You can read part of the Best of the Cities feature on the Minnesota Monthly website, but to see the whole feature (including the bit about us) you’ll have to get your paws on a hard copy. Which shouldn’t be hard, because the September 2010 issue just hit news stands a few days ago.

Gail has been a regular customer since we worked on custom-designed letterpress-printed business cards for her back in 2003. We created a logo with her initials, and used that logo on business cards. The composition was unique, and we printed on cotton watercolor paper so the cards felt very luxurious. Last fall, as she prepared to relocate her business office, she asked us to update the cards and create matching letterhead and envelopes as well. She still loved her old cards, but asked me to experiment with new layouts and fonts. After looking at an array of nice ideas, we came to the conclusion that the five-year-old layout was the best of the bunch (Jenni pats herself on the back). We switched up the font and the paper, and brightened the ink color a bit, but it looks remarkably similar to the original. The cards, along with the new monarch letterhead and envelope, are all printed on high-quality natural white papers in a punchy green. We even printed a small stack of business cards in red ink, because Gail really liked the color but didn’t think it was quite right for the whole system.

The history of this project makes me extra-proud that this design has won an award! We submitted Gail’s stationery to Mohawk Paper’s quarterly Strathmore Letterhead Design contest, and for the the second quarter in a row, we were awarded the bronze prize (Jenni pats herself on the back again). You can see Gail’s stationery, along with the quarter’s other winners, at the Mohawk website.

Over the years, we’ve worked with many businesses, large and small, on everything from simple business cards to complex stationery suites – read more about our past projects in our blog archive. View our winning work, along with other winners from this and past quarters, at the Mohawk website.

All of this makes me extra-pleased to have just won another prize from Mohawk, for entering their Strathmore Letterhead Contest for the third quarter of 2008. I sent in samples of the Mahogany Bay business stationery suite that we printed this past January. It’s a pretty big system, including letterhead, envelopes, buckslip notecards for the president and the founder, and business cards for four different people in the company. All printed on Strathmore writing natural white papers. Classy! I haven’t been tapped (yet!) for my design skills this time around – they’ve awarded me a fat iTunes gift card for being one of the first 25 entries for the quarter. So I guess I am finally being rewarded for my stellar time management skills!

We finished the Engine Innovations project just in time for James’ first official event. When he picked up his cards (raves all around, natch), he paid his bill and gave me a crsip $1 bill. Just days into his new venture, he’d received his first check, and was giving 20 one-dollar bits of it to people who helped him with the launch. As tips go, this is the smallest I’ve ever received, but also the most prized. I’m saving this as a reminder that we do good work, and poeple appreciate it. On my worst days, I might feel like a glorified desktop publisher; but on my best days I am really more of a paper therapist.

Many of our clients are navigating serious transitions, such as preparing for their first baby, facing a milestone birthday or diving into a new career. Whether we’re working together on formal invitations, or simple calling cards, or a show-stopping business stationery suite, the process of deciding what goes on the paper makes people think very carefully, and in a new way, about their crossroads and how to articulate it. The subtle implications of color schemes, paper textures and punctuation elicit unexpected visceral responses. The weight of the world suddenly hangs on a hyphen – or is that an en-dash?

It’s not always that heavy, of course. Sometimes people come in, they order something pretty, we make it, they pay for it, and everyone’s happy. Ultimately that last part – everyone’s happy – is what we care about the most. But when we have the opportunity to help someone clarify their vision and move forward with confidence, there’s extra gratification in that.

The Post- identity system (which I wrote about last February) was a great project to work on, and I’m incredibly pleased and proud to have our work recognized. Katie & Lois from Post- came to Lunalux when they were in the early stages of business, still working on prototypes of their tony totes for fashionable moms on the go. It was important to them to develop a stationery suite that conveyed a strong sense of style and a commitment to quality – and I do believe we delivered! They had very clear and strong opinions about what they wanted, and they pushed me to do my best work.

I never expected to win, in fact it was an honor just to be nominated! I’d like to thank The Academy, and all the people who made this possible, including my Momma and Poppa, Jesus, my go-to guy Nick, and of course my dear Mark, without whose technical and emotional support I wouldn’t be blogging today. And most of all, John for his excellence in printing. Word up!

At least we’re in good company. The list of favorites also includes Sister Fun, World’s Largest Ball of Twine Made by One Man, FoundMagazine.com, and Krispy Kreme.