The Dingbat’s Agenda

  • January26th

    Fifi’s Beautiful Black edge painting!

    Posted in: Business, business cards, Edge Painting, Pantone, posted by ADRIENNE, Terriffic Typography

    You may remember these that we showed back as a sneak peek in October. And then of course I was slow to getting around to blogging the full set of photos! Fifi is from Australia and a recent grad and contacted us in hopes that 1) we shipped internationally, and 2) We accepted designed files for press.

    Lucky for her, we do both and were super excited to print these cards for her. Letterpress printed on 220# Arturo as a 2/1 card, I love the softness of the blushy-pink pantone match paired with the sophisticated black ink/black edge paint.

    Sized at 2×3.5″ and printed as an initial set of 250 (our minimum opening order for a set of custom or client submitted files) you can get an estimate for yourself here - we are already booking the press for March and April!

  • January12th

    Calligraphy Calling Card, 59

    Posted in: business cards, Calligraphy, Calling Cards, Color, Edge Painting, letterpress technique

    Another lovely set of Calling Cards for Emily Ellyn I love the orange edge paint paired with the black ink.

    These were printed on 110# LUXE paper and edge painted with our signature highly pigmented inks with love. On these cards, I discovered that latex gloves really helps keep your hands from cracking.

    With all the hand washing, painting and heat gun settings, my finger tips have started cracking with this dry winter weather. Good bye cracking knuckles, hello latex gloves!

    If you are looking at landing yourself a set, it is a great way to get into some letterpress cards without breaking the bank and they turn around fast! Check them out here to customize a set of your own.

  • November29th

    BLACK FRIDAY, letterpress Tuesday

    Posted in: Business, Business Papers, Calling Cards, Edge Painting

    Never one to follow tradition, I received a lovely email from a colleague yesterday morning wondering if I’d hold my Cyber Monday promotions and instead launch them on Tuesday as part of a Letterpress Tuesday promotion – specifically showcasing letterpress artisans and their holiday goodies on sale. I of course opted out of Cyber Monday and am happy to announce that for the next 24 hours (YES, RIGHT NOW) you can get 25% off ANYTHING in our online shop until midnight tonight (MST).

    These black letterpress calling cards were printed on a black 80# coverstock (I think it was AstroBrights paper). Black can be tricky on press because letterpress inks are very transparent and do not get good opacity when printing on dark papers. We like to recommend a color mix with opaque white to help bulk up the color (PMS Silver 877 works great too if you can afford to have a little tonality with the grey).

    With the left-overs we decided to add a teal edge paint to see how it would take to the black. I feel like I’m having an 80′s flashback!

    Because I just couldn’t get enough, I decided to see what a lavender would look like. If you want to order a set for yourself, you can customize them right here and we’ll make sure they look radical before they ship out to you! If you are unsure about color, stick with lighter hues. They will print and show-up much better than darker colors on the color wheel.

  • November9th

    Making pigs fly since 1984

    Posted in: branding, business cards, Business Papers, Calling Cards, letterpress technique, NSS, posted by ADRIENNE, posted by MATT

    I have to say, I have some awesome brothers. Both of which I love dearly! Matt, the little brother, worked for Dingbat last year before he started grad school and if you remember he did a few great posts on business Friday. As a thank you, these were supposed to be at NSS last year for him to hand out but they got lost in a shipping snafu and then buried for a few months back at the studio. I finally was able to find them and dig them out as well as photograph them and get them sent off to their rightful owner.

    A few things about Matt, he really liked this flying pig that was rejected by another client. He claimed it as his own. Matt’s personality is all about having fun, enjoying life and having a positive attitude. He also snorts when he laughs (just kidding Matt, you only did that when you were a baby or when I was trying to choke you).

    These cards were a custom duplex with Lettra 110# white and Revere 110# black. Duplexed cards can be tricky on press because of the extra glue between the sheets. That glue can make for a harder and less flexible paper resulting in a not-so-deep impression on the back side.

    I still love how those skinny chevrons turned out though, BEAUTIFUL!

    Thanks Matt for putting up with your crazy sister for a year and for being the best small business consultant EVER (next to dad who gives great legal advice)!

  • November3rd

    sneek peek, black edge paint!

    Posted in: business cards, Calling Cards, Edge Painting

    These shipped out last week to Australia to an awesome designer – LOVE the subtle nuances of the blush ink and black edge paint!  Can’t wait to show you the rest of the cards, man I have awesome clients that design great work.

  • October19th

    QR Code calling cards

    Posted in: branding, business cards, Calling Cards, Edge Painting

    SO excited to show these, they’ve been hanging out here in draft space for quite some time! We’re launching some updated calling card designs (but will still continue the beloved calligraphy calling card). One of them is our QR code card. These are for the minimalist techie addict, and thanks to the genius of smartphones (THANK YOU STEVE JOBS) these would be a great new way to send out your contact info without flooding the card with loads of info.

    Letterpress QR code business cards, printed on Legion Eco-rag 220# with registration black ink.

    Edge painted in black ink, sized at 2.5×2.5″ – you can read the full write up on the letterpress project at FPO (UnderConsideration). So excited!!

    Want some of these rad cards for yourself? Contact us for an estimate (they are quite well priced)!

  • February8th

    San Juan Letterpress Invitation

    Posted in: Custom, posted by ADRIENNE, Wedding, Wedding Week

    You may remember the proofs for Jessica’s knockout wedding invitations. Well I’m excited to blog about the finished piece – again a new favorite! View the eye candy – I really don’t have much to say about them except that this was an amazing wedding suite to work on.

    This was a 4 piece wedding suite for Jessica. We wanted to create variation between pieces but still have them tie together. Pool and black are her wedding colors, and she wanted an old-world feel to the invites.

    Edge painted with a matching saturated pool, to set off her 1/8″ black border from the front of the invite. These were also packed in pool envelopes for the outer envelope, and black rsvp envelopes.

    The invitation was printed on Lettra 220# with a full bleed damask pattern overlaid with registration black ink. The typography used was a pairing of Adobe Garamond as well as P22′s Zaner Pro.

    The reception card was sized 4×6″, 1 color (black obviously) and printed on 110# lettra. We pulled out the damask pattern and changed the layout a little to create variety. I feel like I’m looking at some awesome black velvet when I see these stunning cards!

    The RSVP card was a 3.5×5″ card printed on 110# lettra. The black border and simple dotted line were repeated in this card, but ultimately it was left with more negative space so as not to crowd the important information of making a meal selection.

    If you are interested in a stunning wedding suite of your own, we do custom designs for all our suites. You can contact us to request an estimate for letterpress invitations and if you place your order by Feb 15th we’ll knock off 10% of your final invitation invoice as a Valentine’s Treat!

  • February7th

    Wedding Invitation Week!

    Posted in: posted by ADRIENNE, Wedding

    In honor of Valentine’s Day I’ll be blogging all week about wedding invites that have gone out the door these last few weeks.

    2 Color, letterpress wedding invitations. Black & white leaves.

    These were printed for my borther-in-law and his fiance for their wedding next week. We are so excited for them both, they’ve been waiting a long time for each other! These were printed on our new house paper (in the 220# stock) Legion Eco Rag. I LOVE it SOOO much better than the Lettra 220# paper. All I can say to describe this paper is, plush, pillowy and take a BEAUTIFUL impression. There are so many things that make this paper (in my opinion) better than the lettra. It’s soft – has a beautiful texture, and CUTS SO MUCH BETTER. My blade on my cutter dulls pretty quick with the lettra, but this stuff is like a hot knife through butter. There were some curling issues I think because it’s manufactured in a humid area, and we are a very dry climate, however by the time it was trimmed down and printed, and then trimmed to final size they were flat as sheet metal.

    The typography they selected was an unlikely pairing, however after seeing it all printed out, I was really surprised at how they turned out. I think in the end the paring of Bernhard Modern with Raniscript was a great transition of bold to thin, with similar axis characteristics and stem extenders. What do you think?

  • January31st

    Weeks 3 & 4, 2011

    Posted in: Business, Holiday, NSS, posted by ADRIENNE, Wedding

    It’s that time again to check in with my resolutions for 2011 and check-list. First off, I still haven’t bought anything for myself yea! Although iPhone 4 (yeah the one with the cracked screen 3 weeks after buying) has met an even more depressing demise- it dropped again, this time bumper cover and all, about 18″ and the rest of the screen shattered. I can’t really read anything anymore, but the touch functionality mostly works. It’s been taped up with packing tape. June couldn’t come fast enough for iPhone 5. Sheesh!

    Wedding invites were out the door for my brother-in-law – 650 of them, another sheesh! That made for an insane weekend!

    Things accomplished for NSS – The Book was previewed. There was a price cut on the Lettra 600 GSM – but not enough to temp us. So we’ve officially switched house papers to the fabulous Legion Eco-rag which not only prints better, but is less expensive. PRICE CUT on the 600 GSM stuff – wohoo for everyone involved!

    Mother’s Day and Father’s Day cards are officially done, printed an photographed.

    Wrapping up the 2012 calender for NSS, and a new line of mini-enclosures that are going to rock it!

    Submitted entries for the Louies! Judging happens tomorrow and the 3rd – eek!

    2010 Taxes are DONE! 1099′s are going out today!

    And unveiling one of our new wedding designs for Valentine’s : Psyche & Eros - coming to a weding book near you – May 2011


  • January16th

    Trend Spotting from the Golden Globes!

    Posted in: Inspiration, Projects, Wedding

    It looks like Forest Green, Blush and of course Black were the big winners on the red carpet tonight. Can you say Wizard of Oz? Man I can’t WAIT to do some stellar wedding invites with these colors. What do you think?

    Photo credits People.com

  • November1st

    Pearls & Lace

    Posted in: branding, business cards, Business Papers

    I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!! We sure did, I can’t wait to post about Charlie’s costume – sooo cute :) Anyway – These are perfectly peachy and were featured awhile ago on CardNerd, however I don’t think they ever made it up here on the blog. Pearls & Lace is an online boutique, specialising in designer clothing and accessories. They subscribe to the aesthetic that lies within classic cuts and styles, coupled with quality fabrics and materials.

    letterpress pantone match

    Anne’s design proofs for Pearls & Lace were super fun to work on – her provided logo was great inspiration for the rest of the layouts, and her branding has translated to her website beautifully. If you are down under and looking for some awesome pearls & lace check them out!

  • October12th

    Spring Wedding Invitation Proofs

    Posted in: Wedding

    These letterpress invitations have been in the works the last few weeks and are turning out exciting. I’m always amazed at the options you can create with a damask pattern to change things up between pieces in a suite. Which one would you go with?

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    Included in the suite are 2/0 letterpress wedding invitation, 1/0 reception-details card, a 1/0 reply card, and a belly band.
    If you are interested in custom wedding invitations for letterpress contact us for an estimate,
    or you can check out our new digital printed wedding collection for budget friendly wedding suites.

  • September17th

    Splendid Wife

    Posted in: branding, business cards, Business Papers, letterpress technique

    When Yvette came to us for typographic help with her logo, as well as business card layout, we couldn’t be more excited because she provided Annie – her bombshell of an illustration to tie into the layout.

    Splendid Wife Proofs

    Splendid Wife Proofs

    The main explorations here were to reflect a sort of Mad Men meets Bewitched vibe and Annie was the PERFECT Joan Holloway that Yvette provided for us to work with. We needed to first simplify Annie so she would look knockout for letterpress.

    Splendid Wife Proofs

    Splendid Wife Proofs

    Splendid Wife Proofs

    There are explorations with color variation within her dress, tights shoes, glove, and accents (belt, pleats). Annie even got a dye job in one option with some killer red hair, ultimately which didn’t last because she liked her dark do.

    Splendid Wife Proofs

    Splendid Wife

    Splendid Wife

    Letterpress printed business cards 3 colors of ink, on 110# lettra. 1/4″ corner radius, pantone match and so fabulously well printed by Makayla (she’s been on staff for almost a year now, great work girl!)

    Thanks Yvette for being so fabulously fun to work with, sending EVERYONE YOUR WAY – Splendid Wife here we come!! I wish you could be my personal assistant!

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