Category Archives: Printing

Flair Magazine Annual is Back in Print

Flair Magazine 1953 Annual

Left is the original 1953 Annual, and right is a reprinted compilation of the critically acclaimed magazine.

While out and about last weekend I happened to wander into a Barnes & Noble bookstore.

As usual, I found myself in the Graphic Design section, and my attention was immediately drawn to a large red volume on the top shelf.

Pre-ecommerce, I had searched unsuccessfully for another copy, wondering if the magazine had been published for more than just one year. The volume in B&N was confined in a clothbound box and shrink-wrapped, so there was no opportunity to browse its pages.

Knowing Flair was again available, I checked it out on Amazon. Still, no opportunity to flip through the pages but with plenty of copies available, I snatched up a cheap one just so I could cut out the uniquely designed and printed pages.

Flair was quite innovative and was said to be “the first magazine that became an art form,” featuring the work of Salvador Dali, Matisse, George Bernard Shaw and Walker Evans to name just a few.

According to the Amazon description of the new publication, “this facsimile edition offers the same ingenious bookmaking of its predecessor, including multiple gatefolds with die-cuts, booklets, and accordion folder leaflets.”

If you’re a fan of uniquely printed art, you might pick up a copy of the Flair Annual 1953 while it’s still available.

Spend your time creating—we’ll do the print work

greeting card assortment

Let us print your art on greeting cards of any size. All our prices include scoring, folding and envelopes. Colors are water-, scratch- and fade-resistent, unlike non-archival inkjet prints.

We also print bookmarks and print reproductions to 12 inches x 18 inches. Our high quality, low cost laser prints make a stunning presentation when matted and packaged as a print combo.

Westlake Village Art Guild  newsletters

We’ve been printing the Westlake Village Art Guild newsletter since 2005.

Does your art club print a newsletter? We can help. We specialize in printing everything for artists and crafters from newsletters and booklets to business cards, postcards and product tags.

Don’t see the print product you’re looking for on our website? Give us a call at 805-522-5475. We quote custom orders.

Featured Artist Showcases Coffee Table Book

David Hartung performs a press check on his book, Macau: Work in Progress.

Featured Artist, David Hartung, performs a press check on his book, Macau: Work in Progress. A video is available for viewing at PearlRiverGallery.com.

Watch the printing, binding and packaging of Macau: Work in Progress, as photographer, David Hartung, narrates this seven-minute video on the making of his documentary coffee table volume. You can also see a novel animated preview of the entire edition at PearlRiverGallery.com.

Pearl River Gallery was founded by photographers David Hartung and Forbes Conrad as a vehicle for distributing quality photographic materials in a way that makes sense for content creators and buyers alike.

The gallery is the official venue for US distribution of David Hartung‘s book Macau: Work in Progress. Books ship from their California warehouse.

Clear bags protect greeting cards and more

clear bags for mailingClear bags aren’t just for greeting cards and note cards. These crystal clear sleeves have all the benefits of double-sided full color envelopes at a fraction of the cost. Clear bags are suitable to send through the U.S. postal service,  provided you follow a few simple rules.

A clean, white label area on the inside or outside of the package, preferably, but not necessarily, with a bar code. Bulk postage, bar code and address information can be printed directly on the the mailer, while postage stamps must be canceled; therefore they must be affixed to the outside of the sleeve in the proper position. It’s always best to check your design, printing and mailing plans with your local post office to confirm current postal regulations.

Benefits of clear mailers are huge. There’s no question that we’re hooked and will open “The Printer’s Glove of Choice!”. There’s some depth to the package, so surely there are samples inside, and the Golden Arches help seal the deal. The Aflac mailer, like all of Kaplan Thaler’s (Aflac’s ad agency), advertising, is enticing and clever. Because the envelope is see-through, the duck’s layered feathers reveal a unique die cut brochure, different enough to catch anyone’s eye and encourage them to open the envelope.  Aflac’s mailer does not disappoint, unless, of course, you were expecting sound effects.

You can find clear mailing envelopes in a variety of size and seal styles by clicking on this link on the clear bags page.

Aflac ad opened

 

Fashion colors of 2011 highlighted

pantone fashion color report

“Designers take a painterly approach to fall 2011 by artfully combining bright colors with staple neutrals, reminiscent of how an artist would construct a stunning work of art,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “Much like a painter’s masterpiece, there is a certain romance to this season’s palette.”

And because designing on paper and designing for fashion are so closely related, it’s worth taking a look at the fashion world’s color selection for 2011.

Guide to Greeting Card Sizing

Preparing handmade greeting cards or note cards can be tricky, especially if you want them to fit in standard sized envelopes. Here is a chart that will help you as you prepare your card stock and artwork. Protective sleeves are also a nice packaging touch, and can be purchased to fit only one card and envelope, or up to 8 cards and envelopes. Note that the A6-8 sleeve only holds about four A6 greeting cards and envelopes.

Use the charts below indicated standard U.S. sizes to assist in sizing when creating your own greeting cards.

The sample below shows how to position your artwork on 8 1/2″ x 11″ cardstock. If you are using electronic files, and you want the image to print right to the edge of the card (called a “bleed”), the image needs to be larger than the size of the card. The red lines below indicate the bleed position on an A7 vertical card. The bleed must hang over on three sides by a minimum of .125″.  Then, after you print your card you can trim it to the right size.

Images Show Through Clear Packaging

Frequently, we receive emails from artists who have questions about packaging their artwork, in this case, note cards.

I am packaging two each of four different images in an A2-1/2 clear plastic box. How can I present them so the customer can see all of the images they are buying?

We recommend artists print a reduced version of each of the images on a quarter sheet of paper. Add any other information that you want to show through the clear box, and insert the slip sheet in the back of the box (the side that the end tucks into, and face the cards and envelopes toward the front. That way when someone picks up the box and turns it over, they can see the four images, the artist’s name, bar code, or any other pertinent information you’d like to show through the box.

To get the most inserts from a single sheet of paper, place four A2 size inserts on a single 8.5″ x 11″. Of course, if your card size is an A6 (4.625″ x 6.25″) or an A7 (5″ x 7″), fewer images will fit on a single 8.5″ x 11″.

box insert sample