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.

 

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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!

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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.

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2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 46,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 11 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

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Excuse Me While I Gush: Shelley Deneau Photography Letterpress Business Cards with Holographic Foil

Holographic foil shimmers as the light or angle change.

Shelley Deneau, a photographer from Chesapeake, Virginia, found Studio Z Mendocino online, fell in love with a few things she found on this blog, and called me. She already had a logo, which she emailed to me and my brain immediately set to work on what would make it sing even more than it did in its original form, blue and brown inks. Shelley was incredibly eager to play, so when i suggested using a blue-green Holorgraphic foil for the sea gulls and the type of her name, she was intrigued enough to want to know more. I sent her some samples in the mail and she took a deep breath and said, “nnnnnYES!”

She also did not want the cards to be as thick as our usual 600 gram Lettra, so instead we opted for Lettra that’s half as thick, but still has the gorgeous fluff and texture. This was our outcome, and they are so amazing. It’s hard to capture in one shot the “dance” of light as the angle or intensity changes, bringing even more liveliness to the marvelous artwork.

Shelley Deneau Business Cards

The light dances against birds and Shelley’s logotype

Shelley was so easy to work with, and so fun, that it feels like I have a new-found friend back East. I am totally crazy about how these cards came out and so, I understand, is Shelley. Here is what she wrote to me when the parcel arrived: “OMG!!!!! I absolutely love them!  I love the seagulls changing color with the tilt!  You are incredible!  The best! Thank you!  ~Shelley”

Now THAT was a great email to wake up to. Thank YOU Shelley, for entrusting this key piece of your business to us. We love to make you happy! It makes US happy!!

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Tokyo Luxe — Luxury Concierge Services — A Stunning Black Letterpress Business Card With Edge Painting

A stunning business card carries the day when networking in Hong Kong, or anywhere

 

The backs of the cards are as gorgeous as the fronts. Almost!

Nami Lee, CEO and Founder of Tokyo Luxe, recently contacted me about doing business cards for her Luxury Concierge Services in Japan. She came with most of her logo completed — the design just needed a little fine tuning to adapt it for letterpress techniques. Because Nami wanted something that would stop traffic, we decided to print them on our super-thickest black museum mount paper with three foils: black gloss foil for the “T”, metallic silver foil and metallic gold foil. Then, after some consideration, I’m happy to report that Nami decided to go for the boldness of salmon colored edge painting.

Closeup of edge painting

 

When the cards were finally delivered to her in Tokyo, Nami immediately filled up her purse with them and flew out to network in Hong Kong. She emailed me that she has never had such reactions to a business card before. She says she is so happy we met each other online…one more miracle of modern life…she found this blog, called me, and the rest is history.

 

Tokyo Luxe black business cards with three gleaming foil colors on super-thick black paper

The finished cards have a vibration of something like jewelry, something at once timeless, unique, and somehow managing to seem contemporary yet also classic. Incredibly thick, luxurious paper foil stamped in gleaming metals, and flicked with the understated-but-ever-so-THERE salmon color along the edges are a force of marketing to be reckoned with. You will not be forgotten when you leave behind something this amazing and beautiful.

This is the photo Nami sent to me from Hong Kong:

Photo Nami took when her business cards were delivered to her in Tokyo

 

 

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Community Center of Mendocino Is Cover Story of December’s Real Estate Magazine

New issues of Real Estate Magazine are out on the stands in Anderson Valley, Comptche, Mendocino and Fort Bragg, but weather has prevented their delivery to the south coast and inland. Those should arrive by Wednesday, if all goes well. We’re very excited to feature our vibrant Community Center of Mendocino for our cover story this month, which provides yet another amazing example of why we choose to live here in Mendocino County. Please pick one up at any Realtor’s office, Harvest Markets, Post Offices, FB Library and many other spots around the county. If you don’t live here, don’t despair! You can read it online here. You will fall in love with the fabulous Community Center of Mendocino that is a hub of community activities and events, driven by a committed and enthusiastic group of parents, neighbors and generous souls.

In our pages you will also find listings for hundreds of properties in the county. With interest rates still low and housing costs also at their most attractive in years, people looking to buy property in Mendocino County are in a very good position to find their dream at affordable prices.

Each month Real Estate Magazine brings listings for residential, commercial, land and businesses for sale, along with an insider’s look into one of the myriad reasons we have for believing we live in the best place in the world. Our communities up and down the coast are unique and individualistic. REM is happy to share these stories with our readers and would love to hear from you if you enjoy reading them or have other comments or inquiries. Wishing you all a very merry Holiday Season and all the best in 2013!

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Platinum Soirees: Black Square Business Cards with Silver & Royal Blue Foil for New York City Event Planner

This is the business card we produced for New York City event company, Platinum Soirees. Nacole Powers designed the logo herself and wanted the major wow factor of a matte black, ultra-thick card with platinum and royal blue foils. I had adapt here existing logo into a two-color image that would work for letterpress. As you probably know, not every design is letterpress-friendly. The original design was not specifically created for this techniques; drop shadows had been applied to make it look like letterpress (kind of). Instead, Nacole got the real thing and no drop shadows were needed. The deep impression of letterpress achieves a little shadow around each image and letter — very beautiful, don’t you think? The registration of the two foils was extremely minute and required a great deal of skill to print properly.

The outcome, as you can see, is nothing short of spectacular. The message is clear, from the name of the company itself, to the execution of the intricate design, choice of paper and colors, the shape and the treatment: this is luxury, this is beauty, this is attention to minute detail and it adds up to a big communication.

 

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Z Quest: One of the most Amazing Letterpress Business Cards Studio Z Mendocino Has Ever Created

Over the years, Studio Z Mendocino has created a lot of amazing business cards and letterpress printing, so you have to know we are not kidding when we claim this as one of the MOST amazing of all. Australian developer and general genius, Nathan Orbach, became one of our favorite clients, too, in the course of this very, very long process that involved quite a lot of Skyping in odd hours and quite a lot more, how shall I say, “translation” or “instruction” of the letterpress vernacular and techniques so he could really understand better and his designer could prepare the files properly. It was a tremendous and very fun-filled effort with a tremendous result.

After having discovered us online and subsequently receiving a big parcel of samples of our work in Australia via FedEx, Nathan had definite ideas about how he wanted the cards to look. Very specific about every detail, but without knowledge of the various ins and outs and weird limitations of what we do, his decisions made it necessary to work around numerous obstacles.

For instance, he wanted the paper to be exactly THIS dense black, but that exact paper only comes in eighty-pound weight, which was MUCH too thin for what he wanted. He wanted extra-extra thick cards with red edge painting. To accomplish this, it was necessary to print two separate pieces of the black paper and laminate them with something like chipboard sandwiched between them. This was just one in a lot of various negotiations that kept us in conversation pretty much the better part of six months. Or more.

In the end, we were all over the moon about the resulting cards.

The backs are as stunning as the fronts.

It all proves that we are always willing to go the last ten thousand miles. If a business card is going to represent you in the world, it really should say everything about you that can be said in two dimensions. In this case “Q” (Quest) to the Zed Power says exactly that: stop at nothing for the sake of perfectly what is wanted and needed in the situation. Plus, letterpress actually adds a third dimension of tactile depth and visual texture. Nothing more need be said.

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Digitally Printed Cards = Non-Letterpress Show Stoppers

My fabulous homeopath, Shelly Garrison, got new cards recently. I designed them with a letterpress-y vibe but printed them digitally. I love how they came out so much that i wanted to show them to you here.

The mirror-like finish and modern sans-serif font give a liveliness to otherwise very classical typography.and layout.

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Nida Chaudhry is a lawyer from Vancouver BC. I designed a new logo for her newly opened practice, Infinite Law, and printed them digitally, again with that favorite of mine, black and white and beautiful all over. The big “I” is timeless, modern and striking on the glossy, substantial paper.

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And finally, I have made myself some cards for my monthly publication, Real Estate Magazine. Sometimes you just want to leave well-enough alone and I early on chose to leave the logo designed by Chuck Hathaway may moons ago for his magazine as it has been for 25 years. I gave it a little update on the business cards with horizontal striping and a fancy orangey-red back.

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These black-and-white themed digital cards show that there is an infinity of possibilities in design and printing to fit your style and budget. Though letterpress will always trump everything in terms of beauty and classiness, it’s not the only available solution. Call Studio Z Mendocino to find a range of savvy, practical options for all your branding questions.

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