42 Pressed is a new letterpress studio started by Jackie Robinson, and wow is Jackie off to an amazing start! Her work is beautifully designed and printed, and she’ll be attending the National Stationery Show in NYC (booth #1351 if you’ll be around). Check out her website for more beautiful cards, baby announcements, and wedding invitations, and stay in the loop with her blog.
thanks Kendrick for the tip!
Nice find! I think the packaging is my favorite part.
those “wise you” cards are brilliant!
I love that we finally have someone doing letterpress work in jacksonville!
Lovely!
beautiful work! I can never get enough letterpress.
Thanks so much Ellie for featuring our work, and thanks everyone for all the lovely comments!!! We appreciate it SO much!!
Wow, she does beautiful work, innovative and talented. Good luck!
42pressed looks VERY similar to Alee & Press. Alee & Press debuted at NSS years ago and has since been featured in Martha Stewart Weddings and on several design/wedding blogs (Design Sponge, 100 Layer Cake, Once Wed). I find it hard to believe that these similarities are just coincidence.
Hi MHB,
I can see how their styles are similar, but beyond that…
Like all forms of design, there are similarities in people’s work depending on what’s “in style”
Ellie: I agree but I really can’t believe these similarities exist because of a current trend – especially since Alee & Press has been around for several years and has had a lot of exposure. If you compare websites… 42pressed is using some of the same design elements that Alee & Press used – the rough line drawing of animals, the blind letterpress wood grain pattern with outlined type, the black floral pattern with circular monogram. I believe these are not conceptual similarities but rather blatant copying. And as a graphic designer, I am disappointed.
But, we know drawings of animals is a big trend right now (http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/05/national-stationery-show-animals.html) — line drawings and silhouettes galore! I could easily come up with a round-up of the wood grain trend (hmm… good idea!). I’ve also seen a lot of outlined type the past couple years. Blind embossing has been popular since… printing presses were invented? I’m not sure what you mean about the floral pattern and the monogram. I just think “blatant copying” is a harsh way to put it. One of the things that struck me about the National Stationery Show this year was how similar a lot of booths were to each other. I don’t think they’re ripping each other off, I just think they’re responding to trends. Which is why blogs like Design*Sponge can do entire recaps of trade shows based on trends and similarities between designers.
wow, Ellie… just saw this. Thanks for responding so well. I really appreciate it. So true about trends, and how blogs cover them so well, as a designer of stationery it is important to recognize and understand these trends, whether or not you utilize them is up to you. Wood-grain, huge, silhouettes, huge, blind debossing, huge..I could go on forever! It is amazing how harsh people can be with anonymity. If you would like MHB, you can call us directly and we can chat about this, we are more than happy to address any concerns or comments you may have one on one.
I am not debating what is or is not a trend. I am pointing out that the style of graphic elements being used seem almost identical.
Those graphic elements are all trends!?!? I am so trying to be the bigger person here! Designers do not live in bubbles, we are surrounded by different designs and trends constantly. I hate to say it, but outlined type has been around forever. Every sort of design can be linked to others in some sort of way… I was not going to fire back, but I feel as if we are being pushed around by someone who is hiding behind anonymity, “MHB” I asked you to CALL us or email us so we could discuss this one on one, I am sure there is a reason that you didn’t write your full name to respond to the comments. It doesn’t really take a hero to write anonymously, esp when it is maliciously intended. As long as we are on the subject, Alee and Press actually designed an almost identical custom wedding invitation that was an exact replica of an invitation Studio on Fire designed all of which used silhouettes as well as crests, lions, etc. the layout was identical, and you are saying outlined type and wood-grain is a rip off?? Studio on Fire has it in their blog called Beast Pieces. Like I said before “MHB”, if you would like to call us, we would be more than happy to talk about this out one on one, but I am sure you would prefer to keep leaving snag comments on here (sorry Ellie..) as for us, we are done doing this and addressing negative…
here here Jackie, well said. I think the work displayed here by Ellie is stunning, I’m looking forward to getting a spare minute to visit your website. I love letterpress!
