Magpie Press

Two design practitioners and a programmer based in the Ironbank building on K Road recently asked us to print their cards – all three projects took full advantage of letterpress capabilities and the results were awesome.  The Fuman card is on Lettra 600gsm – perfect for the fully debossed pattern on the reverse, while the Creative Organism card was printed on two pieces of Somerset 330gsm which were laminated together and diecut to finish.  We were especially pleased with the print of the illustrative work on both sides of this card.  The Codezilla card is on 610gsm recycled stock.  You can read more about Fuman here>> and Creative Organism here>> and Codezilla here>>

Thought I’d share one of the coolest projects so far this year – a beautiful duplexed card for Donnee Murray of GOOD Design. Each side was printed separately on GF Smith ColorPlan 270gsm paper, then laminated together and trimmed.  We’re delighted with the result, especially with the glowing citrine reverse – just makes you smile!  Go Good!

Delighted!  That’s how we felt printing up this vintage-inspired business card for Amanada Robertshawe.  It was our first print on a new 425gsm cream paper stock and it is a total winner.  The blind (no ink) print came up beautifully – a perfect pairing with the delicate teacup.  Cheers to Amanda Oliver @ Ornament for the awesome design.  Time for a cuppa!

Extra special business cards on the press this week for Wellington-based designer Allison Jochim.  We had a great time not only printing them (on the Lettra 600gsm, giving Superfine a very good impression) but also edge painting the cards afterwards..  check out the results – very fit for a superfine designer indeed!

I was honoured recently when award-winning photographer Sarah Beaufoy asked Magpie Press to print new business cards and matching compliments slips for Beaufoy Imagery.  The elegant cards, printed on Lettra 600gsm are printed in the palest of grey on one side, and blind (no ink) debossed on the other.  Matching slips on Lettra 300gsm perfectly suit the ambience of Beaufoy Imagery – you’ll see what I mean when you check out her website – I had tears welling up when I first visited (in the nicest possible way!).

Well the big news this week at Magpie Press is the long-awaited arrival of a fantastic new paper stock.  The Crane Lettra in bright white has a smooth finish, and is just perfect for double-sided work, or when you want a brighter white than the lovely warm whites we usually work with in the Somerset range.  The first project off the press in the 600gsm is this awesome card for Urban Logic.  Crane is an American company with a great eco ethic (’green since 1801′) and the Lettra range is made from tree-free 100% cotton fibre, in a mill which uses steam from a nearby waste-to-energy plant.  You can read more about this here> We also have the matching 100% cotton envelopes available in a variety of sizes in stock now.

We printed up these great cards for Nick Cattell recently on Somerset 330gsm.  I’m still not entirely sure about what a ‘matte painter’ actually is, but clearly he has some great practical skills, as we received these shots soon after delivery, of the cards with the corners cut!  Thanks Nick for the update.  (We’re happy to cut the corners for you too – just ask when ordering).

It’s been a busy week printing, with many requests for delivery pre-Easter.  One of the stand-out designs and a brilliant example of ’simple-works-best’ in letterpress is this lovely card we printed for Gina Hufton.  She designed the ‘Hufton’ font herself, and it was certainly worth the effort as the blind (no ink) print is stunning.  The paper stock is a sturdy 600gsm (!) off-white.

So my fashion conscious friends tell me that cycling is cool again, but you have to pay close attention to your choice of cycle and your outfit.  Someone who needs no help in this department at all is the owner of these fabulous letterpress personal calling cards.  Everyone should have some!  These are destined for Amsterdam, and feature the classic Gazelle bicycle.

We’ve printed up a number of great business cards (and some personal visiting cards) of late, but this one has to be one of the most handsome of the lot!   Designed by Mike Collinge at Designworks for architect Michael Davies www.daedal.co.nz its beauty is in its simplicity, complemented by a brilliant choice of paper stock – the Somerset 500gsm.  We took some snaps through the printing process – wander on over to Mike’s blog to have a look at these here…

design by Mike Collinge @ Designworks