As a general rule, we don’t suggest using letterpress when the design uses floods of color and require clients to agree to our Solid Areas Disclaimer before we will proceed with their job. To achieve a nice solid coverage of color we had to run the ink heavy across the card, thankfully we had added some additional stroke weight to the artwork in the pre-press stage so the line work would not fill in on press. Another trick we used was lightly wetting the sheet before running- this cuts down on the appearance of saltiness and variation across the color.

Flood aside, take a look at that red. Yael refers to it as “Ferrari red,” and we can’t say that we disagree. The design actually specified a Pantone GOE color, which is not a Pantone book we match to, but since we custom mix all of our colors we were able to match a swatch that was mailed in for reference. We took one of our base red inks and pumped it up with a hit of fluorescent red to really get the color to pop.

These cards are printed on Crane Lettra 110lb cover that we custom duplexed after printing to make 220lb. By duplexing after printing we were able to run the flood without completely flattening the text on the other side of the card (not to mention we love any excuse to make a business card thicker). A custom diecut, shaped to reference a ticket or label, finished off the cards in an unexpected, yet refined way.

This project can also be found on FPO, DesignWorkLife, and Miller Creative.

The typographic design is nice and bold, making the blind (inkless) impression really stand out. These business cards do something that does take an extra production step – heavy impression on both sides that lines up from side to side. To get this blind type to look really look good and provide enough sculptural to keep it readable without ink, it needed to be printed as a single sheet, then pasted back to back after printing so the impression on one side wouldn’t flatten the impression on other. The cards were printed on 110lbC Crane Lettra, then glued together for the final 220lb thickness.

PS. This is featured today on Martha Stewart Weddings.

This wedding invitation for Andy and Drew is certainly a unique format. It was designed by Drew Hodgson for his wedding in Palm Springs, CA. The bold colors and contemporary shapes make the design both modern and masculine. The invite is actually a folder enclosure that opens to reveal the invitation text on the flap. The folder opens further to reveal an interior printed with a brightly colored burst and three information cards with RSVP Hotel VIP, and Dinner information.  Drew tells us this about his design:

“The wedding celebration will be held at a mid-century hotel in Palm Springs. I came across this great typeface by John Skelton called Sessions, which in turn is based on the classic Joseph Albers typeface Kombinationsschrift. The playful, organic and modular shapes are a perfect fit for the mid-century setting and atmosphere we wanted to create for the wedding.”

“The shapes and negative space of the letterforms are also used as a graphic style to illustrate the mountains, sun and wispy clouds that dominate the landscape. I love the impression that letterpress leaves so I wanted to incorporate a linear illustration style to contrast the bold letterforms. I created a twig- or feather-like variation of the A+D monogram expressly for the tactile feel it would create.”

“We also wanted this be a fun experience for out-of-town family. They will receive “golden ticket” or “vip” card which allows them to stay at the hotel for free. The act of folding away the panels of the main invite leads to a ‘ta-da’ moment in which they are presented with the card.”

The Save the Date card was printed earlier on Crane Lettra Pearl White 220lbC. Cards for the wedding invitation were letterpress printed in two colors on Crane Lettra Pearl White 110lbC. Those pieces were printed together on a large press sheet. The folder was die cut out with scores to create gussets to accommodate three card thicknesses once folded together. Everything folded up to fit in the A6 size Orange Fizz French Poptone envelope, printed on the flap with orange ink.

These cards were letterpress printed with 2 ink colors on each side. The cards also have a heavy blind letterpress impression graphic on both sides. This blind area overlaps type on the reverse side. To get an even type appearance and a heavy sculptural impression on both sides we printed a 110lb sheet of Crane Lettra Fluorescent White and pasted it together back to back after printing. By duplexing the stock to a thick 220lb weight after printing the impression show through is eliminated. It is a time consuming and more premium production step, worth it for the final look of these cards. The final step was a round corner die cut.