The Dingbat’s Agenda

  • March30th

    Calligraphy Calling Card

    Posted in: business cards

    Below, another letterpress calligraphy calling card done for Laura. I liked how Kathryn embellished Laura’s last name with some leafs, really fitting! I can hardly stand it, my vacation is coming to an end so no more warm weather for at least another month. However, I’m ready to get back to work it’s been a wonderful break!

    LauraVines

  • March29th

    2/2 Letterpress Cards

    Posted in: business cards

    These business cards were done for my amazing hubby. He’s the reason behind my rural tendencies and our living in the middle of nowhere! Before we met, I thought the last place I ever wanted to live was Idaho. Of course the plan changed for me when we decided to get hitched. Now I can gladly say we live in one of the most beautiful places on earth!

    TVL Singles

    Brian is a third generation fly fishing guide/outfitter with his brother and father and I’ve been lucky enough to help them develop their brand over the years. Since we are in the heart of the Teton mountain range, it was only fitting to try to make the best out of a “mountain” logo and differentiate it from all the other logos with the Tetons in our area. Teton Valley Lodge is one of the oldest sporting fly fishing destinations in the west and has been featured in Sports Illustrated, numerous sporting journals and is truly a unique fishing experience. They fish 3 main rivers in southeast Idaho – all catch and release – and their goal, unlike many scenic outfitters, is to catch fish. We wanted that to be the focus of our ad campaign for 2009. Many outfitters in the area say it doesn’t matter if you catch fish, it’s the scenery you are there to enjoy – so in differentiating TVL from the competition and showing what a world-class guided service is made of – we put it out there that they are the best at what they do. Landing the big ones and lots of them!

    TVL Ads

    These cards I designed and printed for Brian have the TVL mission statement, his vital contact info and of course, the Master Guide title, because he really is quite talented at what he does! 2/2 letterpress printed on super thick paper, I’m lucky to have such a great man by my side. Keep up the good work, honey!

    TVL Singles 2

  • March25th

    One Color Letterpress Wedding

    Posted in: Wedding

    ChrisFenisonInvitation

    This letterpress wedding suite was printed last fall for a Victorian Christmas wedding. Often I have the bride & groom looking for budget letterpress and I usually recommend a wedding suite with one ink color in that situation. So many people shy away from estimates if it includes only one ink color, however I wanted to provide an example of how beautiful a suite with one ink color can look! This couple had their budget pretty conservative but needed a lot of pieces in the suite so on the initial consult I provided an estimate for a 1 color suite. Since I was working with a designer (the groom), he was open to the option as well. In the end, it was printed on the thick 110# paper, and included was the reply/food option insert as well as a directions/map insert along with the initial invitation and outer envelope. When utilizing illustration in your wedding invitation design, you can really pack a lot into your design with only one ink color and still have it impress your recipients, so don’t rule it out from the beginning!

  • March22nd

    Pantone Matching System

    Posted in: Business, business cards

    Blogging from sunny Palm Springs this week, it’s spring break and inventory time so I won’t be responding to emails but you’ll continue to get scheduled blog posts throughout the week! I’ll be back to business next week and will get to emails then. It’s our first real vacation in about 5 years, I can hardly stand it!

    Below is a job that recently shipped which utilized the Pantone matching system. Inks are quite unique in that they are transparent. So when mixing colors, one has to factor in the tint of the paper, the coverage of the design and the impression of the plates when printing via letterpress.

    Matching-Pantone-Numbers

    This card, for example, utilized extra packing on the nest mark because there is more coverage than the typography. When printing I didn’t want the ink to flood out of the type and look messy, and then have the nest look more light in value and transparent. With this particular card I packed certain areas on the press with a little more tympan (press packing) to make the color more saturated on the nest so that it would be consistent with the typography on the card – without flooding the press with ink and creating an over-inked mess. As with all hand-printed letterpress, there will be slight variation in value between some prints but consistency is key with inking between impressions and runs to keep the deck printed as close as possible to the initial color match.

  • March18th

    Getting stuff done

    Posted in: photography

    This week David has shown an interest in my camera so we did a small lesson on cropping and focusing in on your subject matter. Here’s the outcome, all shot by my little man (and straight out of the camera) :

    Charlie

    50mm f1.8 – over exposed (manual exposure) ISO 1600 – white balance, auto

    AdeEve

    Trying to get proofs done, not having much success – 50mm f2.4 – still over exposed (manual exp)
    ISO 800 – white balance, auto

    Charlie2

    perfect exposure – photographer in the making! 50mm f1.8 – white balance, auto – ISO 400

  • March15th

    David’s Photoshop Skills

    Posted in: Custom

    This is what you get when a 5 year old stays up way too late. Photoshop tutorials and the brush tool – gone crazy! He even is dictating this blog post…goodnight!

  • March12th

    Business Cards: CPA

    Posted in: business cards

    James Hadad Business Cards

    While I can’t take credit for the lovely design of these, they sure were fun to print! This card was so awesome to see come off oress because it required really tight registration. I printed the blind impresstion first, followed by the pale blue background and dotted rules, and lastly overlaid the charcoal color. I was quite impressed with the blind impression stripes. I had no idea they’d pack a punch like this. Really cool in the end, thanks Toni for designing these great cards and letting me print them!

  • March11th

    Biz Cards: Maylin Brito

    Posted in: business cards

    Maylin Brito Proofs

    Round I for custom letterpress business cards for the fabulous Maylin Brito who photographs infants and really captures everything innocent, pure and peaceful about babies! Her idea was to create a mark or icon out of an acorn because out of small seeds come great trees. Can’t wait to see where we go with this on the next round of proofs.

  • March11th

    Copyright and Copycats

    Posted in: Business

    This issue I think is ever present in the design world today, especially with wedding invitations. Often I have clients come to me wanting a bid for copying another letterpress studio’s work.

    A hard thing is that many presses have similar design styles and use the same stock illustration (hello Dover) which I myself use on occasion. Be aware of your competition and be familiar with other presses so when someone comes to you, you know who they are trying to rip-off (emulate) and then offer custom design as an alternative. My usual lingo is this and it usually doesn’t send clients running:

    The kind rebuff:

    Hi ____,

    As a fine letterpress printer I value the copyrights associated with this design and feel it a conflict of interest to re-produce said design. These are beautiful invitations (business cards/logo/blog design, etc.) and they give me a good idea as to the look and feel of the event and/or piece you are trying to produce!

    I generally employ a non-compete policy in that I choose not to replicate other designer’s work due to copyright and licensing infringement. I’d be happy to work with you on custom invitations though and we can use those images as a starting point for inspiration, let me know if that’s something you are interested in…

    In saying this, I’m not reprimanding someone for wanting to rip another designer/printer off and am confident enough in my design skills that I know I can come up with something unique that will satisfy my client in the end. By the end of the design phase we are light-years away from the initial design presented (not that it’s better but it suits the clients needs without losing one’s design ethics and integrity).

    After having a lengthy discussion on Twitter regarding who’s responsibility it is to educate: we concluded that it falls into a lot of different categories – do we educate our clients, our interns, through mentoring – our children? Or are some people just born with integrity/ethics and others not? Whatever the situation is, I’m putting it out there that to YOU MY CLIENTS, I won’t copy another’s work. I want to make it work for you and am happy to customize for you – I’m confident that we can come up with a stunning solution!

    TO MY DESIGNER FRIENDS and those that read for inspiration:

    If you want to use this wording please be my guest as I want others to respect my designs as I try to respect theirs! You have worked hard to come up with your style, and your collections – protect them without driving your clients out the door :)

    Lastly, If someone comes to me with camera ready artwork, I make them sign a release stating that they have permission to use said file, and that I’m not responsible for printing said file. If it does indeed infringe on copyright of someone else, at least I’m not liable – I’m just acting as printer in those situations!

  • March9th

    Cameron Moll: COLOSSEO

    Posted in: Terriffic Typography

    Okay if you have seen his work for Veer and the Salt Lake City LDS Temple, you won’t want to miss Cameron Moll’s new ROMA poster. Only 50 ava. in the black version you can get it here but be quick, these will go fast I’m sure! Letterpress printed by Bjorn Press, I’ll be ordering on today so I don’t miss out!



  • March8th

    GIVEAWAY! Small Branding Package

    Posted in: business cards, GIVEAWAY

    Salt City Bakery Group

    Andrea came to me via Etsy wanting a set of the Letterpress Sprinkles Cupcake Tags adapted for a brand system for her bakery/patisserie. A local baker in Salt Lake City, Utah she also needed something that would cross over into the online arena where she could promote her brand/shop she’d opened on Etsy as well. In the end, the designs had her two business names but we kept with the same styling and typographic nuances so that there would be visible recognition if one was searching her out but couldn’t remember a business name (like me sometimes ;) These were both letterpress printed on 110# paper in one color of ink. The business cards measure standerd 2×3.5″ and the tags measure 1.5×6″ with 1/2″ rounded corners and 3/16″ hole punch.

    Salt City Bakery Tags

    After completing this project, I started thinking…it’s hard to turn away orders because someone has a small budget and only needs a starter pack of business cards to get going. I really love branding for people and wanted to provide a way for it to be cost effective for my clients as well as practical on the design and  printing side. So I’ve looked at a few different options and have come up with a solution. Many times when someone comes to me, they are a new entrepreneur on a tight budget, looking for a small branding package. As a result of wanting to contribute more to my customers initial investment, I’m now offering smaller minimums if purchased in a branding suite. Here is the first of a few new packages I’ll be unveiling over the next two weeks.

    THE SMALL LETTERPRESS BRANDING PACKAGE! And to announce the launch, I’m GIVING AWAY one set this month (March).

    THE GOODS:
    1 set of 100 standard business cards – square corners. Letterpress printed, 1 color ink front sided printing. Printed on 110# Lettra paper.

    1 set of 50 tags (either 2×2″ or 1.5×6″) – 3/16″ hole punch and rounded corners. Letterpress printed, 1 color ink (same as business cards). Front sided printing. Printed on 110# Lettra paper.

    1 banner OR shop avatar OR blog masthead provided in a .jpg file

    1 logo provided in a .jpg file

    All custom designed for you (or incorporating your own logo) – 3 digital designs presented, 2 rounds of revisions.

    LASTLY, HOW TO ENTER: To be counted you must do the following:

    1) blog about your business and why you want the branding package. Goals, inspiration or how you got started are all great ways to introduce your business to me.

    2) link back to The Dingbat’s Agenda ( http://blog.dingbatpress.com) and my shop (http://dingbatpress.etsy.com)

    3) come back to this post and comment with a link to your specific blog post (links to your blog home will be disqualified, it must be your specific post)

    Lastly, the more you promote the giveaway, the more I’ll know you want it. Tweet it, Facebook it and show the world you know you want it! All entries need the first three points above to qualify for selection, the rest of the social media plugs are up to you!

    Contest ends March 30th, 2010 at 12:00am MST – I’ll choose a winner and announce it on April 1st!
    Once a winner is selected and notified, they must respond within 1 week to claim their package. Production will be 4-6 weeks from start to ship date.

  • March5th

    Wedding Proofs: Jenn Bates

    Posted in: Wedding

    Jenn Bates, Wedding Invite Proofs Option 1
    Jenn Bates, Wedding Invite Proofs Option 2Jenn Bates, Wedding Invite Proofs Option 3

    After being enamored with Jessica Morrisy’s business cards and Sweetie’s Bakeshop proofs, Jenn wanted an adaptation for her letterpress wedding invites. Going for a light/dark combo, the next round will explore some brown in replacement of the light blue. Latte maybe? I can’t wait to see how these turn out!

    If you are interested in an estimate for wedding invitations contact me and fill out the form, I’d love to work with you!

  • March4th

    Business Cards: Wall Envy

    Posted in: business cards

    Wall Envy, Front

    These Wall Envy letterpress cards shipped ages ago, but yet again I found them while archiving my photos. Vickie was really inspirational to work with. She knew exactly what she wanted and was great about providing the client brief to help direct me into the direction we should go. She an her hubby are a great photography team with killer modern taste. Right now I’m working on helping them re-brand their website and blog and all I can say is AWESOME! If you need more than just business cards, please just contact me for pricing. I’m reasonable and really love helping you get the bigger picture together with all your design elements in a row.

    Letterpress printed business cards, 1/1 on 110# paper. 2.5×2.5″ Square cards with 1/4″ rounded corners.

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