We are proud to introduce Organically Yours, a series of letterpress greeting cards with corresponding seed packets, produced in collaboration with Seattle Seed Company! Sander, the owner of Seattle Seed Co., contacted us awhile back about some printing work, and it didn’t take us long to realize our companies were made to collaborate!
Something magical happened on Twitter today. A nerdy joke that my husband has been snickering about for awhile was released into the wild, and it grew wings.
So here’s the idea: Cosmic Sans, a series of 26 sci-fi and/or space themed letterforms, designed by 26 designers. Each letterform must be inspired by “the cosmic” and a riff on Comic Sans. (“Riff” here meaning it must be sans serif, and in some way traceable back to Comic Sans, but NOT ugly. Points for good design.) Each designer will produce a letterform, and a 12″ x 12″ art piece featuring the letterform. All 26 pieces will be printed (handmade printing methods encouraged, but not required), hung in a Seattle gallery show, and showcased in an online gallery for posterity.
Are you cosmic enough to join? (Please do!) Comments on this blog post will be the official registration for the series. Include your name, portfolio site (so we can get to know you), and which letter you’d like to do. Open to all, but we will jury the final 26 pieces for the show (if we get a crazy turnout). Are you excited? We are!
Due date and additional info on the gallery show when we have all 26 letters accounted for!
Summer has slowly made its way to Seattle, and for the first time since I was little, the warm weather means bike rides! A couple months ago (when spring was here and we were eagerly awaiting summer), we found the sweetest blue bike in the basement of an estate sale in our neighborhood. I had an instant crush on this bike. It’s everything a bike should be! We initially walked away from the house (we certainly hadn’t budgeted to get me a bike, nor did we bring enough cash), but I was really sad to leave it behind. I just kept thinking about the two of us riding bikes all summer…and it was too sweet a thought to give up! Brad (who loves me a ton) negotiated the seller down to a somewhat manageable price, and we took my new/old bike home! Continue reading ☞
So, we’ve gone back and forth on how we feel about print-only jobs. We love working with the talented designers in our city, but tend to get too busy too fast. But some cool things have been falling into place lately – new person, new press, more space…more info forthcoming! In light of these new circumstance, we’ve started taking on new print-only jobs on a limited basis.
Interested in having us print your design work? We’re getting ready to take on more print-only jobs: but for time & energy purposes, we want to choose our clients carefully. In order to best educate our designer clients on the magical world of letterpress printing, we will be offering one-day workshops (monthly or every other month, depending on interest) that will be a prerequisite for printing with us. Each workshop (for graphic designers only) will cover all the quirky specifics of design for letterpress printing, including: what works well for letterpress, how to prepare your files, color separations, printing press capabilities, do’s & don’ts, and more! The cost of the class will be $50, which we will credit back to your first print job with us. If you’re interested in taking the workshop, e-mail us (hello AT constellationco DOT com) and we will reply with additional info. The first workshop will be in August!
Note: These workshops will be on how to design for letterpress, not on how to print yourself. If you’re interested in learning how to print, check out the awesome classes at the School of Visual Concepts.
Too many words, not enough pictures? Check out these kick-arse print-only jobs we’ve done lately…these folks are rock stars!
Jen & Mike’s Save the Dates, Designed by Mike, the groom!
So, things got a bit insane around here after my St. Louis trip. While I was gone, work ground to a halt for a week and has been backed up ever since (nearly a month!) No complaints here, busy = business! We’ve been on press every day for weeks, and have quite a few new client projects in the works. We’ve hired a lovely and talented printmaker named Cherish to help out around the shop (official introduction soon) and assigned the beautiful and organized Holly to answering e-mails and setting up client meetings (she also makes wreaths). With our powers combined, work has continued on in a rapid pace and won’t stop next time i’m out of town! (Which will be in July for Renegade Craft Fair & San Francisco adventure, which i’m currently planning and very excited about!)
Crazy busy Sara tends to mean no blog entries. But I’ve got lots of updates planning and coming soon! In the meantime, here’s a greatest hits line-up of our recent design/print work:
