Lunalux is closed today (Thurs. 23 August) – Jenni has gone to the Minnesota State Fair! You can say hi to me at the Memorial Blood Center’s station at the KARE11 Health Building. I’m the one wearing a t-shirt that says “Do you know an O?”
Letterpress printing is especially lovely on soft, thick paper. Watercolor sheets from Reeves and Somerset have long been coveted by our customers for their luscious texture, but these stocks have drawbacks too, including fat price tags, deckle edges (this makes the papers difficult for us to handle from a production standpoint), and challenging supply channels. Crane’s recently developed a new paper specifically for letterpress printing. Lettra is a beautiful 100% cotton stock, feels very luxurious, and is available in two shades of white through our primary local paper supplier in small quantities. It’s not cheap, but it’s less expensive than the alternatives. We’ve used it for a few projects recently, and it’s a pleasure to work with!
Alessandra & Peter are the first customers who selected this paper for their custom-designed invitations (pictured above; click image for larger view). For their destination wedding in New Orleans, the betrothed wanted invitations featuring a second line parade. I created the illustration and collaborated with Peter on the layout and typesetting. We paired pearl white Lettra with brown kraft envelopes and rich autumnal colors. I also addressed, stamped and mailed their invitations, so it was fun to see the project from the drawing board to the post office.
Lorinda & Eric opted for florescent white Lettra for their theatrical invitations. Their interest in the stage, combined with plans for a reception at the old-theater-turned-club/event space The Varsity Theater in Dinkytown, had them thinking about theatrical elements for their wedding stationery. A bold color scheme on the bright white paper, paired with matching red envelopes, make a dramatic statement.
Lisa, a floral designer, came to Lunalux for help with her business stationery. She had found a graphic that she liked a lot, and worked with a designer on a type treatment for the name of her business. But the elements weren’t fitting together quite right, and that’s where I stepped in!
The original graphic is a sweet, spindly sprig of greenery. As I worked initially on the layout for the business card, I found the delicate branches paired with the calligraphic type felt too delicate and flat, not quite right for this modern gal. I enlarged the artwork dramatically so it’s literally bursting off the printed pieces, making it feel more like a marimekko print rather than an old-fashioned wall paper. Lisa loved this direction, so I applied a similar sensibility to notecards and perforated mailing labels as well.
My goal was to develop printed materials that were beautiful but also versatile, so Lisa got the most bang for her buck. Flat notes were printed with a bold design on one side, and left blank on the other; these cards can be sent as a postcard, enclosed with a delivery, or mailed in a standard A2 envelope. Perforated peel-and-stick mailing labels (printed on high-quality Strathmore sticker stock) can be folded over the edge of a mailing envelope or torn apart and applied in assorted positions to larger packages.
This is my favorite RSVP card I’ve ever created. Normally when wedding stationery is featured on our website, the focus is on the invitation itself. But this time, the spotlight shines on the reply card, because it looks so good (if I do say so myself).
Working with Calley & Steve was fun because they’re not total strangers; we have some mutual friends, and Steve even come to Lunalux for a one-on-one letterpress lesson while he was in school a few years ago. When he came in with his bride-to-be, they expressed interest in something modern, with a floral graphic. We settled on a pale blue Italian paper, printed in brown and forest green. It feels fresh and uncommon, but still formal and invitation-y.
In the past month, we’ve worked on two separate calling card projects for married couples. We’ve only done a few of these since I started designing full time for Lunalux back in 2000 or so, and it’s been about a year since the last one that I can think of. So two in a month, that’s a lot.
Michael Root visited the studio with a sample of personal stationery that he and his wife Tamara use. The calling cards we designed and printed for the Roots ended up looking nothing like those customized notecards, except they share a very simple and clean sensibility. In looking through our sample albums, Michael was drawn to a business card we created for another client, so we modified the layout to suit a more personal application. The matching 2-color cards are printed on 130# natural white cover stock.
Carol & Dick Flynn were drawn to a similarly simple design for their calling cards, but they wanted just one card bearing both their names and all the contact information that they share. These cards are printed in black ink on 140# arctic blue cover stock, which really showcases the textural quality of letterpress printing, even though it’s a relatively stiff sheet.
