of my fellow marginalized family--there is much to be fearful of and mourn for: there is much to celebrate. Onward & Company is designed to be present with artisans: to catch each other where we're at and create work that is forward-looking, even if the point lying ahead in space or time may feel out of reach.
Let's reach together.
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Onward,
Zach​​​​​​
Zachary Lifton holds a BA in Arts Management from Bennington College, and an MA in Historic Preservation from Columbia University. He has spent the past decade in the binding and print industry and is an experienced pressman, machine-typecaster, and layout specialist.
His prior business, The Bindery, produced work for The Milwaukee Art Museum, The Chipstone Foundation, Ruth Arts, Black Women of Print, Woodland Pattern, The Guild of Bookworkers, The Haggerty Museum of Art, The Magnet Factory, Milwaukee Public Library, The Rep, Historic Milwaukee, Milwaukee Zine Fest, and hundreds of independent artists, authors, photographers and creatives.
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Onward & Company makes books and prints using vintage equipment, in-house. The studio-factory is home to a Vandercook SP15, A Heidelberg Windmill, a large collection of wood type, two Ludlow Typographs, a National Book Sewer, a Smyth No.12 Book Sewer, Kensol and Kwik Print Foiling machines, plus several vintage cast iron presses, cutters and shears. Each object Onward makes is inherently infused with the story of these hardworking marvels of industrial engineering still in use today.
