new name / new business-y stuff

Oh, change. It's exciting, always. But let's be honest: It also almost always looses it's charm before long. Once I incorporated the studio under a new name, I had to got to tackle the colossal chore of updating all of my business communication documents (that's just a fancy word for things like business cards, letterhead, invoices, envelopes and other business-y stuff). Let me tell you: a dirty chore it is.

Happily, I've waded all the way through and things are looking pretty darn bright from this side of the to-do list.

See those business cards? They're just one of the pieces I'm proud to unveil for Clark & Co. (You probably saw the website placeholder last week.)

Studio Olivine so kindly partnered with me to letterpress the cards; I can now turn my logo loose in the real world. Next time you see me, ask for one. Then, you can turn it into a keychain, necklace pendant, hang tag, gift tag, dog tag or any other kind of tag you'd like. It's ridiculous fun, right? (Read about the luxury and awesomeness of letterpress from some previous client work while you're here.)

Friends and clients, thanks for bearing with me through this transition. Even if we don't work together, I'm (sadly) certain you've been subject to a look and/or word that contained a tinge of my self-inflicted suffering. Being self-employed is hard work! Fortunately, it's also completely worth all the work that's hard. As for the work that's not hard....er....well....that's conversation's for another day.

:)

Bryan Rupp Photography | Sneak Peek!

This morning I have a little sneak peek for you. It's another letterpress business card and it's for Bryan Rupp, of Bryan Rupp Photography. Bryan and I both went to George Fox University. He transferred in and quickly became known as "Awesome Bryan" across campus because he was just that nice...aaaaand he used the word "awesome" very liberally.

After school Bryan took up photography and his hobby quickly grew into a successful business. I've enjoyed watching Bryan's work (he's really good!) from afar and am now thrilled to be his designer, helping him amplify his brand. He came to me with a logo and we'll be developing even more once the business card is complete. Below you'll see the plates and a preview of both the front and back of the card.

We're running the cards at Brown Printing here in Portland. I'm ever-awed by the letterpress process and especially like working with the crew at Brown. They know their stuff.

It will be really fun to show you the end product. There's a special shape in store for this business card. Bryan and I will reveal it in it's finished form in the new year. Until then, enjoy the holidays!

Type Americana: Part 3 (Letterpress Workshop)

Here resumes the Type Americana 4-part blog post series, with our Letterpress Workshop. After a Friday full of lecture and and evening film screening, we flitted back to SVC on Saturday for some hands-on type fun. That's exactly what we got. Messy, colorful, active type via letterpress.

The workshop instructors were Jim and Bill Moran, brothers from Two Rivers, Wisconsin. They came all the way from the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, where they do their lives' work, to spend some time with us typophiles. To prove their love for all things letterpress, they traveled with some precious cargo in tow: a set of blocks from Hamilton Wood Type’s Globe Printing Collection. As stated on the Type Americana blog, "This group of plates, which offers a peek at American advertising culture from the 1930s to the 1950s, provides a rare opportunity to work with a vintage collection of printing history." It was a fabulous opportunity that each of us seized with gusto!

Below is a series of shots documenting our morning in the print shop. Enjoy, and holler if you have any questions.

These little pieces of wood are called furniture. Cute. They're what you use to position your plate/blocks correctly on the press and keep them where you want them.

I think someone was dreaming of Tiffanys...

Think of all the different messages these blocks were used to print in the past...It's pretty cool that they continue to help us communicate, present-day.

Bill giving us the run-down. My printing buddy, Glenn Fleishman is the angry-looking man on Bill's right. He's actually really fun and not angry at all. :) Though I don't have any shots of us working together, we made a great team. Thanks, Glenn!

The blocks from Hamilton Wood Type’s Globe Printing Collection

Our first plate, which we had to stop using after only two prints due to some damage. When they find damage, they do one final proof of the plate and then create a replica of it using a router (much more high-tech than how the original was made) so the block can be retired, but it's image can continue to be used and enjoyed.

Our second choice: Sportsmans Park, a 2-plate set. 
I guess we had a thing for horses.

My new friend Joy from Austin, TX

Vibrant fives!

This blue hue was in high-demand.

The master at work: Mr. Jim helping us set our second plate in the set, skilled in using furniture.

Me, pretty excited about all of this.

P.S. The Space Needle is right out that window.

Our third plate of the morning.

You can't get much more Americana than this:

Farm kids, a pig, a cow, balloons and a plane.

Hamilton actually made most of their money from the manufacturing of  "Composing Room Equipment" (like cabinets and things), not type. If you'd like to know more about the history of wood type and Hamilton, you can read about it all here.)

"TOMATO IN CONCERT" - On the press and ready to roll.

Me, intense.

"TOMATO IN CONCERT", up-close. This combination of blocks still makes me giggle a little. Can you imagine tomatoes in concert? All I can see is something along the lines of Veggie Tales.

Joy and I showing off our "TOMATO IN CONCERT" meets Farm Children.

Being a good little printer: cleaning. Note who's behind me, to the left: Richard Kegler of P22 and the Director of Making Faces!

Up next! 

Part 4: Font Workshop, to drop Monday morning following the holiday weekend. Stay tuned. And be sure to eat plenty of turkey....or tofurkey, whichever you prefer.

A little letterpress love.

As promised, here's a little peek at the first press check I did for Melissa Tomeoni's business cards. We ran the cards with Brown Printing in North Portland. I've raved about them before. Although I already knew I'd fully trust them with letterpress work, I was never given the opportunity to work with them on a letterpress job until now. And after all is said and done, I trust them even more.

My first review - the emboss/deboss was flip-flopped, but it was gorgeous.

This is the counter die. The other die is above, out of the photo. The paper is pressed between the two to create a double-sided blind deboss/emboss.

The cluttering of tools, tape and paper makes me so happy.

This is Dick. See Dick print.

All kidding aside, Dick's been with Brown since the beginning - over 30 years ago. It's refreshing to see someone who is whole-heartedly in his element, and a master craftsman to boot.

University of Bridgetown | Prepress

The printing process is pretty complex. I went to Bridgetown this afternoon to learn a little bit about one part of the process: prepress. Every month University of Bridgetown hosts a couple events (which means they also order in lots of Elephants Delicatessen sandwiches and Diet Coke - yum). They're working on the upcoming schedule now; you'll be able to find it here.

I learned about color, transparency, creep, the pros and cons of saddle stitching, bounding boxes and RIP (As Tom at Bridgetown put it, RIP is where they put your files to rest in peace...what it really means is Raster Image Processor/Processing). It was fun. I left full and enlightened.

Egg Press Sample Sale! Success!

Success is relative, I guess. Some might say I got into more trouble than anything (ahem - my husband).

This is the second Egg Press Sample Sale I've been to, so I knew what to prepare for, but was still totally shocked at all the fantastic letterpress and offset options at such fabulous prices. I stood there wishing I had three sets of eyes and 6 arms instead of a measly two of each. Nevertheless, I now have more holiday cards than any one person should probably ever possess. Maybe I got carried away, but in this case I'd have to classify it a triumph.

Egg Press is awesome. As always!

University of Bridgetown | Paper 101

Paper is amazing. Look at a tree and think about how you would go about turning it into a super thin, smooth sheet of print material...is that really possible!? Yes, it is. Yesterday I attended a University of Bridgetown class on paper and I learned how the experts have perfected this process. Bridgetown Printing brought in a Mohawk paper rep to teach the class. He talked about the history of paper, the paper-making process (see diagram below) and what separates the good paper from the bad paper. I learned about formation, opacity, brightness, finish, side-to-side consistency, printability, environmental qualities and permanence. All in an hour and a half! Super interesting. I love paper more than ever.

University of Bridgetown at Bridgetown Printers hosts two classes a month. They're free and lunch is included. Register here. I'll planning on going to the Prepress Class in February. Join me!

The Egg Press Sample Sale was AWESOME.

I just have to say it's a good thing Egg Press took all forms of payment for their Summer Sample Sale. A couple of my girlfriends and I trekked down to their little warehouse in SE Portland on Friday morning (after a cup of coffee and pastries from Sweetpea Baking Co.). When we walked in and saw the tables and tables of letterpress and offset goods, I just started drooling. And when I saw the prices I just drooled some more! $1 per card!? Bundles for $5 each!? Are you kidding me? Hallmark can't even do that. And these cards are waaaaaay better. Jackpot.

Way back last fall I attended an Office event where Egg Press's founder spoke about her entrepreneurial journey. Ever since, I've been enamoured with their company and killer work. Now, I have plenty of it in my stationary stash to admire. If you're nice, you might just get a cool Egg Press card from StudioM someday. And next time a Sample Sale rolls around I'll invite you all to join me in the bargain shopping. Love you, Egg Press.

Brown Printing + Windlab | Press Check

This morning Alisa Patterson of Windlab Systems and I got to press check a project we've been working on for the past few months. I don't want to give too much away, so you'll have to wait until the project's done and I can post more to learn more about Windlab and the part they play in the amazing wind power industry. Meanwhile, I want to share some shots from today's press check. We're working with Brown Printing in Portland, Oregon. I go to them for many of my projects - especially those with shorter runs. Brown consistently offers above-average quality - from customer service to craftsmanship.

L: Isn't color a beautiful thing? This project is being run with 5 colors. 4-color build + a spot color.

R: It's running on Brown's new Komori press. Pretty + clean.

L: That's what 1,000 sheets of paper looks like all stacked up.

R: Since I can't show you the finished piece yet, here's a little peek at one of the plates. Believe it or not, Brown uses a chemistry-free process for plating. They're one of only a few who do in the Portland area.

And I just had to share these so you can see the contrast between the new press and the old presses. 

L: There's a father-and-son pressmen team working on letter press.

R: The Heidelberg letter press is dirty, old, loud and smells like years of ink and paper. I love it.

Brown gets a blue ribbon from me. Call them next time you need something printed.

And if you like learning about the printing process and are craving more, you should check out Pocket Pal, a little handbook produced by International Paper. It's the perfect 'handy book of graphics arts production'. No wonder it's currently in it's 20th edition!