The job has been done, it was quite fun.
Now the press gets a good cleaning from the old ink.
It’s so nice that our low VOC solvent doesn’t stink!
Scrub a dub
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Tag Archives: commercial printing
Go, windmill press, go
Today we’re printing with the trusty Heidelberg 10×15 letterpress, nicknamed the “Windmill” because of its rotating gripper arms. Upon this super thick plush white stock we’re laying down a soft golden yellow custom ink.
Read This
Letterpress printer Jake means what he says! Tip o’ the hat to you, reader.
The World of IT
Up the stairs, behind the giant red door, is the world of our IT department. They are a friendly bunch and love visitors in their spacious loft. Here’s a joke wild Sam told me: Tow VB (Visual Basic) programmers walk into a bar. The first person turns to the second and says, “What type of beer do you want?” The second one says, “What’s a type?”
We laughed and laughed and finally simmered down with a round at their espresso-puter. What a great bunch!
Say Hello
It’s Lou, Dave, & Bill (from left to right), outstanding letterpress printers working hard to create the finest letterpressed items in the galaxy. Thanks guys!
Our Stronghold
In pre-press, King Tut stands guard over the imagesetters, helping wand off unruly files.
Working in Comfort
Here at Boxcar, we believe in comfortable working environments. If you run a press I hope you have an anti-fatigue mat of your own. Cushy flooring really makes a huge difference running a letterpress all day or just for a few hours.
From Our Print Shop: Cool Letterpress Business Cards for Salt & Syrup
These letterpress business cards, printed for Salt & Syrup, are simple but really cool. We love the combination of blind deboss with a cool green ink. They have a clean Scandinavian feel, perfect for this fun Swedish stationery line.
From our print shop: cool letterpress and offset double-sided business cards
Sometimes we combine letterpress and offset printing to get the best of both printing methods – the back of these business cards were flooded with great color (with type in reverse), since letterpress isn’t ideal for large solids.
Awesome Cloudy Collection Prints, Letterpressed by Boxcar Press
The opportunity to print these bold limited edition letterpress prints, the first release from the Cloudy Collection, was a really cool experience. Boxcar’s relationship with David Huyck, the self-proclaimed instigator of the Cloudy Collection, dates back to the college years and recently took shape in the form of this really fun collaboration between David, a collection of highly inspired artists, and us.
Keeping the Cloudy Collection prints affordable was a central focus for David in developing the project. Ultimately, each of the seven prints was letterpressed onto one large sheet of paper and then carefully trimmed to the finished 4×6 size. As they were letterpressed together, the ink colors needed to be the same for each print so color became a major unifying factor in the designs. David used that as an opportunity to suggest a theme as a way of keeping the prints conceptually linked as well so the prints would truly feel like a cohesive set, despite having been dreamed up by different artists. With clouds on the brain, the theme was in place and the Cloudy Collection was born.
Each Cloudy Collection set will feature an offbeat seven prints, with an eighth bonus print. At times the bonus print will be offered as a free addition to the collection of seven, but there are also plans in the works to offer annual collections of just the bonus prints from each print set, intended to be released quarterly. The bonus prints will also be available for sale individually.
For the upcoming second set of prints, due to be released late next month, David is moving away from the orange and black palette and adopting the classic ice cream sandwich color combination of pink and brown. Each new set of prints will feature varying colors, themes and artists to keep the collection fresh and to help draw a broader audience to this unique series of ongoing collaborations. It is David’s hope that with each new contributing artist, their following of fans will visit the site, become intrigued and ultimately get introduced to new artists and new perspectives.
With Boxcar’s own eco practices as inspiration, David made sure to keep an environmental perspective in mind when working on the project. David says, “Boxcar was an inspiration here – running on 100% windpower and using vegetable-based inks made me feel like I could add an eco-friendly layer on top of the idea of having great art for sale.” A portion of proceeds of the print sales will be dedicated to The Nature Conservancy, an organization David’s wife has worked with extensively over the years, and a special Earth Day promotion also helped to raise additional funds.
Thank you, David, for the opportunity to work with you on this great project and for allowing us to share it with everyone! You can purchase the first set of prints from the Cloudy Collection on the official website for just $35, but you better move quick as we were excited to learn there are only 5 sets of the 100 limited edition sets remaining!