Here we have a case study in resourcefulness, as Erica Heinz, designer [and yoga teacher], uses engraved artwork of yesteryear for her present day business card. Old engravings and artwork from previous centuries are in the public domain, so are therefore free for folks to use. While a designer may be pressured to do all [...]

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Craig Ward, the highly-decorated and highly talented typographer/designer, has worked in multiple countries, for numerous clients, for many years … without a business card. Finally taking the effort to design one, and have it printed, I am pleased to present his card.

A single-colour, letterpressed card, printed by Dave at Print Icon in New York City [...]

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Spotted this gorgeous example of a letterpressed card on the Dolce Press blog. While there is no shortage of excellent letterpressed business cards out there, this particular post is not only photos, but a bit of an explanation/tutorial on how to design for letterpress when you’re working with large fields of colour.
Close-up example of the [...]

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If you’re a letterpress shop, you’d better have a sharp card. The above image is so very lightly pressed onto the card that you can barely feel it. The lines are extremely fine, some maybe as fine as 1/8″ pt. And the image doesn’t leave an impression the reverse side.

The reverse side isn’t much for [...]

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Normally, I’m not a fan of Avant Garde, and still insist that it was only created to spell out the words “Avant Garde”, but it seem to work here for Market Publique. The M and A make an odd kerning pair, no?
Very sharp letterpress at work here. A close-up:

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Love these cards for Saarinen, designed by Indianapolis-based Eric Kass.
Spotted on Flickr »

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click for a larger view »
Continuing in the theme of gorgeous letterpressed cards for photographers, I present you with the card for John Waire.
Designed and letterpress printing by Dolce Press, this card features three colours pressed onto 600gsm cotton (tree-free) paper. The contact information was printed as a repeating pattern using transparent white ink. This [...]

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I’m a big fan of letterpress, and stickers, and hand-made elements like stitching. And this card for Toronto-based Photographer John Edgar has all three.
Printed on 180lb Strathmore stock, with a subtle letterpress. A printed sticker is then wrapped around, and finally, stitching in added. Designed and built by Simon Cooper of Envyco.ca

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More letterpressed cards, this time for soon-to-launch t-shirt company Shizknitted. The shirt is printed blind, with the remainder of the artwork in black.

Close-up of the t-shirt, which is very subtle.
Printing by Studio on Fire, design by Prescott Perez-Fox.

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Ornate and elegant design for NYC make-up artist Boryslawa “Blanka” Mazurczak. Card features black ink and blind letterpress. Typeface is [good old] Mrs. Eaves.

Detail, which, attempts to show the “B” pattern imprinted on the card.
Printing by Studio on Fire, design by Prescott Perez-Fox.

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Understated type and cryptic semiotics are used to represent Melanie. Letterpress printing by Studio on Fire, designed by Prescott Perez-Fox (which is me, the author).

Close-up of the “snowflake.”

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Lovely letterpress card … but why?
Not too much backstory on this one.
via FFFFOUND »

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Brian Hoff of The Design Cubicle has recently compiled a showcase of 50 Creative and Interesting Business Cards of Graphic and Web Designers. Many lovely gems, and many making use of alternate materials, die cuts, letterpress, stickers, and other cleverness.
One that particularly caught my eye were those of David Gheorghita.

via The Design Cubicle [...]

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As mentioned in the previous post, here is the card for Virgil O. Stamps, letterpress laboratory. These cards are printed on chipboard, but Virgil can print on anything from a cereal box to a dollar bill.

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To promote a blog about business cards, I saw it fit to use the very medium in question. So now when someone hands me a particular awful business card, I’ll hand them one back.

Sarah Coffman, the brains behind Virgil O. Stamps, helped me print these lovely cards. Letterpressed on various stocks.

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