Cards at The Curiosity Shoppe

I'm a big fan of The Curiosity Shoppe-- they have great taste, carry lots of unique products, and have a love for the handmade. To that end, you can find these terrifically UPBEAT cards (who couldn't use one?) among their collection of letterpress, silkscreened, and Gocco-printed cards. Pictured are "Hey," You're Swell," and "DIY LCD Card."

Little Paper Planes

This online gallery just got a facelift. Little Paper Planes is a who's who of contemporary indy artisans including Jen Renninger, Ashley Goldberg, Kate Bingaman-Burt, and Mike Perry. A favorite stop for affordable prints. (Pictured: Leah Giberson, Rod Hunting, Jen Renninger)

2008 NY Stationery Show Highlights

A few of my other favorites from New York's Stationery Show.

1. Orla Kiely stationery line (view here)



2. Pikku: new line of calendars, paper wrap, and best of all, textiles.



3. Old School Stationers: Brian Reed's beautiful designs and expert letterpress.



4. Fugu Fugu Press: handmade letterpress cards from Pasadena, CA.


5. Hammerpress; In a world of letterpress, they have created a unique look and brand. I like their use of chipboard and their new line of goods with Chronicle Books.



6. Calendars and cards from Magnolia Moonlight.



7. Cards from Hello!Lucky: Especially their new collaboration with Julia Rothman.


8. Paper and patterns from newbies Whigby.


9. Rock star attitude from Made by Girl.



10. Fun type treatments at Orange Beautiful.

alee & press

I've been looking over the list of attendees for the NY Stationery Show next week and looking at some websites. I'm very excited about seeing some of these folks in person and seeing their new lines. One group is alee & press. You can see more pictures of their new line at design*sponge who featured them yesterday. I'm definitely a fan of letterpress, but I like it most when designers move away from the typical icons and styles to make something new. These baby and wedding groups are right on the money, and give this old method a very fresh look.

bread + butter

This collective of artists and designers located in Brooklyn, makes outstanding cards and paper goods. I love the play of design and typography-- typefaces can be so powerful. I love seeing words treated like art and these products have it! From their online shop: "When we are not designing book covers, art directing or laying out magazines, the 3 of us are busy working on projects and making things in our studio. And now, we're happy to finally share these things with you! All of our letterpress goods are hand-printed on a Chandler and Price table top press, using soy based inks." Simple, elegant, smart.

New work: Port2Port Press

The art and artistry of Maria at Port2Port Press is well crafted and beautiful. Her design sensibility is very fine and I like the simplicity but stark beauty of what she creates. New in her shop are these letterpress cards, a collaboration wiht Scottish artist Natalie Tweedie.


In addition, Maria has launched a Photographs & Drawings project, in collaboration with Swedish artist Elisabeth Dunker. This series, called Levitate/Sväva is made up of three entirely different pieces (sold separately) featuring Maria's photographs paired with drawings by Dunker. These drawings were made just for these photographs and then silk-screened on top creating an entirely new image. Interesting and fresh.

Sweetbeets

Great letterpress designs on recycled cardstock, all hand letterpressed by Canadian Lisa Zuraw on a vintage press from the 1920s. As she says, "ink is applied to a custom engraved magnesium printing plate and then pressed into the paper, leaving a crisp impression that you can see and feel." Her designs feature her own illustrations of children and childhood pleasures. Great colors and technique. Visit her shop.

egg press

Even though it's the 17th, I'm just getting to the holiday card. I'm always interested in what's happening at egg press--- their designs are unique and letterpress is the perfect way to say Seasons Greetings. I like this card from egg, for its old world typography and flourishes. See the egg press website, or buy them here.

Yee-Haw Industries

This company was one of my favorites from the show. Smart, funny, and so well executed, their posters and cards left a serious dent in my wallet (we bought the Kenievel and Loretta posters, having a long-term infatuation with both of them). Started eleven years ago, Yee-Haw is run by Julie Belcher and Kevin Bradley. They have a 6000 square foot letterpress shop in Knoxville TN where they design and print their work from woodblocks (like the Kenievel poster), linoleum, and vintage typography. I have a Howard Finster painting in my house, and their work recalls that folk art tradition. Their cards are sold nationally, and you can find their line of posters and fine art prints at Yee-Haw online.

IN STUDIO with Evanston Print & Paper Shop

Recently, I spent a wonderful hour with Eileen of the newly opened Evanston Print & Paper Shop. Eileen and partners Mardy and Vanessa have created a very beautiful working letterpress shop that executes custom work but also serves as the classroom for programs in bookbinding and letterpress.

On November 17, you can join their "Make Your Own Holiday Card" class for $80 and hand crank those presses yourself! Although the shop has introduced a polymer platemaker to create custom plates from any digital design (just provide an Illustrator file), Eileen concedes that there is something about handsetting lines of type that really captures what letterpress is all about. You can rent presses here as well, and produce your own creations!

In the past hundred years, letterpress moved from being a mass production technique to a specialty high-end boutique business that attracts artists and those who love handmade craft. In the old days the debossed "punch" of the letters would have indicated a novice printer, now it's the signature of most letterpress product. Thank you to the very talented staff at EPP! Check them out for yourself at the The Evanston Print & Paper Shop.

Golden Hen Press

One of the show's best booths. I've seen Kim's cards in several stores already, so I was glad to meet her. Golden Hen uses the best papers, the cleanest letterpress technique, and really beautiful designs to create a line of work that I think should be in every stationery store. This letterpress looks and feels very high end, but doesn't succumb to the stuffy, boring subjects that many high-end companies put out. The designs are innovative, creative, very imaginative but most of all, expertly executed. This company is ready for their spotlight! A perfect combination of materials, design, execution. I picked up a card and matching poster (silkscreened in silver ink) called "Stumped." Golden Hen Press.

Letterpress Cards from Laladexpress

From "laladexpress," the etsy store of designer and printer Shona. She carves the images from linoleum blocks, creates the text with moveable lead type, and prints it all on her 1890 platen tabletop letterpress. Quite a feat and quite a great looking set of cards. I'm very impressed with the small-scale production of someone like Shona. She's producing great design, one card at a time. No big presses, no factories. It's brave and brilliant.
Visit Shona’s etsy shop.

paper+cup design

This Brooklyn-based design company consistently makes great cards and journals. Founded by Minhee and Truman Cho, the products are largely letterpressed but these journals have a vellum cover with a silkscreened image in one-color. Ingenious and smart. Check out the full line of products at paper+cup.

TALL COW Stationery

Tall cow is the brainchild of designer / artist Deanna Ebner, who responded to the clamor for her linoleum block cards by founding Tall Cow in 2004. All the cards are hand printed with silkscreen on premium recycled papers. Her designs are now in 80 stores and museums across the country! Wow. Great designs and simple technique—beautiful. The titles of the pieces above are (clockwise): Hola, Thanks a ton, Hang in There, and Fancy Pants. Check out the Tall Cow website.

LA FAMILIA GREEN

La Familia Green consists of the clever duo of Mollie Green and Andrew Miners, a couple who incorporate their love of handmade journals and cards with themes ranging from Mexican folk art to pop heroes like Tim Gunn. Their work is colorful, witty, and ultra sophisticated. From their site: "All paper goods are either graciously Gocco printed or crafted from hand- cut and collaged paper. We like to emphasize that all offerings from La Familia Green are produced in small quantities by hand... each piece a little work of art." This is high impact meets lo-tech but the result is perfect and beautifully executed. Take a look right here.