Paper Specs
I have mentioned this web site in the past, but it deserves a look from time to time, www.paperspecs.com . Sabine Lenz heads this operation and its main purpose is to help designers and printers locate paper sources and samples, and along the way, she promotes various aspects of the printing trade. She has a strong interest in letterpress and often features designers and printers in her weekly promotions. Printing Impressions carries her and you can sign up for the weekly blog posting, as well as go for broke and buy the professional version. Lately, she featured this source of business cards that also has a short video:
http://us.moo.com/products/letterpress-business-cards.html
Paper Specs goes out to the design world and these are the folks who are specifying print products, and in letterpress, their interest is in “tactile” aspects of deep impression, which of course goes against the grain of the anti “smash” printers on Briar. But as can be seen in the Moo video, these are the folks who are using the right equipment to stay busy and end up putting money in the bank.
One interesting thing about Paper Specs for me is that their physical location in Palo Alto is about 3 blocks from where I went to high school, but that was another era. That was a time when the presenter of diplomas for my 9th grade graduation was a fellow named David Packard. We did have a print shop in high school that disappeared when vocational arts went in the dumpster in secondary education.
Holy crap Fritz! High school in Palo Alto!!!!! I grew up in Castro Valley, just across the bay, and after graduation from San Jose State started my professional career in Palo Alto. Many of my first letterpress purchases were from Freddy Postman’s Printer’s Shop in Palo Alto!
Small world. Will you be coming to The Ladies of Letterpress conference in Mt. Pleasant, IA in June. I’ll be helping to host that, and George tells me he has a room for you.
Rick
Well, yes, I am planning on going to the Ladies of Letterpress conference in June—just have to keep breathing until then. I’ve been asked to do something, like talk, or give a demonstration, or hold up the other end of something. Should be fun. Plus they have a street car system and narrow gauge steam railroad in the same venue, so my attention may wander.
My Palo Alto days were long, long ago. I had a print shop in my parent’s garage, and I still have everything from that shop. It was so long ago that a woman I went to school with, she was a year ahead of me, just had her 74th birthday noted on NPR. She used to sing at sock hops (remember those?) and student assemblies. I last worked in Palo Alto as an estimator and buyer for an advertising agency where I was buying printing, typesetting, art work, and was for a while the managing editor for the Jeep owner’s magazine published by Kaiser Jeep—now that is a while back. Then I said to hell with the Bay Area and moved to the Colorado mountains.
The street car wasn’t running when I was there for the Wayzgoose, but the stemwinder loco is something to see, and maybe they’ll fire it up for your meeting. At the Wayzgoose several years ago about half a dozen train enthusiasts paid some large amount each for a chance to drive it around the loop. First time I’ve ever seen a Shay under steam.
Bob