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 love Cafepress for it's one of a kind, unique products. Whenever i am looking for a unique gift i shop at Cafepress. Their products are high quality, customer service is great (they will send free replacement if something is off) and prices are reasonable.
Rating: 4 / 5
I do not usually leave reviews, but im impressed with Overnight Prints customer service. After i uploaded my design they contacted me and suggested some improvements to my design. I Accepted but was not happy when the first run arrived at my office.
After i contacted Overnight Prints they offered to do a second run at no additional charge.
Im quite happy with the way the prints turned out and the way they handled this!
Rating: 5 / 5
Snapfish is converting to a new site, and I had to communicate with at least four-five different CS reps. I admire people who can speak multiple languages, but this became ridiculous.
They all were obviously using the same script (e.g., "I am more than happy to help you with that. Please kindly hold on the chat for a minute, meanwhile I look up the information."), and in the end, none were able to help me. I really wanted to communicate with a manager, not about the CS reps, but about the problems with Snapfish's new site.
My problem stems from the conversion of classic Snapfish to the new Snapfish. I started a photo book on another photo site (with no problems). Because a family member downloaded photos I want to include to Snapfish, I had to start over on Snapfish. Two of my images wouldn't download, (requiring 2-3 chats before someone finally figured out what to do), the size/format of the book I want is not available in the new Snapfish (which I learned after starting it on classic Snapfish and another chat), and photos shared on the new Snapfish cannot be transferred/shared with the classic Snapfish (another chat). So I either needed to use a different book (more expensive) or not include the photos.
Apparently, these features will be available once the new Snapfish is complete. Why on earth would any company introduce a new version before all features are available or before the bugs are worked out--beta version? I'm ordering prints of the photos on the new Snapfish and will scan them to include in my photo book on the other site. Then I'm done with Snapfish
Rating: 1 / 5
Moo is my go to website for anything business related. My company has more than 10 employees so I got their free service option and this makes my orders a lot easier as I just use a template and from there do the changes I want. The print is almost perfect every time – I tend to be picky that’s why I don’t say perfect – and I never had an issue with delivery time. As for service, no matter what issues or “dumb” questions I had, they always had a nice reply and I never felt they were patronizing. Reliable company and super competitive offers!
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