Letterpress

[CathieH]

Is letterpress going the way of printing? I know with less printing comes less letterpress, but are there less companies out there wanting foiling, embossing, specialty die-cutting, etc?

My hubby works in a letterpress house with just himself and the owner, and just to make ends meet, the owner is out doing plumbing during working hours to pay his mortgage and keep my hubby in a job.

How long can this go on? Anyone with superpowers that can tell me letterpress work is going to pick up in the next few months?

Cath

[Enrique]

It's the prohibitive cost of letterpress that's causing it's own demise. These last few years, the ultimate decision maker has been keeping costs down, and anything fancy is the first thing on the chopping block. Unless you actively pursue the high-end customers who are willing to pony up the money for letterpressed materials, you're going to have a hard time making ends meet.

Case in point... we just handled a card for a company, their previous card was the thickest cardstock (BLACK, to boot) I'd ever seen and with the thickest type I'd ever seen (engraving, not foil stamp). Quoted a price (farmed out to another vendor) and the company flipped out. We then spent a month going back and forth, quoting alternatives, bringing the price down until ultimately they settled on a chintzy black cardstock (feels like 9pt) with foil stamped text.

[Luc St-Pierre]

Letterpress is alive, it is just a matter of niche. When it tries to compete with commercial printing, that's a war letterpress will loose. The good news is the birth of a trend, specially in major cities, for very specialized work, stock items, weddings, etc. pretty much in the same mood as the scrapbooking trend. Go take a look at some of these little shops. I suggest this one:
Letterpress Delicacies by letterpress on Etsy
It can work from a website also. But as you will see, it is very feminine-oriented products.

[CathieH]

Hi Luc. My hubby's shop luckily isn't competing with print shops, they do they specialty work for them.

Thanks for the information and link, very interesting stuff. I'm going to check that out in more detail.

Cathie

[Luc St-Pierre]

Cathie, this link is one among many others in the same trend. Surf around and you will realize that there is a lot of business to do on the web with good old letterpress, craftmanship and imagination. Good luck!