Each stationery element is letterpress printed for the text and with a beautiful blind inkless impression for the logo initials.  It utilizes one of the Strathmore sheets we really like for letterpress – 110lb Strathmore Cover Bristol. This sheet has a bit of tooth to the finish and takes a crisp impression. Plus there are matching text weights sheets.

The business cards are scored an fold open to present the contact information. The warm gray flood of color was offset printed (inside of folder, back of letterhead and business cards and insides of envelopes). When we manage production of a business stationery system, usually any offset printing is sent out and completed first. This allows us to properly plan full size press sheets. For instance, this project was able to combine the letterhead and envelope on the same offset sheet. Then we take the sheets back in house and complete the letterpress and finishing. And as this system shows, we do have the capability to letterpress print full size folders with our stationery system production.

Designer Aya Ikegaya created this beautiful invitation structure for a wedding in Tuscany, Italy. We produced this by combining letterpress printing with blind embossing. The outer sleeve is actually the invitation. Inside is a thick cotton card letterpress printed with maps and details. The sleeve, envelope and tag are all blind embossed with crisply beautiful typography.

We often see letterpress printing confused with embossing. It is two very different processes, yet can be completed on some of the same equipment. Blind EMBOSSING raises the type and requires a much more expensive 2 part copper die with a fiberglass counter. Conversely, the letterpress printing on the interior map card uses less expensive photopolymer plates. We’ve included some photos showing these production materials side by side to illustrate the difference. We use a heated chase on our Heidelberg Windmill for this type of work. With heat applied to the copper plate, the type is much more crisp. After the embossing, the sheet was custom die cut and converted to sleeves. Because of the time and materials involved, custom work of this nature is more costly than a standard letterpress printed project. But the effect is amazingly simple elegance.