Chit Chat with Sarah From Studio Slomo October 16 2014, 0 Comments

November Letterpress Card Sneak Peek

We are super excited about our very first Pennie Post collaboration. November's subscription mailing will include a LETTERPRESS card designed and printed by Studio SloMo exclusively for Pennie Post. Check out their shop for some simply adorable cards.


I had the chance to ask business owner Sarah Wymer a few questions:

I love letterpress printing. It gives a design a whole new dimension! Can you give us a quick overview about what letterpress is and how the letterpress printing process works? Letterpress has made a huge comeback in the past decade with a few tweaks to the process that make it more modern. It differs from other types of printing because you are able to press an image into the paper. We use polymer plates (instead of traditional moveable type) to transfer the ink from press to paper. That allows us to create a design on the computer and transfer it directly to the press. The letterpress applies pressure from the plate to the paper which causes the ink to transfer as well as an impression to be made. In traditional letterpress printing, it was bad form to have an impression but these days everyone (including myself) loves the texture. Each color requires a different plate to be made and another pass through the press.

 
How many years have you been designing and letterpressing your own cards, and how did you get started? I opened my business in May of 2009 after thinking about it for 2 or 3 years. The University of Texas at Austin has a Vandercook letterpress which is how I was first introduced to the process.

 
I’m always interested to see how other designers think. How do you gain inspiration to design you cards and what is your design strategy like? There really isn't one specific thing. It helps me a lot to have some parameters in the beginning. Lots of times I will get requests for certain things and that is what prompts me to start thinking about a line, or a particular card. 

Every day must be a bit different when owning your own business, but what is a typical day like at Studio SloMo? Haha... There is no typical day.
 
What do you enjoy the most about your business?  I like doing the design the most. 
 
What is your dream design project? Honestly, I don't really have one. I like to work on whatever anyone throws at me.
 
What are your top three favorite stores to shop at? I can't afford my favorite shops... these are my favorite places to go into look at pretty things:
Bergdorf Goodman in NYC
ABC Home also in NYC
By George in Austin, TX

What are your hopes for Studio SloMo’s future? We are about to move into a new space which I am pretty excited about. I'd like for Studio SloMo to stay small, but we are always open to new and interesting opportunities. I try not to have any preconceived notions of what the business will be... usually the surprises end up better than my imaginings anyway.

 

 I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about Sarah and her letterpress studio. Be sure to subscribe to Pennie Post for November so you don't miss out on their awesome letterpress card!