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
I don't know how their stores are as I always order online but I never ever been disappointed by these guys. I placed around 7 orders in the last couple of years and except an order where I accidentally ordered the wrong color, everything was top notch. My favorite product is the baby blanket I ordered for my daughter; it was pink with fairies and personalized with her name. She outgrown it today but I can't part with it, it's gorgeous.
TIP: I strongly recommend searching for coupons before ordering as you could end up saving a lot of bucks.
Rating: 5 / 5
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 absolutely love Cafepress! I have ordered from small stickers to shower curtains and pillows. The t-shirts are very well done and the design lasts for years; I have a dino tshirt that I bought two years ago and it still looks brand new. Super great service and fast delivery, Cafepress never disappointed me!
Rating: 5 / 5
Poor shipping! Poor Customer Service! Poor me for ordering from here!! Delay in receiving order. Customer rep lied and said the order was lost while laughing. Spoke with supervisor who stated the order would be delivered next week. I will not spend any more of my money here and recommend you find another place to order from. Check out reviews from print company reviews. Cafe Press was not rated highly.
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