Carole King, Ph.D. — Embossed Letterpress Business Cards for Educational Psychologist

Embossed pattern is a replica of Carole’s wedding ring

Sometimes being in business brings the nicest surprises. This is a case in point. Carole King, Ph.D. was my best friend in first grade. We were inseparable chums in high school, tooling around town in Lee Wanda Milbradt’s dad’s gigantic Cadillac (with fins half a block long) with all our friends at lunch time, being slightly (in my case, very) dorky, and considering each other the funniest people in the world. Then, for whatever reasons, we went our separate ways after graduation. Fast forward about thirty years to when Victoria Magazine did that article about me and my shop. Carole read it and contacted me and we never looked back. We are back to the old, dear friendship, made so much deeper for our long absence from each others’ lives. We see each other as often as possible and it’s that old familiar feeling. We love each other!

Carole loved reading the article in Victoria, too, and loved knowing that her old friend did letterpress printing. After re-finding each other, it was wonderful of her and her husband Dennis to come to the San Francisco Public Library twenty-year exhibit of my work several years ago. That was a fabulous show, may I just say. And it made her want some letterpress printing of her own. So, of course, she could have her heart’s desire from little ole me! She met my friend Cynthia Wall at that show and the cards I had made for Cynthia had an embossed image of her wedding ring design on them. It just sparked for Carole. She wanted HER wedding ring on HER business card.

The embossing

We got an artist to render a drawing of the design (Carole actually sent her ring IN THE MAIL — I could not believe it) and we made the drawing into an embossing die. This is the second run of cards we have done for Carole (AKA Creeeollee), this time using a pool-aqua colored paper and deep navy blue ink. She wanted the backs to be blank so she could use that space for extra notes or whatever.

Carole recently told me that when she got her new cards she passed them out at a gathering and it’s all anybody wanted to talk about the whole time.

Magical powers of letterpress printing

I have often suspected that my business cards have magical powers for drawing attention to their owners. See?

 

Alkemi Kombucha Artisanal Black Letterpress Business Cards (Magical)

 

Chef Lisa Bower has been busy creating the most spectacular flavored Kombucha recipes ever, which will be available to the public soon. (Lucky me — she let me have some raspberry from a recent batch, and it was so delicious, I must have more, asap!) Her meticulous branding strategy included business cards that made people’s mouths water as much as the Kombucha does, and we just delivered these.

We are in love with these black, two-ply (very thick) cards that bear the logo (a foxy fox or her Shiba Inu foxy dog?), stamped in black gloss foil, and whose tail encircles the alchemical symbol for gold, in gold foil (of course), along with the business name, also in gold foil. These visual puns show up in many places in her concept, and all add up to rich, rich, rich beauty, and something magical too.

Alkemi Business Card Back

The backs have all her contact information in gold foil, but in the subtle black gloss foil, black-on-black, the slogan, “Time reveals truth,” leaves another mystery to ponder. Or at least drops a little tidbit of wisdom as the final fillip. With alchemy, there’s no end to the surprises.

We are eager to find Lisa’s amazing product on the shelves of local bars and restaurants, aren’t you? And we are proud that she chose Studio Z Mendocino to complete the business cards of her dreams. Here’s what she wrote me after receiving the prototypes: “THANK YOU  THANK YOU  THANK YOU!!!!  You rocked my world with the cards today…they are exactly how I envisioned the graphic representation of my product and the energy I wish to convey with my business concept…  Happy smiles!”

Oh, did I mention that Lisa and I “got each other” the minute we met? Yes, it was a great pleasure to work with such a creative and positive client. One of the great perks of my work! That seems magical, too.

 

Real Estate Magazine March Edition is Out on the News Stands: Abalone Watch is the Cover Story

Abalone Watch Cover

The latest edition of Real Estate Magazine is on news stands, in the Realty offices and around the county in hundreds of locations now. We’re excited to present Rod Jones’s article about the citizen’s group Abalone Watch, which patrols the coast for poachers and gives information to divers, protecting the prized mollusk. It’s inspiring that one concerned person can make a decision like this that can make such an impact on our coastal communities. We added extra color pages this month, too. Go get one, or you can read the article and see ads on our website here. Thank you for appreciating Real Estate Magazine.

Next month we will explore Farm to Table consciousness and Eat Mendocino locavores with Sarah Bodnar.

 

 

 

Carsten Mol: Denmark Photographer’s Breathtaking Business Cards from Studio Z Mendocino

Carsten Mol Photography Business Cards

Danish photographer Carsten Mol found Studio Z Mendocino online and contacted me about a year ago. He wanted to have some really special business cards, and, of course, that is what we do here. We instantly felt a rapport, even though separated by many miles and much water and emailed enthusiastically about what he had in mind, ideas I had for the design and materials, colors, possibilities and his dreams. It was sort of like meeting an old friend I didn’t know yet. Carsten was rebranding and got back to me after several months when his website was completed, as he promised he would.

Edge painting put the icing on the cake

His website was the inspiration for the design we finally landed on. go see: Carsten’s website

The backs are equally yummy

When the cards arrived to Denmark, this is how Carsten started his blog post about them: “Today I got my brand new Business card! And what can I say more than, I just love them!!!! They are small pieces of art.” The nice things he said about working with me almost made me cry! He immediately sent me these wonderful shots he took of them and I feel proud to post them here today.

The first cards we have done for someone in Denmark!

I often say, “I love the modern world!” and, really, I mean it. Never before have we been able to do business in this way, to connect with like-minded people in any corner of the world and relate to each other, feel into others’ lives in this marvelous way, affect each other and even affect each others’ friends and colleagues and, of course, clients, most importantly. It really seems like some sort of miracle, a miracle we take for granted every day, that allows unprecedented communication and relationship to occur regardless of geographical location.

Thank you, Carsten, for reaching across the ocean from Scandinavia to the USA, to California, to Mendocino County, to my little office at Studio Z Mendocino, and to my heart. It’s a beautiful miracle to know you.

 

Real Estate Magazine Hits the News Stands Today with a Story about the 50th Anniversary of Independent Bookshop, Gallery Books

50 Year Anniversary of Gallery Books

This month’s REM cover story is about the fiftieth anniversary of Gallery Books, a thriving independent book store in the tiny village of Mendocino, a refute to the big box book sellers who seem unconscious about putting so many small shops out of business. It’s a heart warming story of resiliency and stamina, passion and dedication. We love our local book store! Copies are all over the county so be sure to pick one up on your way past the post offices, Realty offices, grocery stores and many retail spots all over the county. OH? You’re not planning a trip to Mendocino County right now? OK, they you can read all about it on our website here.

Franklin Street Comeback! Real Estate Magazine’s Latest Editorial

Sara Liner wrote this great story about all the comings and goings on Fort Bragg’s Franklin Street in the latest issue of Real Estate Magazine. Meet the new cast of entrepreneurs who are transforming the once-flagging shopping section of town with moxie and verve. Check out what’s selling in real estate on the coast while you are at it!

ProTalent Sports Group — Global Athlete Representation AWESOME (no, really) New Business Cards

ProTalent Thick Black Business cards with three foils and green edge painting

ProTalent Sports Group’s Sean Bertrand came to Studio Z Mendocino almost a year ago, inquiring about our deluxe, super-thick black business cards. Christopher and Sean work with big league baseball teams internationally, matchmaking players and teams, and they wanted a card that really stood out from the pack. Sean, having seen someone’s card we did knew down to his knees that we were the right printers to do their cards. There was, however, a small snafu.

Chris’s business card backs

They had had a designer working on the cards but somehow something had fallen between the cracks and the design firm was no longer in business. They had a sort of half-done idea but needed it completed and made into a file I could use as a letterpress printer. No Problem! I redid the design using some of the original elements (the shields), changing up the typeface, and laying out the backs. All of this took some negotiating and time, but, by and by, we did arrive at THE design everyone agreed was IT.

Thinner black paper, edge painted

Then, Sean did not want the super-super thick cards we are used to doing. He wanted cards that were about half as thick as our Museum Mount paper. So, a quest ensued, which also took a bit of doing but was very instructive for me and allowed me to find a thinner paper (also less expensive) that we like to work with. Eventually we did find a thickness and quality that everyone agreed was IT. To make the edge painting really do what it’s intended to do, paper needs to have some heft so the edges are not lost. This paper lets the edge painting shine without taking up major space in pocket or wallet (or chewing tobacco pouch).

Gloss foil shield background, silver foil and grass-green foil

In the final analysis, these amazing business cards were worth the time and challenges that brought them into existence. Their impact cannot be measured nor can it be denied. They are certifiably Awesome, with three gleaming foils and green edges that evoke baseball fields and dreams, substantial paper with just the right heft, deep impression, and a moxie-filled attitude.

Sean’s back

Thanks, Sean, for coming to Studio Z and for being an awesome player agent. The whole process was made fun by working with you on this project that came out so very beautifully.