I love beautiful paper. I'm just a sucker for clean design and great color combinations, typography and texture. I could spend hours in a stationery store, seeking out gems to take home and add to my paper collection. After many months of working closely with the wonderful designers at SPACECAMP CO on branding and a new website for my business and blog Crescent & Anchor, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to commission my very own letterpress business cards. They were designed by Danielle Brodersen of SPACECAMP CO and handmade, using an antique tabletop press, by Christy Schneider of Inkello. The double-sided cards were made using 220 lb. Crane paper. One side is blind embossed with my logo, which combines an anchor and a fleur-de-lis. Aqua edge-painting adds a splash of color to the simple grey and white design.
When I decided I was finally ready to dive in and get serious about creating a blogsite, I started out with this cute ProPhoto template and had every intention of tackling the project myself. I'd customize it with personalized touches and make it my own. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, after staring blankly at the page for a while and knowing that I wanted my site to be unique, polished and professional, I soon realized that I was completely in over my head. I knew how I wanted things to look. I had a vision, but I was blank when it came to execution. Sometimes you just have to hire a professional and, for me, this was one of those times. This is where SPACECAMP CO, an independent design studio made up of four friends, entered the picture and came to my rescue. Based in St. Augustine, FL – the hometown of two of my dearest pals – the talented team does design for print and web and creates beautiful interior displays. I worked closely with Danielle Brodersen throughout the creative process. Bouncing ideas back and forth and watching the designs unfold was rewarding and inspiring.
We started out by creating sister logos for both my photography business and my blog Crescent & Anchor. I wanted the branding to have a vintage feel but still look fresh and modern. (You can check out my inspiration here.) The fonts Mercury Script and Neutraface helped us achieve that balance. The individual logos needed to be similar but each stand on their own. What we came up with is a reference my two homes, Newport and New Orleans. The Crescent & Anchor logo draws inspiration from the water meter covers in the Crescent City. Anyone from New Orleans will notice the reference right away! The branding set the tone for the rest of the site, which includes my favorite color combination, aqua blue and orangey-red. I never made an official announcement when we launched the site, so if this is your first visit, thanks for stopping by! I'd love for you to become a subscriber. And, if you're thinking about building your own site, here's a word of advice: If you are particular about how you want things to look, forget the template and start from scratch! You'll save your designer a lot of extra work.
Here are a few of my favorite SPACECAMP CO designs. Check them out and you'll see why I was so eager to work with them!
Commissioning letterpress business cards gave me an excuse to collaborate with Christy Schneider of Inkello for a second time. She designed and printed these lovely little calling cards for me a few years ago:
I'm a big fan of Christy's charming letterpress designs. Her matchbook calendars, tiny notebooks, custom bookplates, recipe cards and seed packets are simply delightful! Here's a roundup of some of my favorites:
Big thank you to Christy at Inkello and the crew at SPACECAMP CO for letting me share their work with you!