Zeichen Press – Page 20 – Design & Letterpress for the people.

Step one:

Part of the World Domination Plan involves a complete Zeichen Press website redesign. Just imagine our new logo�in living, breathing, MOVING,�technicolor!�Oh, the anticipation dizzies me. My prop shopping list includes a wig and a man. …I guess my husband could be the man… Lord knows he’d love the attention. Especially the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

My friend�Fred�started photographing our product line. It’s a Fair Trade – just like when the Indians traded Manhattan for wampum.

PS: Did you know that�Zeichen Press cards can be delivered right to your door?�That’s right! You don’t even have to leave your house. Or your bed. Like me. What will they think of next??

February 10, 2010
As we descend into the bowels of that beast called Winter

It is February 1.

If anyone is left please contact me. I have locked myself in the furnace room and my rations are dwindling. I am eating�Panko�Japanese Style Breading�with a dirty popsicle stick and telling myself it’s Lik-A-Stix. Mmmmm, Lik-A-Stix…

Somehow, I was able to make this card:

February 1, 2010
Je m’appelle Fran�oise

If I were getting married I would design and letterpress print my own invitation.

What am I saying?? No, I wouldn’t. I don’t even send out the Christmas cards that I design and letterpress print. WHAT??!! I know. This is a blog post and a confession.

Anyway,�Minnesota Bride�included �one of our wedding invitations�in a nice little spread they called�”Vintage in Vogue.”

See?

2.�Inspired by the couple�s romantic first meeting in the city of love, designer Fran Shea blended imagery from Paris with a vintage postcard theme to create a classic yet distinctive invite. Using letterpress printing and a unique accordion layout, this design evokes an aura of chic French elegance.�Zeichen Press, 612.432.1943, zeichenpress.com

January 31, 2010
A roomful of Letterpress printers

It was everything I imagined. Except better, because of the chicken shots.�Yum!�

Mary Bruno�organized the event in honor of�Amos Kennedy’s�timely arrival. As far as I could tell, Amos is�not�related to THE Kennedy family. There were certain clues, like: He did not share that�distinctive/made up accent�or�that glamorous head of hair. Also, he is black.

Anyway, Amos was there and we hugged like old friends. There was much talk, naturally, of printing presses. Mary Bruno ended up breaking a beer bottle and using it as a weapon – apparently her “street cred” was at stake. Boy was�I glad to get out of there with only minor injuries. I wish I could say the same for Jen. Please send flowers and meals to our headquarters.

Two St. Paul printers showed up : Fred Petters of�Vandalia Street Press�and Bill Moran of�Blinc Publishing.�Bill was nice. Fred ate off of other people’s plates. I could go on and on but why should I when I have this amazing photograph that perfectly captured the evening?

January 26, 2010
And this is where Fran and Jen learn to use their new Heidelberg

Oh, the joy of leaning over a giant machine that has the potential to crush my hands�and�create such beauty!

I think I felt joy. Or�panic? In any case, I felt some sort of feeling while leaning over�the New Press.�Karl (the previous owner) had explained, really clearly, the 1,000 things to know – why couldn’t I remember them?? Knobs, pulls, blades, grippers, clutch levers, friskets, sucker bars, rollers, toggles, gears, pins, springs… they all seemed to get tangled up in my mind.

Oh, so tangled!

Just like a�rat king.

That’s what happens when the tail of one thought gets covered in feces and the tail of another thought gets stuck to it… and the tail of�another�thought gets stuck to the�other�thoughts. It’s all very messy and usually ends up in some Dutch chimney.

Anyway, here’s a snippet of our lesson:

January 18, 2010
Vintage Indie

This is Gabreial Wyatt —>

I think we would totally have been friends in high school. She would have called us “top-secret friends”. I was told (by my “top-secret friends”) that “top-secret friends” are better than regular friends. Sure, they don’t go anywhere in public with you, or sit next to you at lunch, or acknowledge your presence – but, that doesn’t mean anything.

Gabreial keeps a blog about all things vintage AND indie.�She interviewed me because we are such good “top-secret friends”.

Bless her heart.

January 13, 2010

I said, YOOHOO, ALEXIS STEWART!

I can’t believe she doesn’t see me!…

I’M IN THE HOT AIR BALLOON FLOATING OVER YOU AND MARTHA!!

I knew it… She is walking to the mailbox to send a Zeichen Press card!

She ordered a bunch�from�our online shop,�but due to doctor/patient (I’m the doctor in this scenario) confidentiality, I cannot divulge which cards she chose.

I CAN tell you that she is concerned about a funny-looking mole on her mom’s bottom.

April 10, 2013
Captain’s Log, Stardate 4.1.2013

Jen was part of a dangerous expedition

New product was added to�the shop�and I can’t help but wonder which cards will sell well… will they be sheep-related?:Or not?

April 1, 2013
Being Eaten By Monsters Is Not So Funny

My older brothers had a bunk bed, my little brother had his own bed and my sister and I shared a queen-sized bed.

We also shared countless hours of strange bedtime rituals: she would put on her school uniform (white blouse and brown plaid jumper) and pull her nightgown over it � that was for early morning efficiency… I would skip the uniform step and go right to the nightgown.

I was so slow!

She would coat her arms in Elmer’s Glue,

I would dress and redress Raggedy Ann.

I don’t know if she shared my fear of the monster under the bed.

No, what am I saying?�She did not. In fact, she created the fear!

Siblings can be so cruel.

April 1, 2013
Local Woman Not Kidnapped By Craigslist Poster

PHEW!

My Faith in Humanity was fortified! I bought a�tripod from a stranger on Craiglist and he�made no mention of kidnappng, torturing, OR skinning me.

Now I can stumble my way through taking photographs of the new cards!

The Craigslist man assured me (three times) that the tripod was the “real deal” so that should help.

March 23, 2013
The Widow’s Walk

She waited.

Pacing the widow’s walk, praying for his ship to appear on the horizon, her view of the sea uninterrupted from her perch.

But no!

And who but those onboard could know the truth � was it a storm? Pirates? Mutiny?

Or was it The Kraken?

March 15, 2013
Left, Left, Lefty, Right-o Left, Right

That’s the sound that March makes � that and a muffled sobbing.�February triggers cabin fever but March in Minnesota is far more dangerous.

Here’s a story about March:�One Christmas, Santa put a baby albino rabbit under the tree ��so delightful!�

The little rabbit grew into a big rabbit and by the next Winter, our basement smelled like the bunny barn at the State Fair. With scraps of wood and a bale of hay, I built an outdoor rabbit hutch.

In a pinch, it could serve as a coffin for an adult man.

IN A PINCH.

By March it was buried under several feet of snow and I’d order my eldest to go spend time with the rabbit in the snow coffin.

The moral of the story is: Get a dog.

And something about March creating crazy. Thank God I have an outlet for my March crazy:

March 8, 2013
Vocabulary Quiz And Card Celebrating Angry Parents

My high school English teacher told the class that if we looked up the word ‘glib’ in the dictionary, there would be a picture of me.

She was right!

I think I felt insulted.

I’m sure Jen’s high school English teacher said something similar about her.

And if not, she should have.

What does this have to do with angry parents or a new card?

Obviously, my glibness was not celebrated at home. In fact, it was frowned upon ��can you believe it?!�

And Jen’s reckless behavior?? You’ll have to ask her about that… I mean, pregnant at 19?! What was she THINKING?! (Wait, that was me?? We need to hire a fact checker.)

February 26, 2013
Oh, Great.

Look who I found in front of Zeichen Press HQ!

First the squirrels and then the bear�AND NOW THIS?!

February 21, 2013
World Domination Is Safe And Easy

And it can be done from the comfort of your own home!

If you’re like me (don’t worry, you’re not) you don’t like to “leave” your house or “go” anywhere.

Don’t worry!

World Domination will be yours as long as you have these three things:

1) Wi-Fi

2) Computer

3) Forever Lazy Suit

We just picked up a new rep for the Virginia and West Virginia territories (that’s right, TERRITORIES. Like a gang.)

We are excited to welcome him aboard!

And we hope we don’t scare him away with our love for�Franimals�and wine.

February 21, 2013
The Importance of Wine and Kittens on the Interweb

There IS a universal language on the World Wide Web and understanding it only requires the appreciation of three things:

1) Kittens

2) Wine

3) Talking dogs

Also, videos where guys get kicked in the nuts � but those existed before YouTube.

I follow the dog around the house with my iPhone and I plan on kicking a guy in the nuts this week.

My life is all kittens and wine, so I was able to create the following:�

Feel free to share that 1,000,000 times.

And here’s a new card:�It’s a true story.

February 17, 2013