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
Im very frustrated with Cafepress. I tried to order online and spend more then an hour trying to get that order done: It was just impossibe!
I Finally ended up ordering by phone (and must admit the lady on the phone handeled it professional) still im very frustrated by their website.
Rating: 2 / 5
Nothing but positive! Great turn around times (cards were delivered much faster then expected) Amazing quality of both paper and print (super crispy colors) and the best customer service I've experienced so far.
Rating: 5 / 5
We had a wonderful experience with Overnight Prints. My husband and me wanted a new business card design, and after creating the perfect design with their online design tool we decided to give them a go and placed an order.
Unforunately we had made an error in the design that we noticed a couple of hours after ordering. We gave them a call and spoke to a friendly person who immediately corrected the error for us.
Our new business cards do make a good impression, and we are impressed by overnight prints good old fashioned customer service.
Rating: 5 / 5
I used Print Place only once and was satisfied with their service. My business cards looked very professional and they even spotted a typo which they corrected for me. After reading some online reviews I decided to give them a go and I'll use them for my future projects. Very satisfied, professional service.
Rating: 5 / 5
Pretty good price / quality ratio.
They offer you a full range of styles and colors. They will also notify you in case your text or image are inappropriate.
Shipping was terribly slow. They need to work on that.
Rating: 4 / 5