Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Update

I've been meaning to upload some photos for the past few days, but I can never get organised enough. The blog's been full of text-heavy posts lately, and no graphic designer likes that.

We've been busy little bees here at Poppy (70 hrs/week busy!). I'm currently working on concepts for 6 weddings and loving it. There's a real variety too. Not to mention my personal favourite theme at the moment: SQUIRRELS! Cute little buggers, they are.

Somewhere between Canberra and New York are some letterpress business cards on their way to Donna - a reprint, which was great to work on. We've gone for a stiffer card stock this time. Once again, haven't taken photos yet, but I'll be sure to post them shortly.

Other updates are:
- I'm on the hunt for another press. If anything ever happened to Collie, I'd need a Plan B.
- Also actively looking for a photopolymer platemaker. Have looked in India and the US, but if you know of a supplier in Aust, do let me know.
- Still debating if I should try rubber based and soy based inks.
- Will be importing Crane's Lettra in the next few weeks. BFK Rives is great, but I really need a bright white alternative. I've just ordered a stash more of it, and the nice guys at MES have also sent some samples of a white alternative to test out.
- I'll be getting a quote to from my metal machinist for new roller cores and trucks. They'll then be sent to a roller maker who will rubber coat them for me. It's still cheaper than importing a set from the US. I suspect that my current rubber rollers have a flat spot each, but I can't send them away yet as I can't stop printing for a whole two week period that is needed to get them done.
- Heading up to QLD shortly to visit gorgeous Alischa, of Bespoke Press. It'll also be the closest I'll get to a holiday for a long time.

And finally, I've had an excellent response to the new Poppy website. But I have still yet to hear some critisism, so if you have any suggestions for the site, please let me know.

Oh and PS: I love love LOVE my new laptop. His name is Ranga.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just went to check out the new site again, and pulled it up in safari. The lightbox doo-dad you're using to resize your portfolio images works great in firefox, but skews them all sorts of funny ways in safari. Probably something worth looking into.

Lovely site, lovely work. =)

Bespoke Letterpress Boutique said...

Looking forward to your visit! Maybe we could sip cocktails and hire inflatable palm trees and pretend we are on holidays whilst we play with the presses?

Anonymous said...

Try Alfred Johns
www.alfredjohns.com.au for your plates - I contacted them last year and they offered a letterpress platemaking service - it's not on the site, so I guess call them to see if they still do it.

Rubber ink can be ordered through GBC (their old site is www.hudsons.com.au - this site is apparently never updated - you will have to call them to order)

Cheers,
Jo