Thoughts on Kiss Impression versus Deep Impression

My friends and I constantly discuss impression in letterpress. Specifically, when deep impression is TOO deep.

In letterpress, the most important thing has always been a good, even impression. Letterpress purists will insist upon leaving nothing but a "kiss" impression, barely any impression at all. In fact, if you were to see this type of printing, which I've done while learning letterpress, it would be hard to distinguish it from offset printing except for the paper used. Deep impression, letterpress instructors may tell you, is a sign of bad printing because it renders the opposite side of the paper useless for printing or anything else.

The deep impression that letterpress is able to provide, however, adds a very tactile quality to the printing and gives it an artisan flair. And since letterpress is such a labor-intensive affair, it needs the artisan quality in order to remain competitive with newer, less labor intensive (and therefore cheaper) techniques.

Too deep of an impression, however, which is often seen in letterpress, not only adds a reverse wording braille like emboss to the back of the paper, rendering that side useless, but since paper only has so much give, we've also seen it crease and fold the paper where the too deep impression exists.

It becomes a balance then, to give an impression deep enough to satisfy today's market's tastes, but light enough to leave the opposite side useable if printing a notecard or business card or the like. I think this is actually going to be the new mark of a good letterpress printer -- to know how to vary impression to the use of the final product.

A Pearl of a Press!

Photo taken from BriarPress.org

I am so excited! I have been scouring and annoying letterpress people and dealers up and down from here to the midwest looking for a Golding Pearl Improved for the whole summer. And just when I had given up and started trying to justify putting one of those large 1,000lb presses on the 4th floor of a residential building, one of the people I had contacted called and told me he had a Golding Pearl for me! It's a Golding Pearl Improved 7x11, like in the picture above, but without the the automatic inker on top and also without the treadle (foot pedal). It does have a cool homemade variable motor system, though! I'm excited to bring it home and get to work fixing it up!

Now it's questionable whether I will keep my tabletop Golding Official #4 or not. I haven't decided. I just spent a lot of time cleaning up and restoring the Golding Official, and, as you can see, it prints great. I know there are a lot of letterpress enthusiasts out there that would love to have a press like the Official, but at the same time, it's my first press and I do love it. But I'm unsure that I really need two presses. Oh what to do!

"Complete Joie" Print and Web Package

So, as you know, what makes Joie Studio special is our ability to provide not only custom letterpress services, but to take print design and put it online (or vice versa)! It's our "Complete Joie" package, and clients opting for this option get a great deal (at least, I think so!) on both custom letterpress and web design.

It's becoming so important for brides and grooms to have a website. It's a means to communicate information that will not fit in wedding invitations and to answer questions that are frequently asked. It's also a central place to share photos and keep travel discounts, hotel information, and longer directions.

Katie and Brandon asked me to make a website for their wedding, and I was more than happy to work off the wedding invitation design that we did:

Using the front cover of the invitation and knowing the bride and groom wanted simple simple simple, I came up with this:



The entire website can be seen at http://joiestudio.com/katie-brandon and at the domain name that the happy couple registered as well.

More Technical Difficulties

GOSH DARNIT!

So my new website has been up for less than a week, and I've only just figured out that info[at]joiestudio.com isn't working properly. The techies are on it, but in the meantime, my business cards with that email address are useless.

GRRRR!!!

If you have ever have trouble emailing us at that email address, you can always catch us at joiestudio[at]gmail.com.

Soft opening of Etsy Store soon -- starting up a mailing list!

Hello!

So it's been quite a month! I'm finishing up some printing projects this weekend, and then it's time to turn my attention to opening up shop. I've decided on opening up an Etsy store, although eventually I will have stuff on my website to sell. I believe I will have a soft opening in early September, where I'm going to put up letterpress printed items, including some coasters, card sets, and greeting cards, up for sale at "Pre-Grand Opening" prices (in other words, super low, almost at cost). This is my way of saying thanks for all the support on this blog and is meant to give friends, staunch supporters, and clients an early chance to get some letterpress items and provide me with some feedback.

Included in this sale will be the linoleum print cards of Jezebel (the cat) and Romeo (the dog). I'm going to donate 50% of the proceeds to an animal organization in light of all these horrible things coming up in the news (Michael Vick, Buxton puppy mill, etc.).

I won't be announcing the soft opening of Joie Studio's Etsy shop, so if you would like to be informed of this sale, please join our low spam mailing list by emailing me at joiestudio[at]gmail.com.

Joie Studio Website Up and Running!

Yay! Joie Studio's website is up and running! You can find it at http://www.joiestudio.com.

Rhino Motif Done!

I finally finished the letterpress set of rhino coasters, which is an exclusive for my good friend Jared, who is a collector of rhino goods. While it was on the press, I also made Jared a bunch of A7 notecards, because, well, it's always handy to have nice letterpress cards with an antique rhino illustration around. Happy birthday, Jared!

Sweetening the Pot...Discounted Web Design!

I was chatting about web design the other day when I realized that I've been sorely neglecting networking for more web jobs while I've been setting everything up for Joie Studio. So, to fix that, I am packaging 50 complimentary 1-color, letterpressed business cards, calling cards, or personalized stationery with any web contract right now.

For anyone who is ordering custom letterpress wedding invitations or baby announcements, I am offering 30% my normal web design rates.

For anyone who wants over 200 letterpress invitation suites, I am offering a custom designed wedding website (up to 8 separate pages) made for free (hosting and URL fees extra). This offer is only available for a limited time. Contact me directly for more information.

Website Delay and Some Sneek Peeks

So my goal was to have my new website up and ready, but I've been busy finishing up printing projects, photographing everything I've done, finalizing some designs for the holiday season (yes, already!) and my first ever wedding invitation line, so the website has been delayed for just a wee bit. While I'm working on the designs, I thought I would give you a sneek peek at what I've been up to.

Joie Studio Wedding Invitations

I'm creating wedding invitations that are organized around specific themes. These designs are the jumping off point and are fully customizable. All the ink will be mixed by hand and custom matched to whatever color my client desires, and I'm getting a font list ready.

Here is a design out of what I call my "Old Paradise" line, designed on a square invitation with forest green and poppy orange with a bird of paradise motif:

Here is another one out of "Old Paradise," designed on 5" by 7" ecru invitation card to evoke more of an old world feeling:



I'm working on the pricing sheets, but if anyone is interested in either of these designs or if you want to see the other designs in the wings right now, let me know!

2008 Calendars of Joie!

I'm also working on 2008 letterpress desk calendars. I've got 2 different calendars designed, which is really ambitious, since 100 calendars means printing 1,300 good sheets. But here is a sneek preview of my flower calendar, which I've tentatively named "Flowering Joie 2008."



In Japan, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom in April, and the country celebrates with a huge cherry blossom festival. I've always associated cherry blossoms with April, so it's only fitting that I use them as April's flower.

Any one of the flower motifs used in the calendar can also be used for custom design, so I think this is a nice way to get a letterpressed sampler of Joie Studio.

I am starting a presale since these are going to be limited runs. Presales will get a special bonus! Contact me directly if you want to be notified when the presale begins in early September.

Collaboration in the Works

I'm also in discussions for a Christmas collaboration with an exciting indie designer. I'll let you know if it works out!

Enjoy everything I have in the works! And keep an eye out for the new website. Whew! What a load!

More Pics of Katie-Brandon Invitation Suite -- Part 3: Direction Card

I'm especially proud of how the direction cards turned out. These required pretty exact registration between the map lines and the map wording. I love the results! The direction card is probably my favorite part of the whole invitation suite.