The Dingbat’s Agenda

  • February2nd

    Love by Phoebe

    Posted in: branding, business cards, Custom, extending a brand, posted by ADRIENNE

    These cards were letterpress printed on 220# arturo with Pantone match and matte metallic gold inks as a 1/1 business card for Phoebe. Phoebe is an excellent graphic designer and designed these cards for her branding collateral as an extension of her already awesome website.

    I am a big fan of chevrons lately and am totally digging these wide set ones on the back of Phoebe’s card, how about you?

    Edge painted with a custom mix strawberry ink, thanks Phoebe for being so excellent to work with! I loved how these turned out.

  • October11th

    Evelyn, Frankie, Georgia & Hazel

    Posted in: Boxed Notes, Letterpress Retail, NSS, posted by ADRIENNE, Wedding

    I’m a push-over for vintage names – the less used the better. When I was pregnant with Evelyn back in 2007 I really loved the name Hazel. Then Julia Roberts had to name her baby Hazel. I was over ruled as well on Hazel because all my in-laws were joking about her being called Hazelnut Berry.

    Apparently my husband was sometimes called blueberry (I can’t remember why). People are SO smart…or at least they think they are! After Hazel was ruled out, I defaulted to my next favorite, Evelyn, and the minute she was born she was my sweet Evelyn Marie.

    In a world of perfect pregnancies, painless labors, mental stability and anti-aging bodies – I would love to have a few more babies. Wouldn’t it be so cute to have a little Frankie and Georgie (Francis and Georgia) running around the house making a wild rukus?

    Usually I’m not a fan of the boy name for girl thing but I think Frankie and Georgie have got to be the cutest twist on a vintage name (and that would continue our unintended alphabet of names in the family : Adrienne, Brian, Charlie, David, Evelyn)

    What are some of your favorite vintage names? Do you even like vintage names? Available with the rest of the alphabet in the Etsy shop, check out the rest of the letters. They’d be great for first names or last names!

  • October10th

    Smudge of Ink, 1

    Posted in: Custom

    Hi friends! I’m excited to launch a new daily blog post that will be a collection of colors sampled from various images I’ve seen on Pinterest, Flickr and elsewhere. These will be in addition to regular blog posts regarding letterpress and design. Color is so important to a brand image and paper goods and hopefully these color palettes will get you thinking about how color translates on paper as well as in different print and web applicatons.

    The Smudge of Ink series will have an inspirational image, pantone swatches, CMYK coordinates, RGB HEX (for web), and sRGB values. While there is no perfect match across the board if you are using more than one medium to promote your business or match your big event, however these formulas will help close the gap with wondering what will be a good match in different applications.

    Original image from Christian_25′s Photostream, blogged at Happiness Is… 

    To download the swatch ASE for importing into Adobe Applications click here. To import the swatch book click your Swatches Palette > toggle More Options > Open Swatch Library > Other Library > click the .ASE that you want to import. From there the Pantone swatches will load in a new palette with the remainder of your tool bar.

  • September19th

    A is for…

    Posted in: Boxed Notes, NSS, posted by ADRIENNE


    When ever you look at typography or monograms do you immediately go for your “letter”? I think the letter A has to be my favorite (obviously) – whimsical and fancy, these letterpress monogram notes are hard not to keep all to myself. If you remember back in May, these were debuted at National Stationery Show and were a HUGE hit! Due to our unexpected and complicated summer it took a lot longer to get these beauties shipped out to our new stores! The last of the packages have finally shipped just in time for holiday buying and are now available in the shop as well.

    Ready to score a letter “A” set for yourself for FREE? Leave a comment with your favorite “A” name, or the “A” name of someone you’d gift this to. Tweet for an extra entry with the hashtag #BestAName and a random winner will be selected and announced Tuesday morning 9/20. Or if you are ready to buy, head on over and grab a set for the perfect holiday gift! I can’t wait to show you the others – stay tuned…

    Printed on 110# cotton paper, scored and folded – blank interior. Sold as a set of 6 notes, letterpress printed in gold and silver ink & paired with matching metallic envelopes. Packed in a silver box and finished with 1″ grosgrain ribbon – ready for gift giving!

    update!! And the winner is : Lorraine!

     

  • July18th

    Gold Calligraphy Wedding

    Posted in: Calligraphy, posted by ADRIENNE, Wedding

    This invitation suite was beautifully calligraphied by Kathryn of Della Carta whom we work with regularly for calligraphy calling cards. THe bride is looking for an ice blue or pool color paired with a gold. She wants some shimmer which can be interesting with letterpress as our inks are matte. When you print on uncoated paper stock you lose the ability to have a glossy ink and also the sheen that metallic inks can put off. While the inks are mixed with mica flecks to give it that shimmer, I am always advising brides that the ink will be a matte metallic. If you are looking for something super shiny, then a foil is the way to go. Presses with a foiling unit usually have the inking disabled and a foiling unit is attached. From there spools of foil are wound through and with plate and heat, the foil is impressed into the paper giving it that super shiny look. I love seeing foil work done by other presses, and maybe someday I’ll get a windmill with a foiling unit for Dingbat Press.

    This bride is looking for a shimmer pop but isn’t necessarily going for the foil so we are going to go the matte metallic route and utilize shimmer in the liners or envelopes. By using an antique gold ink it will give a hint of shimmer, or we can add silver ink to the pool options to get that blue a little shimmery as well. Which one would you go with?

  • May25th

    It’s hard to be a saint

    Posted in: About Me, Boxed Notes, Etsy, Letterpress Retail, NSS, posted by ADRIENNE, Terriffic Typography

    This card was fun to research and find an appropriate saying to pair with it. In the end I decided that religious or not, we can all agree that its not easy being a saint – especially when there is work to get done, or beds to be made, or children that need feeding. But having the right attitude can sure make a difference in the outcome of any chore or task. Saint or not, what are your dreaded tasks that could use a morning prayer or glass of wine at the end of the day?

    This card makes me chuckle. When designing it, I intended to portray the image that good kings are best served when they serve their people. But when it came off press I kept wanting to read it instead of true kings serve their people well but as true kings serve their people hell. Because really; what king hasn’t served hell  to some degree on a silver platter throughout history?

  • April17th

    Ginko leaf letterpress invitation

    Posted in: Wedding

    Here is another set of letterpress invitations in alternating colorways. Originally the yellow ink was being used as the body copy and on the RSVP – ultimately the yellow ink was proving difficult and wanting to be orangish. So bizarre! So in the end the bride went with the pool/gravel ink colorway, paired with the yellow envelopes. Printers of the world, how do you feel about printing type with light colors?

    Sometimes I feel like there is a time and place where hierarchy and imagery marry well enough to let the blind impression type (or lightly printed type) work beautifully. However, on other occasions it just doesn’t seem to mesh. Have you ever dealt with that on a particular job? Clients, what is your opinion – what is more important on a wedding invitation specifically – color harmony or type? I can’t wait to show photos of the finished product!!

  • April8th

    IT letterpress business cards

    Posted in: branding, business cards, Business Papers, Calling Cards, posted by ADRIENNE

    These cards were printed last summer for Hope for usage with networking, promoting her I.T. services, and to serve as a killer leave-behind with head-hunters and potential clients.

    We designed layout of Hope’s cards in conjunction with Sarah Ewell, one of our freelance designers. Upon approval of the design, these were letterpress printed on 110# Crane’s Lettra paper. Two inks, pantone match, and dressed to impress. I just love the QR code on there paired with the circuit board. Sized at 2.5×2.5″, if you are looking for branding help or have your own design files ready and just need printing, please contact us for a request for a letterpress or design estimate. We’d LOVE to work on your next project!

  • April5th

    NSS 2011 – Sneek Peek – ABCDEFG

    Posted in: Boxed Notes, Letterpress Retail, NSS, posted by ADRIENNE

    Launching as a FULL Alphabet letterpress initial cap collection. To be sold as boxed sets, the letters alternate between silver letters/champagne leaves & champagne letters/silver leaves. They’ll be paired with corresponding envelopes and sold in increments of 6 & 12. Custom color orders will be taken for bulk quantities of 50 or more on the retail end – wholesale will be subject to the silver/gold color scheme. Check back later today for photos of these babies off the press and trimmed in all their glory! Leafy initial notes will be available for retail buying May 1st and we will have the whole collection at National Stationery Show, Dingbat Press booth 2152!

  • April4th

    Sweet & Savory letterpress business cards

    Posted in: branding, business cards, Calligraphy, Edge Painting, posted by ADRIENNE

    THANK YOU THANK YOU! For letting me take a little break with my family for the school spring break. I feel so refreshed and ready to hit the presses (and proofs) running hard tomorrow (today is my last day of bliss :).

    If you are reading via RSS, pop over to the blog for a quick peek on the updated design just in time for the National Stationery Show in May! We’ll also be launching our main domain (which has been quite past due) here this week at DingabtPress.com which will tell in more detail about the services we currently offer regarding design and letterpress printing as well as have a portfolio of our current work. It’s going to be exciting!

    For now, I thought I’d post some business card eye candy for you that shipped out a few months ago – boy do I have a lot to share over the next few weeks!

    Virginia of the lovely Sweet & Savory had a beautiful logo calligraphied by Lisa Ridgely of Pen & Ink that was so fun to work with. We took virginia’s typographic styling from her website and created a simple layout for her cards. The reverse print sometimes poses challenges on press, so when plating we had to bulk up the type and logo that was to be reversed out so that when it printed it would optically look like the digital proofs. These cards were printed on my favorite stock the 600GSM eco-rag paper by Legion. This paper was so soft and supple and it takes a beautiful impression.

    The business cards were a simple 1/0 custom color match in a curry/ochre color so we didn’t lose detail to the contact information. They were also edge painted to match giving them a lovely pop of deliciousness. If you like beautiful photography paired with awesome recipes, you won’t want to miss Virginia’s goodness. Her chocolate mousse looks divine, I might have to make some later today!

  • March15th

    PREVIEW WEEK: Day 5 – Easter anyone?

    Posted in: Business, Holiday, Kids, Letterpress Retail, NSS, Tags

    Go ahead and roll your eyes seeing that we haven’t even hit St. Payy’s day yet. But these little guys are plated and will be for sale in the shop for spring showers, tagging baby gifts, and decorating that beautiful Easter table! Which colorway should I print them in?

  • January10th

    Who loves WOOD TYPE?!

    Posted in: Business, Holiday, Letterpress Retail, letterpress technique, posted by ADRIENNE

    You may recognize this if you follow me on Twitter – it is a larger than life original X piece of wood type. Antique, patina and all around gorgeous, I acquired this baby on eBay back in 2001 along with it’s soulmate O. They are so large in fact, that they extend beyond the press bed (and print area).

    So to work this baby out – we had to shorten our dead area (usually there is a dead bar at the front of the press which keeps the grippers from hitting the printed form and damaging not only the grippers but the type as well). To shorten our dead area we had to be extra cautious, and a small piece of furniture was inserted in replacement of the dead bar (see that wood block on the press? that’s called furniture in printer’s speak).

    Next we had to FLOOD the press with ink. Printing large image area is a totally different ball game than business cards. Business cards require the most minute amount of ink – too much and the ink will muck things up and make your type horribly ugly. However with large areas, a lot more is required – and when doing multiple prints (without an ink fountain that automatically feed the ink on the press) I had to ink up quite a few times.

    In the end, there is an amazing variety that happened with these prints. Both the X and O had unique wear to them so when over-printed (the process of laying one image area over the other) those details came out in this fabulous western wood type way. Distressed and tasteful and beautiful! On some of the prints we added a third color (pink) which was under the gold and offset by about a 1/4″ to give a drop shadow effect – those we kept for valentine’s gifts but were equally cool.

    Oversized letterpress wood type poster XOX

    I can’t believe that after all these years of my X and O sitting on the shelf that I never made time to get them on press! Finally they are ready and I’m giving one away to a lucky reader/tweeter/FBer!

    The Specs: 1 (one) letterpress extra-large poster of the XO. sized 13×19″, 2 inks (red/matte antique gold). Signed and numbered of an edition of 50. unframed – and shipped in a tube for safe mailing.

    TO ENTER:
    You can comment for 1 entry,
    tweet for another entry with hashtag #XOposter and make sure you metnion @DingbatPress and comment back here with your tweet,
    and for a third entry post it in your feed on Facebook (and again come back and provide a link :)

    You have until Jan. 14 midnight MST to enter. A winner will be selected at random and announced by the end of the week!

    Or if you want one RIGHT NOW, just hop on over to the Etsy shop and get one. These babies are ready to ship!

  • January3rd

    Ringing in 2011 – letterpress style!

    Posted in: About Me, Business, Holiday, letterpress technique, NSS, posted by ADRIENNE, Wedding

    So it’s another new year – and I’m a resolution kind of gal. So after you look at these pretty New Years Eve letterpress invitations, then check out the goings on planned for 2011 and sit back and watch it all happen as we blog and grow Dingbat Press.

    Anabelle Pardi Inv

    Letterpress New Year’s Eve wedding invitations. Printed on 110# Ecru paper in matte metallic antique gold, and matte metallic pewter ink. A7 (5×7″) finished size for the invitation, and 3.5×5″ reply paired with printed matching envelopes.

    Anabelle Pardi RSVP

    Personal Resolution #1

    I’m not buying anything for myself this year. No clothes, toys, pretty things what-so-ever. National Stationery Show is the only thing I’ll be splurging on :)

    Obvious Business Resolution #1

    Grow Dingbat Press!

    In the coming year, the following goals will be blogged about – as we pass them off – its our biggest event yet and I can’t wait to share it with you all!

    Finish 2011 Collections: Wedding, Ready-Made and Digital (yes we are venturing into the offset arena for our customizable goods!) Print New Biz Cards: and with that, master the die-cutting on the windmill. Put together THE BOOK: you know, the one that goes with the wedding collection. Design our booth for NSS: and fire-proof it, build it and ship it to NYC. Finalize our signage for NSS: and get our wholesale price-lists, order sheets, promotional material, and press kits ready. Send out our Pre-show promotions: letting everyone know where we’ll be at! Book flights: confirm hotel reservations, booth space, set-up and take-down. PRINT PRINT PRINT! all our new collections. Launch: Our wholesale catalogue…and much much more!


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