Posted by Olivia dela Rosa on October 23, 2014
With all the printed materials and designs that we have right now, my eyes get pretty tired seeing the same old thing over and over again. There's nothing new in the market and nothing really stands out anymore. Though I don't find this totally wrong, the lack of inspiration is what frustrates me. A good design not only ignites something in you, it also challenges you to seek out and push the limits. It calls you to try and think of something new until you find the perfect design you need.
After searching endlessly throughout the Web, I found comfort after seeing these letterpress cards. Letterpress is basically a printing process that uses a movable type - reversed and raised letters and images made of metal or wood - which is then inked and impressed upon the paper and often with sort of an indentation from the pressure, creating a debossed effect. Its first use is dated back in the 15th century, used widely in printing books back then but has moved to business cards and wedding invitations later on. If you decide to do it yourself, you might find it labor-intensive but once you see the results you might consider the whole thing worth it.
Scroll through to see our thoroughly selected letterpress cards and discover new designs for your next project. Happy exploring!


Happy Notes from Anthropologie

Alexandra Huckabay by Print&Grain


Roar Projects by Principle Design



Bonjour Letterpress Card via Etsy

Letterpress cards by Colorquarry via Etsy




A Little Bird by Belinda Love Lee


Brad Goreski business cards by Sarah Drake Designs

Bon Voyage notecards by Inhaus Press

Letterpress wedding invitations by Minted

Greeting card by Denotecard via Etsy


Wedding invitation by Print & Promise via Etsy

Pinup Art letterpress card by Ink Pop Studio via Etsy

Wright & Goebel by The Working Assembly


Type Letterpress Desk Calendar by iSkelter

Hooray postcard by Parrott Design Studio via Etsy


Wondrous Co. by Mitch Bartlett




Ten Thousand business cards by The Distillery

2011 Holiday Word Search greeting card via Dolcepress
Enjoying so far? If you'd like to see more design inspirations, go and explore the rest of the site. Who knows, you might also end up getting the printing deal of your life with all the discounts we're offering!
Restaurant branding and design idea's
Square business card design examples
Business card dimensions and paper weight
Electronic business cards with NFC technology
Wikipedia: Letterpress
When you first get a glimpse of their website you don't expect very much. Let's face it, their website looks pretty outdated!
However, and this is a big however, the printing quality speaks for itself. I usually use them for business cards and flyers but I also had to get some calendars and they look pretty good, considering I used my own photos and they were not very good looking.
One huge downside is the fact they don't offer a lot of customization features which is a shame, considering they deliver high quality printing at super affordable prices. Give them a try, you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 4 / 5
I love Cafepress, this company has the best customer service: My sister ordered a printed sweatshirt for my son from them. Unfortunately it didn't fit him (the sweatshirt was to large). We contacted RMA and within a few hours they replied: we will send you a new one in the correct size. we didn't have to ship the old one back, which saved me postage and a trip to the postoffice. I never had this happen before, very impressed by Cafepress!
Rating: 5 / 5
I have been using Printing for Less for years and I always know I will get excellent service. After graduating college I started my own clothing business and these guys created the perfect catalogues for me.
Im not a graphic designer, and I didn't know where to start so I gave them a call; they advised me what type of photos to take, how the text should be designed and were extremely helpful in the whole process. Highly recommend!
Rating: 5 / 5
Very Poor and inefficient company, wasted dozens of calls and hours of time on the phone with them trying to correct an error that a 3 year old could fix in 2 minutes! - Could have made better cards myself. Upgraded and Paid €39 to ensure good quality and ended up with complete crap.
Rating: 1 / 5
Im quite happy with my photo book from Snapfish. It was delivered in good time (took 6 days) and the quality is excellent.
All images look bright and clear, there is no un-sharpness anywhere.
The cover photo worried me as it looked out of focus on the computer screen, but turned out sharp and vibrant on the book itself.
Unfortunately there were a few restrictions when i placed the order.
It is impossible to add frames or borders to the images and there is only a small selection of clip art. The selection of backgrounds however is very extensive.
If you are a simple computer user like me i recommend the Snapfish photo book service.
Rating: 4 / 5