trying our hand at handkerchief printing

A couple months ago we had some fun printing on handkerchiefs sent to us by a client for a surprise party invitation. We've only ever printed on fabric twice before for our "ten postcards" line, so we thought it might be a bit of a struggle.



In the end it turned out to be time-consuming, yet manageable. The easiest part about printing on the handkerchiefs was that they were all the same size, but it was a very custom job. Whitney, our senior letterpress printer, said, "We didn't turn the press on once." She worked together with Erin (Whitney's printing partner-in-crime) hand-cranking the press for each impression to make sure every print turned out perfectly.



The end result was stunning, and because of the girls' amazing patience, not one of the handkerchiefs were lost due to messy printing. We've since taken on another job that required printing on handkerchiefs.



If you're not sure if something can be letterpress printed, just shoot us an email (info@gilahpress.com) and we'll let you know if we can do it. We're more than happy to take on any and all challenges, so bring it on!

the cosgroves

We recently printed this stationery set for the Cosgroves, a young family in Baltimore. The design reflected both their interest in minimal compositions—with bright colors and strong contrast—as well as the warmth and importance of home. The half-tone is an image of their row house in Charles Village.



These were printed on 110lb Crane's Lettra Fluorescent White with a little neon ink to boost the 'pop' of the red. The large solid areas took a lot of ink and impression so a slower run was necessary for the paper to really take in the color and impact.



The amount of time the inked form is in contact with the paper (also known as the dwell) can change the look of the final print. A faster run will apply less ink to the form, and a lighter hit to the paper will result in a saltier look of large areas. And while saltiness is something we love about letterpress, some designs might require a little more coverage and time.

viva las vegas

Last week we printed wedding invitations for our friends Karie and Chris. To reflect their wedding location and personalities, they asked for an invitation that was bold, simple, and spoke directly of Las Vegas.



The main invitation card acts as a "postcard"; on the back, a handwritten message lets guests know the date, time and location of the event.



The reply card acts as an actual postcard (Karie and Chris' address is on the back), so a thick 220# cotton stock was used to cut down on show-through, allowing for a much deeper impression. In turn, this helped with getting more even ink coverage on the sign, skyline and poker chips.

BGL Invitation on Under Consideration's FPO website

An invitation designed and printed by Gilah Press + Design was posted on Under Consideration's well-known For Print Only website last Friday. The invitation was created for a local law firm's 25th anniversary party. Check out more details and photos here. Thanks for the coverage, guys!

photo from the FPO website

the velvet chocolatier

last week we launched the velvet chocolatier's website. we've been working with ruthie, the proprietor of the company, to make sure everything was in tip-top shape from start to finish. shooting photos of chocolate proved to be no easy task, but after making some mistakes and learning new techniques, we managed to pull it off. here's a shot of whitney and beth taking a photo of one of the tray options:



ruthie's chocolates are absolutely delicious and we never complained when she brought in fresh, new chocolates for us to shoot (we got to eat them after the photos were approved!) so check out how the site turned out and order some chocolate!