Archive for the 'News' Category

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Design Camp System Gettin’ Around

Toot toot! Our Design Camp system for last summer’s event (designed and letterpress printed by SOF) has been making the rounds in the local and national design competition circuit- and lucky for us, doing quite well.

So far we got in at the AIGA MN show, the AIGA National show, and Print’s Regional Annual- and we couldn’t have done it without our copywriter on the project, Riley Kane, illustrator extraordinaire Jenna Brouse, Jeff Baker at Shapco and Dave Lundell at Anchor, Aleks Stancevic and for the Minn. AIGA for givin’ us the darn thing in the first place.

It took about 3 months to design this sucker from the ground up and another month (thereabouts) to mash pretty paper with big greasy machines until this came out:

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Published on July 7, 2009 in Completely Unrelated, Design, Letterpress and News. 6 Comments Tags: AIGA, competition, day-glo, design camp, flourescent, four color, identity, Letterpress, lettra, show, system.

Soundset Letterpress Poster

The Sound Set event is an amazing line up of hip hop happening this Sunday in the Twin Cities, put on by Rhymsayers Entertainment. We just killed this letterpress poster job, 1000 qty 3 color posters in just over a day. This is some fresh geometric pattern and color designed by Adam Garcia – work you should certainly check out further over at The Pressure. And be sure to get a poster if you go to the event.

This poster is on 100lb Poptone cover stock from French Paper. It is a 15.5 x 23 size with some big solids going down. With this much ink we have to run the powder spray pretty heavy so the ink doesn’t transfer to the backs of each other. That makes the inside of the press look like a powdered doughnut. The powder spray is actually just a corn starch and works well to avoid offsetting ink transfer. Sucks to clean the press afterward though.

We love doing posters, but be aware that the polymer plating for large sizes can be expensive for small runs. Just the plate cost alone will run about $200 per color. That kills the price for a run of 50 posters with polymer. But 500 to 1000 quantity- now we’re talking. That spreads the plating cost out over more pieces and makes it more reasonable get on press. Not that we aren’t happy to do small runs, but plate cost is what it is regardless of quantity.

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Published on May 22, 2009 in News. 4 Comments Tags: 100lbC, 2009, adam garcia, cost, cylinder, font, geometric, Heidelberg, Letterpress, pattern, photo polymer, plate, poptone, poster, powder, rhymesayers, sound set, soundset, spray, the pressure, typography.

Studio On Fire In Forbes Letterpress Article

So we got a call from Forbes last month. We did an interview about the resurgence of letterpress and talked about how modern photopolymer plating makes letterpress available to a more contemporary design aesthetic. But a lot of people are stuck with a mental image of letterpress as it came into mainstream design popularity several years back – distressed wood type, over inked artwork and a makeshift quality to the design that comes from using whatever typefaces and elements that happen to be on hand. Don’t get me wrong, I love Hatch Show Print and have been through the Nashville shop several times. But letterpress has a range far beyond that limited aesthetic. Pushing the medium is what our shop focuses on intently. To us, the resurgence of letterpress is this: making letterpress a viable commercial production method for contemporary design.

A few of the details in the article are a little fuzzy as they published my comments and I think she got a bit of a rise out of me. (yes, I realize if you have the patience and an extra hour or two, you can set some type on a curve with metal type, but that is certainly not commercially viable for our shop) The point was that I personally take issue with anyone that would say printing with polymer isn’t real letterpress. Yeah, we use polymer. It’s a means to an end. Different tools make different marks. Maybe we should call our work “civil union printing” rather than “letterpress” so all the ludites can feel better about their craft. :) The bottom line is that photopolymer represents a new range of possibilities for designers and for letterpress. We embrace that wholeheartedly, but still have a deep appreciation for all of those willing to toil over a case of lead type.

Check out the Forbes article here.

Here are some pics of a photopolymer job being set up to print.

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Published on May 21, 2009 in Letterpress, News and Printing Tips and Tricks. 6 Comments Tags: Benjamin Levitz, contemporary, Design, designer, forbes, hatch show print, Letterpress, minneapolis, photopolymer, plates, printing, studio on fire, typography.

NSS? Where Was Studio On Fire?

We’ve been asked several time now, “So how come Studio On Fire was not at the National Stationery Show?”

Simply because the lion share of our work as a studio continues to be custom letterpress printing for other designers around the country. We love printing custom work for other designers. We’re good at it and proud of the results. That is what we are focused on and the NSS is not the right venue to promote our services. While we do continue to have a product line, we are promoting it independently, selling to a small number of boutique retailers and museum shops. If you are a retailer and wish to set up a wholesale account, email us and we’ll be happy to send along our catalog.

Here is a sampling of our product from our Designer Series Deskline. We wanted the elements in our product line to feel sort of like a test print or sheet of make ready. Those always have such a wonderful randomness that is enormously difficult to capture intentionally in a layout. This design is Polkaville Party, designed in conjunction with two fine designers here in Minneapolis – Kelly & Kindra, both are currently teaching design over at MCAD.

There is monarch sized stationery with two letterhead designs included, a pinhole perforated dry gum label sheet, folding self mailers, stitched mini journals and a punch out tag and calling card set. All is printed with three color letterpress on cotton and recycled papers. The overprinting creates some sweet purple and greens throughout the prints. Product is for sale on our web site. We are currently offering free shipping within the United States.

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Published on May 20, 2009 in Letterpress, News and Studio On Fire Products. 2 Comments Tags: business card, calling card, dry gum, journal, label, letterhead, Letterpress, National Stationery Show, nss, party, perforated, pinhole, polkaville, product, self mailer, stationery, stitched.

Eleh LP Record Jacket Sleeve – Letterpress

The good folks at Taiga Records sent this sleeve design for letterpress printing last year. They are two color letterpress printed on a 100% PCW 160lb stock from Smart Genesis. They sold through all 500 copies in a month and we are now working on letterpress printing of another new album to be completed early this June. All of their records are pressed on 200 gram virgin vinyl.

Andrew at Taiga asked us to spread the word about one of the artists on the label performing in Minneapolis. Rafael Toral, will be performing on Tuesday, May 19 at the Art of This gallery, 3506 Nicollet Avenue S. He is from Lisbon, Portugal and hasn’t performed in mpls since 1999. The event starts at 8:00pm, there is a suggested donation of $5 and byob.

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Published on May 18, 2009 in News. 0 Comments Tags: 160lb, eleh, jacket, Letterpress, LP, music, package, PCW, record, records, sleeve, Smart Genesis, taiga, vinyl.

Hello Letterpress Operator – Join Our Studio

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Studio On Fire is hiring for a full time Letterpress Operator position becoming available soon. Another of our letterpress gurus is moving onward to grad school. This is a chance to join our unique letterpress team. Other than our insane focus on detail, we are a small and easy going team of designers and artists committed to excellence in print.

You must have BOTH of these TWO requirements for consideration:

1. YOU MUST HAVE SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCE OPERATING HEIDELBERG WINDMILL AND/OR HEIDELBERG CYLINDER PRESSES.

2. YOU MUST HAVE A FINE ARTS DEGREE IN PRINTMAKING OR A SUBSTANTIAL FINE ARTS, CRAFT FOCUSED BACKGROUND.

We care about craft. If you are a crafts person that loves the challenge of highly demanding production projects, this is the job for you. Look through the posts on this blog to see the kind of custom work that is typical of our press room.

We offer attractive compensation, flexible full time hours and health benefits.

To apply, email a description of yourself.

If this is not you, please spread the word to anyone you might know matching this description.

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NOTE: This is a post for experienced persons only. We are not hiring intern or entry level positions. Inquiries outside of the skill requirements of this post will not be contacted.

Published on May 17, 2009 in Letterpress and News. 3 Comments Tags: 10x15, 13x18, cylinder, Heidelberg, hiring, job, K series, ksba, Letterpress, minneapolis, operator, position, printer, printing, Windmill, work.

Jim Sherraden Workshop at Hamilton Wood Type

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This is a museum that most certainly needs the support of designers and printers. There are still 10 slots to fill for Jim Sherraden’s May 22, 23, 24 workshop at Hamilton Wood Type in Two Rivers Wisconsin. The cost is $400 with all proceeds being donated to the museum.

Fourteen lucky printers will have the chance to print from Hamilton’s collection under the watchful eye and wise cracking mouth of Hatch Show Print’s printing maestro. The fun will start Friday night starting at around 7, go all day (and into the night) Saturday and a half day Sunday. You can reserve a double occupancy room at the Light House Inn for a special workshop rate of $70.00 night. Call Greg Corrigan or Jim Moran at Hamilton Wood Type at 920-794-6272 to register and for more details.

And because we love this place, Studio On Fire taking part in a poster edition to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Hamilton Museum. It will open Saturday, May 30th and run through Labor Day 2009 at the museum. Proceeds benefit the museum. Crap, it’s due this week and it ain’t finished!

And because it’s funny, here is a print for sale at Hamilton by Allyson Vanstone.
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Published on April 28, 2009 in Letterpress and News. 3 Comments Tags: hamilton, jim sherraden, Letterpress, two rivers, type, typography, wisconsin, wood, workshop.

AIGA booklet, Student Tours, Chocolate

We’ve been busy with an AIGA student event this last weekend called Portfolio One-On-One. It’s an event for design students to tour studios in the Twin Cities, have their books looked at and attend some short workshops. We had a group through our studio to see the press room and we also did a workshop about “Planning design with specialty production techniques.” Good times.

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We also printed a booklet cover for this AIGA event. We hit the bejesus out of an 80lb cover stock and thought we’d show what the other side looks like. Granted, we don’t run everything this heavy. But a thinner stock with a heavy impression is going to have more show through than a thicker stock with the same impression. On this booklet, nothing was on the reverse side, so it did not matter that the impression was extra hard.

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A note about tours – We have student groups from all over the country take tours of our shop and we are happy to do it. However, none of them have ever sent us a box of chocolate with a thank you note. That is until Brigham Young University. Thanks BYU. And to all the other student groups inquiring about tours – we now expect some edibles! ;-)

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Published on April 27, 2009 in Letterpress and News. 3 Comments Tags: 80lb, AIGA, booklet, cover, heavy, impression, Letterpress, letterpress services, minnesota, one, one on one, portfolio, shop, show, student, Studio, through, tour, tours, twin cities, workshop.

Skype, Twitter, Letterpress

Now it’s even easier to get in touch with us for your custom letterpress project.

For our international and long distance clients we can be reached on our skype account to discuss projects.

10 am – 5pm CST.

And if you need more, follow our tweets.

Skype: studioonfire

Twitter: twitter.com/StudioOnFire

Land Phone: 612 379 3000

Email: Request an estimate here

Remember, If you can send a PDF preview of what you have in mind we can offer you the best price and advice based on your artwork.

And here is a preview our new certificate of production seal:

Published on April 17, 2009 in Letterpress and News. 2 Comments Tags: business, cards, invitations, letter, Letterpress, minneapolis, minnesota, press, printer, printing, skype, stationary, stationery, studio on fire, twitter, Wedding.

Murphy & Co – Offset & Letterpress Business Card

This well crafted card was designed at VO2 Media in Minneapolis for Murphy & Co. Design, designers of exceptional residences. But don’t let the simple look of this business card fool you. It’s design subtlety has layers of complexity in production. Here’s how:

The impression is not very deep and the paper is not overly thick. It is Neenah Classic Crest Avon Brilliant White 130C. The design on the front side has a subtle vignette effect around the edges which is printed offset (flat). If you look at the close up detail carefully you can see a soft line screen very light gray in color over the tone of the paper. The information on the card is printed in three letterpress colors – light gray, dark gray and a deep red. We matched the deep red letterpress ink to the offset printed ink on the back of the card.

The design on the back of the card requires offset printing plus an overall varnish to help seal the flood of ink. (When a flood of ink is printed on uncoated paper, darker colors and especially reds can have a tendency to rub of the surface of the paper. Sealing the sheet with a varnish or aqueous coating helps mitigate this ink transfer.)

Producing a card like this is not quick, which leads to a note about expense and quantity. This piece of paper required three passes through our letterpresses and two passes through an offset press, then a final trim of the press sheets. That is labor intensive with a separate set up, wash up and press run for each color. In an age of digital printing where you can pay by the number of copies, there is a misconception that a lower quantity will make a big difference in price for letterpress. In fact, a production quantity of 100 business cards or 1000 business cards really does not make a big difference in the cost of a job with these kind of production specs. Pricing for custom work all depends on how complex your production specifications are. We advise that the more complexity in your project, the more it will cost. A one color card letterpress card can be cost effective. But like anything well crafted, five times through the presses most certainly costs more.

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Published on March 18, 2009 in News. 2 Comments Tags: business card, cheap, complex, crafted, Design, expensive, flood, Letterpress, letterpress business cards, letterpress services, line screen, Murphy & Co Design, Murphy and Company, offset, paper, quantity, rub off, transfer, typography, uncoated, vignette, VO2 Media.

1st 100,000 – Thanks Beast Pieces Readers

The benefit of slow times is they make us try new things. At the end of January it was a slow time in our studio, and we certainly don’t like to sit with idle hands. We had this blog started in 2008 but due to low content we were only seeing a trickle of 50 or so daily visitors. With a camera in hand, I started writing nearly every day here on beastpieces.com showing our press work in detail and talking about our production process. We never imagined the response. Six weeks later it has become part of our daily routine and a great extension of our studio to the design community. This week marks some sort of milestone for us – over 100,000 visits in the past six weeks. We’ve heard from so many designers and made many new friends.

We live and breathe great design and production. We’d like to thank some of the fine blogging folks and design sites that have taken notice of beastpieces.com recently. We enjoy these sites and invite you to take a visit:

Bad Ass Ideas – Blog of design, culture and typography

Black Eiffel – Blog of people, places, things, and ideas

Booooooom – Fostering a community of people excited to go out and be creative

Briar Press – A letterpress community

Card Observer – Business card design inspiration

CMYKern – Blog of simple clean design with good thought process

Designers Talk - Design community discussion board

Design Sponge – Daily website dedicated to home and product design

Draplin Design – Blog of damn good designers, makers of Field Notes

The Fleuron – The Britsh Journal of Typography and Design

FFFFound – Image bookmarking (will someone please invite me already!)

Grain Edit – Modern graphic design plus vintage graphics

Graphic Exchange – Amazing selection of graphic design projects

How Design Magazine – Top 10 websites for designers

I Love Typography - Bringing the subject of Typography to the masses

Image Spark - A new site for image collection and inspiration

Oh So Beautiful Paper – A celebration of all things paper

Qbn.com – A great design community discussion board

Quipsologies – Daily creative morsels for design awareness

Snippet And Ink – Daily wedding inspiration

Style Me Pretty – Blog for the style obsessed bride

Subtraction.com - Blog by Khoi Vinh – Design Director for the NYtimes.com

The Best Part – Daily commentary on all things design

Type Theory - A journal of contemporary typography

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So, thank you for visiting us. As we continue to post on beastpieces.com we’d love to hear from you. Is there something you’d like us to post about? Anything missing? What should we talk about more? Feel free to leave comments.

And of course we’d like to hear about your upcoming letterpress project and always appreciate estimate requests and the chance to work with new people. Reach us at numbers(at)studioonfire(dot)com with details about your project. Maybe it is perfect for the next post on beastpieces.com

Published on March 16, 2009 in News. 8 Comments Tags: blog, blogging, community, Design, Letterpress, printing, production, thank you, Thanks, typography.

Studio On Fire and Zeichen Press – Open House

We will have some letterpress work on display along with Jen and Fran from Zeichen Press over at Hoffman Parkin Urban Realty. If you’re in the area, come join us this Friday from 4-7.

Published on March 11, 2009 in News. 0 Comments Tags: event, hoffman parkin, Letterpress, open house, zeichen press.