Beast Pieces » Design

Buzzed & Fuzzed Print Set

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:01:23 +0000

Still working on your holiday shopping? No worries, we’re here for you. Just this morning we added yet another new item to our shop, the Buzzed & Fuzzed Print Set. Give them as a pair or break them apart to give to your boozy best friend and highly caffeinated little sister.

Printed with three inks (brown, yellow and a tonal warm gray) on Wausau Royal Compliments Natural White 100c, each print measures 12.625″ x 9.625.”

Just want one? Too bad, they only come as a set. Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter for an exclusive discount promo code.

New SOF website with expanded shop!

admin — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:30:57 +0000

You may have noticed on your way to purchase a 2012 Studio On Fire Letterpress Calendar that studioonfire.com has a completely overhauled look! We’re pretty proud of the new site and have plans to add more features in the coming weeks.

Being the paper-oriented people that we are, our friends over at westwerk design handled the creation of the site for us. Not only were they were great to work with, but their studio is conveniently located just upstairs from our basement workspace.

Along with the new site is additional merchandise for the store! All of our classic items are still available, as well as the 2012 calendar and several new posters.

Above: Artisan Activist Poster, Crane Lettra Flo White 110C, 13″ x 19″, 2 Color Split Fountain on 2 Separate Plates + 1 Tonal Varnish

Above: Sunshine Poster, Crane Lettra Flo White 110c, 12″ x 16″, 3 Color Split Fountain

Above: Matter Into Spirit Poster, Crane Lettra Flo White 110c, 13″ x 20″, 2 Color Split Fountain + Blind Impression

Martha Stewart Weddings

admin — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:02:55 +0000

We were lucky to once again work with the kind folks over at Martha Stewart Weddings. For their Fall 2011 issue (on newsstands now!) we were asked to create a wedding suite with a distinctly geometric flair.

One of our more masculine suites, you won’t see any cursive fonts or extraneous illustration announcing the celebration of this union. The sleeve, made out of French Construction Nightshift Blue, has a custom peek-a-boo diecut that reveals wedding details as the card slides out the top. Navy blue and warm gray inks overprint each other on 110 lb Crane Lettra Ecru stock. Custom envelopes with delicate line work complete the suite.

Target: Design United

admin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:25:24 +0000

Earlier this year we were asked to participate in Target’s Design United campaign. Target made use of the massive street level windows of their corporate location to showcase their bullseye logo as interpreted by 51 local artists. We were thrilled to be included and submitted a dozen prints for them to choose from. The display was up from April to October in downtown Minneapolis.

Our process started with a hand drawn mehndi inspired pattern that we scanned in and cleaned up to create a photopolymer plate. We also created a plate of the solid Target logo which we used to lay down some background colors, allowing us to utilize the transparent nature of the inks and achieve some great overprinting. Our pressman went to town and applied most of the inks by hand directly to the plates or paper, resulting in dozens of completely unique pieces. Some of our favorites are below, along with some shots of the installation that we took while it was up this summer.

Letterpress at AIGA MN Design Show

admin — Tue, 10 May 2011 20:33:42 +0000

We stay active in the AIGA Minneapolis design community and are excited about the many projects printed in our shop that were in this years Design Show. With just over 90 pieces in the show – 11 of those had letterpress production in our shop. We are proud to be a trusted letterpress production partner for so many designers. Also notable – we took the AIGA MN Peoples Choice award for our own design of the Golden Rule poster. You can still buy one here.

But what does this mean for letterpress as a printing method? Why do designers and judges choose it? Why do the people love it? Here are a few thoughts…

Letterpress is a counter point to slick

The more prevalent digital printing and smart phones become, the stronger the counterpoint of a tactile production method like letterpress. The materials, the sculptural impression, the raw yet refined nature of it make a difference in your hand. We love our iphone as much as the next designer, but there is something in letterpress printing that digital media and digital printing can not touch.

Online Media Is Squeezing The Middle

A lot of the middle range print marketing is being cut out in favor of online business tools. The print industry overall has seen a pretty big smack down over the last few years. The remaining print budget for companies is going toward pieces that will work hard and stay memorable. Projects like business cards, invitations, and other highly visible print pieces get the budget with online media doing the heavy lifting.

Letterpress Simplifies Design

Letterpress makes designers simplify a layout. Pieces usually have just a couple colors, since each color is a separate pass through the press and costs add up quickly. Things like gradients and drop shadows get kicked to the curb because they don’t plate well for letterpress. Artwork on letterpress gravitates toward type.

We’ll be doing some more in depth posting on some of these soon, but here is a summary of what we produced in this years show:

Capsule cards and covers for Blue Earth Interactive

Colle+McVoy an occasion card gift set for C+M All-Set Card-Set

Colle+McVoy Schwinn Calendar Poster,Studio On Fire design

Eight Hour Day cards and note cards for Eight Hour Day Stationery

FAME Annual party invitation and coasters FAME Fair Open House Invite

Loaf Nest LP record jacket, posted here Douglas Quin “Fathom” LP TAIGA records

Red Organic business cards, disc sleeve, folder for Gina Zeidler Photography

Holmberg Design cards and labels for Station K & Company Agency Branding

Studio On Fire our annual calendar, buy one here 2011 Studio On Fire Letterpress Calendar

Studio On Fire our print for a poster show, buy one here Golden Rule Poster

ZYDECO design business cards and brochure for ZYDECO design Image System