Stationery that matches their business cards.

We posted photos and production info for a special set of business cards we printed for Tyler and Antoinette from At Media. At Media is a branding agency located in the Philadelphia, PA – you can check out our previous writeup on their cards here: At Media Letterpress Business Cards. Shortly after finishing their business cards we printed a quick run of stationery for them. See more photos of the note cards and some matching ornaments that ended up in the shot after the jump.

The stationery was printed on 110# fluorescent white cotton paper without ink (blind).

The note cards use the same logo from the front of the business cards with “AT MEDIA” designed a knockout on a background on vertical lines. The use of the vertical lines here instead of a full solid helps to add contrast to the text knockout and increases legibility. The added plus is the lines create a unique feel as well, further highlighting the deep impression. The final size of the cards was 4.25″ x 5.5″ (A2).

Below are some photos of the At Media business cards with the glitter ball ornaments we had on the tree. They were a perfect match to the magenta and cyan colored ink / edge coloring used on the cards (a complete coincidence!).

If you’re interested in custom stationery or other collateral (folders, envelopes, letterhead, thank you cards, etc.) to pair with business cards, email us at contact@dolcepress.com for more information.

Black paper and silver metallic letterpress – the perfect combo.

Today we’ve got some really neat invitations we printed last year for Andy @ Division Of/. When you think about New Year’s black and silver seem like classic colors, reminiscent of the night sky filled with sparkling stars. Andy created the clean and modern design using a thick black museum board (note: they’re soo thick they double as coasters). Check out the rest of the photos after the break.

We printed the cards on a double-thick museum board in black. The paper is 100% cotton and takes a great impression. To make sure these guys got the respect they deserve we printed them 1-up on our 12×18 Craftsman using all 4 form rollers. We used a heavily pigmented metallic silver which works well on dark stock to give even more shimmer. For the design, Andy used a map layout and knocked out the name of each street for a cool effect.

For more information on custom holiday cards and invitations, email us at contact@dolcepress.com.

We had some fun with type and ink printing these custom tags for a gift basket.

Our friends at Bella Flora we’re giving out gift baskets this summer and needed tags for them. That’s where we came in, we worked with Jaime to design them and bring in fun elements through the use of type,  styles,  ink and the backing paper. Check out the photos of the tags and basket after the jump.

We only produced 25 of these tags (that makes them an extra limited edition treat ). The front was letterpress printed on Lettra (fluorescent white 110lb.) using fluorescent green ink, which is sure to grab your attention.

We printed the tags on a 10×15 Windmill using photopolymer plates. Fluorescent green is a great color, I like it even more since it doesn’t have to be mixed. When using a fluorescent ink, just like with metallics its super important to get the right amount of ink on press. Too much and the color looks dull and non-uniform, too much and the color goes from fluorescent to dark green.

 In these photos you can see the hole we punched in the tags. We used a 3/16″ die so that they could tie it to the basket with ribbon. Below is a stereoscopic photo of the tag (front & back).

 Here are a few photos of the back which we flat printed on 80# coated cover stock. We designed a strip pattern using all of the colors from the basket. Each side was printed separately and then duplexed, cut down, and hole punched.

Jaime was nice enough to send us a few photos of the baskets assembled before they handed them out. Very cute! The inspiration behind the basket was a 6-pack of izzy soda cans (the same colors we used to flat print the strip pattern).

 Well Summer is officially over but the gift giving season is almost upon us, it’s our favorite time of the year! For more information on design and printing of custom tags email us at contact@dolcepress.com.

Custom Portfolio (CD) Cover for Vivian Doan Photography

Letterpress printing isn’t just for business cards and wedding invitations although you might think that if you look at our recent posts. All joking aside, while a lot of people use letterpress business cards, we’ve noticed a growing trend, letterpress promotional material.

We work with and print for a lot of creative people, but when it comes down to promoting your own work, businesses want something that will stand out. These CD covers for Vivian Doan are a great example of how to tie in letterpress with your promotional goods.

Vivian asked us to print an insert for her promotional CDs. There were a few different iterations but we ended up printing a 5″ x 10″ sheet (110lb Lettra) in two-colors: light pink and black.

The covers were printed on a Vandercook Uni III which produces an almost perfect impression and ink coverage. We love the way the letterpress design turned out, we just hope that people can focus on the photos!

With the tight border on these covers, we took our time to make sure all of the cuts
were proportional. There’s nothing worse than a crooked or uneven border!

Vivian supplied the design for these letterpress covers.
Check out some of her work at: Vivian Doan Photography

The 5″ x 10″ card was designed to fit in a 5″ square CD case so we added a crease from top to bottom to facilitate folding. A simple score won’t do when you’re folding cotton paper. Scoring or hand folding a card cracks the paper and leaves a rough fold.

Promotional material can be more cost effective than you think, especially because we offer a wide variety of printing methods, all done in our studio on Long Island. If you’re working on a new promotional package and need a quote, email us. We’d be happy to talk to you about which techniques work best to highlight the project!

We’ve also got quite a few more projects involving promotional pieces coming up soon, so check the blog for inspiration.

Foil stamping and letterpress are the perfect mix of techniques for this stationery set.

Boy were there a lot of pieces to photograph for this suite we recently printed for Krisztina Hoeber Photography. It took almost as much time to photograph as they did to print! Photographing pieces like this can be tough to capture the full size and the detail. The gold foil adds an extra hurdle since the light has to be just right to catch the shine and reflection.

The suite (above) consisted of six pieces: business cards, note cards and letterheads with matching envelopes, and to hold them all a custom folder. Here’s a photo of the whole suite outside and inside the folder.

Krisztina supplied us with the design for the pieces, which all centered around her logo (the logo is a light blue fluorish with gold foil text). The business cards turned out really nice. The cards were printed 4-up on a sheet of 110lb lettra and then duplexed to a blank sheet of 110# lettra to create a 220lb stock. The cards were duplexed after being printed to hide any impression on the back of the stock.

After being duplexed and cut down to 2.5″ square, we edge colored them in metallic gold to match the gold foil lettering. We printed note cards (110lb Lettra) with matching Lettra envelopes as part of the stationery system.

The letterheads were printed on Lettra text weight stock. The finished sheets have a nice impression and ink coverage. We paired them with side flap #10 envelopes. The side flap envelopes are a nice change to a traditional envelope. They might even make your customers a little happier to get that invoice or correspondence!

The last piece we printed as part of this set was a custom converted folder made from 110lb Lettra. The letterpress and foil was printed on a flat oversized sheet which was then diecut on a large clamshell press and glued to finish. These folders are similar to the ones we produced for 259 Strategies.

Nothing says luxury like a custom folder made from cotton paper with printed with letterpress and foil. We really love how the metallic foil shines on the paper when you hold it up to light.

This photo of the inside of the folder ladies and gentlemen is or last. We’re sorry that you’ve reached the end of the post but don’t worry, check back tomorrow for some more printed goodies.

In the mean time, let us know what you think of Krisztina’s stationery suite!

We wanted to start this week off with a great set of stationery we designed for 259 Strategies. The custom stationery set consists of business cards, letterhead, and folders. All of the pieces were letterpress printed in a combination of medium cool gray, process blue, and blind impressions. Oh and there is no such thing as too many photos … is there?

The business cards which, were the center of our design focus, were letterpress printed on 110# bright-white cotton stock. The front was printed as a blind impression to highlight the texture of their logo, while the back was printed using all three colors (gray, blue, blind).

To eliminate bruising and allow for a deep impression, the fronts and backs were printed on separate sheets of 110# stock and then glued together prior to cutting. The final cards were equivalent to 220# weight/thickness.

The letterheads were printed on matching 32# text weight bright-white cotton stock. The front of the sheets were letterpress printed in gray and blue for the logo and gray on the bottom for the contact information. The back of the sheets were offset printed as a full flood of process blue with a knockout of the logo.

The last piece of the set were the folders, which were letterpress printed in gray and blind on 110# bright-white cotton paper. We offset printed a flood of blue on the inside of the folders to match the other pieces and add a pop of color. To finish them, the folders were cut using a custom die and glued.

We wanted to share a few snapshots of a variety of edge colored cards from business cards to stationery and wedding invitations. We think its a great way to add a touch of color to your letterpress project. Almost any color can be painted on the edge of your cards from light pastels to bright neons and even dark colors like purple and black. Metallic colors can also be painted on the edges like the silver and gold metallic cards shown below. We can even match the edge color to the colors printed on your cards or stationery.

We have always had an affinity for the chartreuse and pool colors from Paper Source so when we saw that they combined those colors to create some really cool patterns, we couldn’t resist designing some personalized note cards around them. The letterpress stationery set includes an A2 folded card and two different lined envelopes. Email us (or post below) a picture of your favorite patterned pattern and see what we can create for you.