[Alyson Kuhn] I admired many a thank-you card last month at the National Stationery Show. Here are a few of my faves, all of which happen to be letterpress printed, and most of which say Thank you right up front. I would be grateful to find any of them in my post office box.
Thank-you cards from Egg Press
The middle card in the trio above is a collaboration between Egg Press in Portland, Ore., and home furnishings designer Angela Adams in Portland, Maine. (It amuses me to think this design relates to the dozen eggs immediately to its right, but it doesn’t. It’s a stone-moss-tile-shape thing.) Nice touch: Each card in the Angela Adams collection comes with a little tag that says, “Two Portlands working together as one. www.angelaadams.com + eggpress.com.”
Allow me to reflect: The Age of Etiquette, as I think of it, was a more gracious time. People somehow took the time for social niceties. I doubt they were more grateful than we are today — they were just better about acknowledging it formally, from scratch. A proper thank-you note would be penned by hand on the sender’s personal notepaper. A blotter would be pressed into service, and perhaps some sealing wax. And in the Really Goody Old Days, maybe even a mail pouch and a messenger. But a modern letterpress-printed thank-you card is its own tactile treat, for both sender and recipient.
Colorful collateral from Egg Press
Patterns are definitely giving little motifs a run for their moment. (We recently featured shiny patterns on invitations from Dauphine Press.) Three hand-drawn patterns come into play on Egg Press’ own stationery suite, in three different color ways — navy blue, dirty yellow and red. Lucky Kara Yanagawa has nine versions of her excellent business card. The patterns, including the herringbone that is my Most Admired, are scanned for platemaking. Kara confirms, “All have minimal to no manipulation after scanning.”
Homage à l’orange from Shed Letterpress
The expanse of rattan from Shed Letterpress above makes me feel relaxed, retro and resort-y. Thank you, Sarah Almond, for letterpress printing this card. And for blind debossing the wood texture on your business card.
Thank-you cards abound with imagery to add mood to your message. Speaking of the message: I definitely do not diss preprinted Thank you or Thanks. And I love preprinted quantification of just how much thanks I’m sending, from a dozen (Egg Press, above) to a boatload (Hammerpress, below). I think we may well be in the Golden Age of Letterpressed Gratitude.
Hammerpress is excited about Tangerine Tango.
Hammerpress designer Britta Rice wrote a great post about Tangerine Tango on their blog shortly before the National Stationery Show (NSS). It starts, “We have been really feeling the Tangerine Tango here at Hammerpress lately.” And when I saw the cards in person, I liked them a boatload — they tugged at my unsentimental heartstrings. The card on the right (Electric Hacienda, above) is blank inside; ditto the card on the right directly below. So you can use them everyday for everything.
Hammerpress’ Everyday line includes umpteen great thank-you cards.
At NSS, I had a chance to browse the wedding collection at Gilah Press + Design. Each invitation suite includes a matching thank-you card, and Kat Feuerstein says two-ish out of three brides order a thank-you card as part of bridal stationery. Occasionally, non-brides order a thank-you card on its own.
Single-surface thank-you cards from Gilah Press + Design’s wedding collection
Who would not be delighted to receive a thank-you note proclaiming “You seriously rock”? And see the little “xo” at the very bottom? Gilah also offers foldover thank-you cards. I like the adverbs, and I love the orange stitching.
G for Gratitude: folded thank-you cards from Gilah Press + Design
All Photos: © 2012 StudioAlex
