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.

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.

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.

In following yesterday’s SpudNut post, I felt it suiting to show these business card design proofs that were done awhile ago for Sweetie’s Bakeshop. Delicious and delicate, these cards were really fun to design. With this specific design we needed to make sure the pool color was light enough in value so as not to pose any problems with the pink over-print. Value can sometimes be an issue in letterpress printing (and offset too) because inks are transparent by nature so there can be show-through which needs to be accounted for when presenting designs. Thankfully the client was more than flexible with the color so we could make sure there was perfection in print quality and color hue. Can’t wait to show you the finished product!

These letterpress business cards were for the fabulous Kerri McConnell who is another really fun and incredible photographer. Man I love you photographers! Kerri was looking for something, fun, fresh and modern (as you’ll note in her by-line). She was really drawn to the coach logo, something with a little vintage flair with a hint of modern clean lines and typography.

We utilized Bernhard Fashion and Estilo to give it an updated typographic vibe with a hint of Art Deco. Kerri’s old website had a lot of pink and she didn’t want to stray from that color as it’s one of her favorites. In the end we came up with a great registration black and pink design utilizing polka dots and a double-stroke border reminiscent of one of the old Coach logos. Thanks Kerri for being such a doll to work with, these were a really fun project for me to design and print!

Printed via letterprses on Lettra 110#/300GSM paper with 1/4″ rounded corners, 2 ink colors. Custom designed, you can get a sample set for yourself here to see all the different cards I’ve done and then contact me for an estimate for some for yourself!

Another set of letterpress Calligraphy Calling cards out the door, these were for an interior designer. Gravel seems to be the big ink color on a lot of these orders, but on occasion people venture out of the ordinary (stay tuned).

Kathryn always does such a fabulous job with the calligraphy on these, however if you are looking for an alternated style, I have a few other calligraphers that I can recommend too!

Adam deals in rare books and manuscripts. He was looking for letterpress business cards along the line of something simple and one color. Here’s what I came up with for the first round:

I’ve been holding out on posting these letterpress biz cards because they are just SO cool, and I didn’t know how to do the write up. I think they are one of my favorite to date on the blind impression scale. If you saw the proofs for Jessica’s two sister photography businesses you’ll know that there were two sets of cards produced.  One for her family clients and the other for her goddess clients. You’ll notice on her proofs that there was a light grey outline of her logo on the blue/grey samples. That translates well to a beautiful blind impression. This was the first time I outlined a logo instead of silhouetting it. The outlined impression around and the patten ended up looking sort of quilted because the paper pillowed around the perimeter as well as on the interior. Check it out!

These letterpress calling cards were done for a client who LOVES to fish. He wanted classic black type and a dingbat. Although a little larger than dingbat size, this fish is sure to catch your eye.

I think they turned out well, don’t you? There’s nothing like rich registration black printed on crisp white paper. I used to hate printing black until I learned the art of mixing registration black – back in black baby!

I feel really blessed to have had the opportunity to work with Laura. I thought having three kids was a lot of work, but this woman is so inspiring, with 5 adorable children of her own, it’s amazing talking to her, looking at her incredible photography work and learning from her and her great strength! Check out Laura Reaux Photography to see more of what I’m talking about!

The nest was an initial exploration to tie in the natural and organic feel to her brand but to help expand it. In the end we just really liked where the tree was going. Check back soon for the final printed piece!

These letterpress calling cards were printed a few months back for Joy, but I wanted to print an option in blossom to see if there would be value issues with the lighter pink ink and the small type. I haven’t printed with light pink too much so it was a fun experiment to work on and I look forward to offering it to you from here on out!

Get yourself a set of 50 letterpressed calling cards by Dingbat Press.

Calligraphy on this card by: Kathryn of Della Carta
Other Calligraphers I also love that would do a fabulous name for your calling card:
Lisa Ridgely (Pen & Ink) | Emilie Friday | K is for Calligraphy

Here is the final printed piece for Alfred and Emma of Alfred Salom Photography from the Bay Area. I liked how on these business cards the acid green worked so well in contrast with the light grey. Click to see the round I design proofs as well as the round II proofs. These cards were letterpress printed on Lettra 110# paper with 2 ink colors and front sided.

All business card orders receive complementary design services that are built right into the price, something not all printers offer with their pricing packages. Of course you can submit your own files as well, but this is a great incentive to update your identity/brand at a fraction of the cost. Some of my clients start from scratch, others come to me with a logo and then we work together to establish layout, typography and design that is cohesive with the look and feel of the brand. A handful of my clients have ready-made files which I then pre-flight and edit to fit the nature of letterpress printing if necessary. What ever your needs are I would love to work it out with you!

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!

I’ve had a few emails requesting to see the design proofs on Jessica’s cards so without carrying on much further here they are!

These card designs started as something more kinetic. From the beginning, the cards were going to have a blind impression and it was a matter of how to convey it best for Jessica’s brand and for the letterpress business cards. In the end she decided to simplify and focus specifically on her logo and contact info. To see the final letterpres printed cards and tags feel free to check it out!