July30th
The photos say it all. Custom branding, 3/0 letterpress business cards on 110# paper. Enjoy!
To request and estimate for custom letterpress business cards or letterpress CD/DVD sleeves (we’ll help you with branding too if you’d like) then start here to get a super speedy quote from us!
July13th
You may remember Kelly’s design proofs that were posted back in June and my subsequent raves about her money strategy skills. Well I present you with the final piece! Kelly helps me keep my greenbacks in order and to pinch my pennies. Thanks for being such an awesome money strategist, Kelly!
Printed on 110# Ecru paper with matte copper, matte metallic brown and a faux emboss on the cracker jack logo. Sized at 2.5 x 2.5″ square with 1/4″ rounded corners.
To get yourself a set of letterpress business cards from Dingbat Press, contact us!
To see more of our business cards that we’ve designed and printed via the
letterpress process please see our letterpress business card Flickr set.
June16th
BRIEF from Demi: If anything I would say our style is Tuscan elegance. Our ceremony is outdoors and our reception indoors in a barrel room/wine cave. I don’t want too much of a winery/vineyard theme going on in the invitation, but rather something elegant that sort of catches the whole winery vibe.
While working on these designs we wanted to explore damask pattern and to juxtapose typography with a simple body layout and elegant script for hierarchy significance.
Often when designing, I go through a series of steps to establish hierarchy within a piece. Wedding invitations are easy as usually the bride & groom’s names are of the most importance. Followed by the Bride’s parents (or the hosting family), and then, if included, the groom’s family. Next the reception/ceremony information and then date/time/venue information.
Not all of these areas in a layout will receive different typographic treatments but it’s good to consider the importance of each element in a piece and where it stands in relation to the next element within the design.
All designs ©2010 Dingbat Press, reproduction or derivative works strictly prohibited.
If used in your own blog, please credit by linking to the image source and Dingbat Press.
June3rd
While on the search for a new bookkeeper & financial strategist, I came upon Cracker Jack Accounting run by Kelly Totten. I emailed, we set up a conference call and she happened to LOVE letterpress printing. A match made in heaven, she is my new financial consultant (besides my dad of course ;) and helps me with the big money decisions and all the financial complexities of accounting, bookkeeping and taxes for a creative business. She’s in the Pacific NW, and I’m in Idaho, and she’s fabulous! Below are design proofs for her business cards. I can’t wait to show you the finished piece!
Kelly already had her logo so we established layout and typography that was consistent with it. When I was working on these proofs I thought it would be SO awesome to print the brown tones in a matte copper ink in varying shades to make it look similar conceptually to a penny. If you are a creative and need a rockstar money strategist/accountant Kelly is your woman, and she has a lot of different pricing packages so for me it is TOTALLY worth my time. You can contact Kelly at Cracker Jack Accounting and read up on her offerings!
May21st
This is a project that happens to be one of my favorites to date. Many times I’m printing projects with bright colors, but this one was special because Sade was looking to take her current logo and apply it to letterpress business card layout with really luxurious rich warm colors (enough adjectives already)! Sade wanted a rich ivory stock and I said YES! Let’s do it on Crane’s 220# ecru paper. I don’t get to print on the ecru very often so I knew this would be a knockout piece.
RI design proofs: Sade had provided the Bridal Couture Closet logo on the front of the card, however she wanted to explore a diamond pattern in a light latte for the background and needed layout for contact info on the rear of her business cards.
She wanted her contact info to be presented in a unique way but not too over the top. We elected to put in dingbats to help convey the method of contact (web/email/phone) and to shorten up the lines of type so as not to extend too long.
Each of these diamond patterns behind the logo presented unique opportunity when letterpress printed. Any time the paper “color” is reversed out of a design there is a beautiful pillowing effect that goes on, similar to a faus emboss. Which ultimately gives a third dimension to the piece. When I first started designing and printing for letterpress this was an area unexplored until I started really noticing how the print was affected by the design. It has been a cool process to see different pieces on press and learn how they can add to the final print work in a way that digital proofs just can’t quite convey.
Finished letterpress business cards, front of the cards: Letterpress printed on 220# Ecru Lettra. Pantone match for milk chocolate and latte ink colors, 1/4″ rounded corners.
The full suite together, with cards and product tags – paired with matching ribbon.
1.5×4″ Letterpress printed product tags. 1/0 – pantone match with 1/4″ rounded corners. 3/16″ hole punch and strung with 1/8″ chocolate satin ribbon. Printed on 110# ecru paper.
Overhead view of the finished suite – Thanks Sade for sharing your vision with me and letting me create such a beautiful piece for your business. Best of luck and success and I look forward to seeing your business grow and take shape!
April26th
So I survived the weekend – for those of you who don’t subscribe to the twitter feed, I bought a second press and we went and picked her up this weekend in La Mesa, California, talk about stressful!! I’ll be blogging all about it this week but for now, here’s the anemone design adapted to a one color, letterpress business card for Shira. More details to come!
April15th
So another tax day has come and gone, and yet again we pay our hard earned money to the tax man. In celebration of not thinking about taxes any more, I thought I’d share with you another branding package for Jacqueline. Along with our development of her Guppiez brand for boutique children’s clothing, she is developing a second company specifically for more mass produced product, Dandelionz. Initial design brief included either using a dandelion flower or puff with lion head in the center. She gave me a lot of creative license for these but wanted it to reflect a similar feel as the Guppiez brand. There were 3 color schemes/concepts presented – soft/fun – retro/bright – modern.
April8th
Emma had a great logo already established but we needed to adapt it for letterpress. Often gray-scale imagery either has to be bitmapped in Photoshop, or a line-screen needs to be created. Sometimes it works – like for Sandra Suy’s cards – however this cupcake, being multiple colors and of more minute detail, wouldn’t benefit from a line-screen print. Above is the process in taking Emma’s logo and breaking it into basic shapes with light and shadow that would print better for letterpress. The cupcake was re-drawn in Adobe Illustrator, the white areas were bulked up so the ink wouldn’t bleed in while printing, and there were one and two color options presented for the cupcake in her business card layout. Below, the final printed piece!
April1st
These CD cases were letterpress printed with 1 ink color on a 1ply chipboard. Stacy found the cases online and since they shipped flat/unfolded, they were perfect for feeding into the press. This is the first coated stock I’ve printed on and it’s amazing to see how much more saturated the color is on a coated stock versus a standard cotton uncoated paper. If you send CDs to clients on a regular basis, this might be a great addition to your order. Let me know if you’d like some, I’d be happy to do them for you!
March11th
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.
February2nd
These letterpress notes shipped back in December and I’m just finally getting them posted. I liked designing this job because it was a note that could be used for any member of the family. I had to try to incorporate all the names, make it not too girly, and keep it simple. A lot harder than I thought, we went through a plethora of rounds before it finally came to something everyone was happy with! Enjoy :)
Letterpress printed on a 5.25″ Square card on 110# Thick paper. Copper ink and typeset in Wade Sans Light. The ornamentation was found in an old vintage illustration book I scored at an antique fair a few months back.
January19th
Remember these letterpress anemone escort cards and favor tags? Well I just got word back from the bride that they are being featured on her photographer’s website Shira Weinberger along with her amazing wedding! Here’s a sneak peek below, be sure to click through to see the whole wedding!
Photography courtesy of Shira Weinberger.
January13th
Yet another fabulous photographer, Jessica Morrisy had me create not just one custom business card, but two for her two sister companies. She already had her logo, so I created layouts and pulled elements from the brand to add texture and content to her designs.
The first card is for her main business, the second for her boudoir photography clients.
Jessica was really great to work with, as she already had a good idea about what she was looking for so things went quick on the design end. I like how the direction from Jessica indicated that both of these be similar, yet still have their own feel to each brand. It was a little more challenging to keep them in harmony with each other. Check back soon for photos of the final printed piece!
Donate $10 to help a 20 mo. old baby fight for life! - By donating you'll be entered to win a set of 100 letterpress invites (2 color) and RSVPs OR a set of baby announcements/thank you notes!!
Update: 7.11 Adam has been moved from PICU to NTU (Neuro Trauma Unit) where he is miraculously doing well. He is finally breathing on his own, they've taken out his PICC line, and they are on the slow road to recovery. He has been determined as having an anoxic brain injury and the outcome is still unkown. Right now there is positive feedback from the doctors and only time will tell. His brain is about a year behind what it should be. So for a 20 mo. old baby that puts him at re-learning to sit up on his own. He will continue to receive treatment at Primary Children's Medical Center. Your donations will go towards his hospital bills, and you'll be entered to win some sweet wedding invites or baby announcements! Click the picture above to donate!
