Publicide Inc. NYC Printing, Letterpress and Design

Double Fantasy

2011-07-27T18:29:00.007-04:00

Our lightbox movie poster for Oscilloscope Labs' film Bellflower: definitely click to enlarge these images! This is a double-process, double-sided print. The mirror image is printed on the back to ensure those flames pop with super-crisp cinematic majesty when the light shines through. Summer blockbuster style!

You can catch Bellflower at the Angelika Film Center in SoHo starting August 5th.

Publicide + Droga5 + Jay-Z

2011-06-27T18:52:00.004-04:00

NICE! Droga5 won the Grand Prix in Outdoor at the Cannes Lions Festival for their campaign for Jay-Z’s autobiography Decoded, featuring printing by Publicide! The campaign was a massive scavenger hunt showcasing all 320 pages of Jay-Z’s book printed on unorthodox surfaces in 13 cities, including the bottom of a pool in Miami, a subway in London, rooftops, pool tables, inside the lining of a leather jacket, and on hamburger wrappers in NYC. We printed the hamburger wrappers and tablecloths shown above. Congrats Droga5 and Hova!

Gilded Letterhead

2011-06-20T15:49:00.004-04:00

Say hello to Publicide’s brand-new gilded letterhead, edged in silver foil so shiny it looks like a mirror. The gilding is done by hand with a sander and a hot roller, plus some other top secret processes. This particular letterhead has been diecut to give it round corners for full-on luxury. We do a lot of business cards this way, but this is our first foray into gilt-edged letterhead. The best thing about this stack is that you can check your makeup in the reflective foil while you’re inscribing your super-fancy missives. Welcome to the Publicide Inc Gilded Age!

Stationery Print Sizes—American Sizes

2009-06-21T11:39:00.006-04:00

To keep the polish on our reputation for custom printing, Publicide presents this series of standard and not-so-standard social and business stationery sizes. The American Standard for invitations, greeting cards, and thank you notes are the Announcement and Baronial Size sets. Also in this post you'll find some great odd letter sizes.

Publicide can print, trim and fold your card or stationery project exactly to fit your need. Just email info@publicide.com or call us at 212-629-6517 to discuss your project.

Announcement Size:

The Announcement sizes are the most prevalent and have premade envelopes to accompany them. Announcement sizes are A2, A6, A7, A8, and A10. Along with these 5 there are sometimes the A1, A4, and A9. I have included them here in italics since they are rarely used and don't often have a matching envelope. A3 and A5 apparently do not exist in the universe of American Announcement Sizes. The envelopes in this series generally have square flaps and side seams.

Announcement sizes are recommended for formal invitations, weddings, business stationery, booklets, and brochures.

Announcement Card Sizes:

A1 = 3.5" x 4.75"
A2 = 4.125" x 5.5"
A4 = 4.25" x 6.25"
A6 = 4.5" x 6.25"
A7 = 5" x 7"
A8 = 5.25" x 7.875"
A9 = 5.5" x 8.5"
A10 = 5.75" x 9.25"

Announcement Envelope Sizes:

A1 = 3.625" x 5.125"
A2 = 4.375" x 5.75"
A4 = 4" x 6"
A6 = 4.75" x 6.5"
A7 = 5.25" x 7.25"
A8 = 5.5" x 8.125"
A9 = 5.75" x 8.75"
A10 = 6" x 9"

Baronial Size:

The Baronial sizes are the second most popular size option for small cards with matching envelopes. Baronial sized envelopes usually have a pointed flap and diagonal seams. Once again, there are several missing steps in the Baronial Size Order—who can say why? And I must mention here the Lee, Astor and Gladstone sizes which jump out as relics of mysterious origin.

Baronial sizes are recommended for invitations, greeting cards, announcements, and personal stationery.

Baronial Card Sizes:

4 Bar = 3.375" x 4.875"
Gladstone = 3.375" x 5.375"
Astor = 3.5" x 5.375"
5 Bar = 3.875" x 5.25"
5.5 Bar = 4.125" x 5.5"
6 Bar = 4.5" x 6.25"
Lee = 5" x 7"

Baronial Envelope Sizes:

4 Bar = 3.625" x 5.125"
Gladstone = 3.5625" x 5.5625"
Astor = 3.625" x 5.625"
5 Bar = 4.125" x 5.5"
5.5 Bar = 4.375" x 5.75"
6 Bar = 4.75" x 6.5"
Lee = 5.25" x 7.25"

Letter Size:

Most are familiar with the American Standard letter size, 8.5 x 11 with its accompanying envelope (the #10)—and for business correspondence there is nothing better suited. However, we recommend the other following sizes to make a special impression. These are suited to personal letters, executive stationery, and anything else required to stand out and above the usual.

The Monarch Letterhead is a smaller sized sheet often used for corporate or personal communication. We recommend the glove and scarf sizes for ladies looking for a unique and elegant personal stationery. Most of the envelopes for these sizes open at the end instead of along the side, adding a further mark of distinction.

Suitable Sheet Sizes:

Monarch = 7.25" x 10.25" (fold to 3.625" x 10.25")

8 Glove = 7.25" x 10.25" (fold to 3.625" x 10.25")
7 Glove = 7.5" x 6.125" (fold to 3.75" x 6.125")

1 Scarf = 8.75" x 6.5" (fold to 4.375" x 6.5")
3 Scarf = 9.5" x 7.25" (fold to 4.75" x 7.25")
4.5 Scarf = 10.5" x 7.25" (fold to 5.25" x 7.25")
6 Scarf = 10.5" x 8" (fold to 5.25" x 8")

10 Policy = 11" x 8.5" (fold to 3.625" x 8.5")
11 Policy = 12.375" x 10" (fold to 4.125" x 10")

Envelope Sizes:

Monarch = 3.875" x 7.5" (open side)

8 Glove = 3.875" x 7.5" (open end)
7 Glove = 4" x 6.375" (open end)

1 Scarf = 4.625" x 6.75"
3 Scarf = 5" x 7.5"
4.5 Scarf = 5.5" x 7.5"
6 Scarf = 5.5" x 8.25"

10 Policy = 4.125" x 9.5"
11 Policy = 4.5" x 10.375"

Publicide, Inc
Letterpress, Printing + Design
481 Washington Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10013
212-629-6517
www.publicide.com

Typography and Type in Print

2009-05-07T12:54:00.005-04:00

Looking up typography nerd stuff on the net today and found this most excellent new book, The Typographic Desk Reference. A brand new resource of type terms and categories for organizing the mazillions of different typefaces out there.

Credit is due to I Love Typography for this tip off since the book has only just been published in the last couple months and is not being distributed through the usual channels. You can get it from Amazon or from Oak Knoll themselves. I vote Oak Knoll to keep Amazon from skimming off the top. Can't wait to receive our order!

I'm going to have to get a bigger shelf to keep up with our growing collection of type books. Thanks to Hyphen Press for keeping a steady stream of new books and relevant old books in print. I'm also a huge fan of Baseline Magazine for quality articles and great printing. Their magazine is the best I've seen with thorough and well-researched articles printed on great papers with awesome effects. Wish they could all be so nice. You can browse the latest issue online but the paper copies are the real prize.

Thanks for visiting!

-Dusty

Publicide, Inc
Letterpress, Printing + Design
481 Washington Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10013
212-629-6517
www.publicide.com

Legion Letterpress Papers

2009-04-28T20:37:00.003-04:00

Publicide is excited to announce that we have been chosen to carry Legion Papers! Legion is a fine art and letterpress paper company that distributes a whole bunch of excellent small paper manufacturers. The list is really exhausting and so you should take a look at the bunches of fine paper mills they stock. A whole lot of these are handmade and I think they're all made of cotton.

Our two favorites so far are the Arturo and the Rising Museum Board. The Arturo is made in Italy by Cartiere Magnani, a 600 year old paper company still going strong today. And we thought our letterpress was old. Nope. Its 1850s design has got nothing on this place. They're so old they don't even need a website for me to link to on this blog.

The Rising Museum Board gets a mention because it is without a doubt the thickest cotton paper I have ever seen. It comes up to 120pt. That means you could fit about 3 business cards in your whole purse or pocket if they were printed on this stuff. I suppose technically it's not a paper, but a board—but if anybody out there wants to take the plunge, I will let the letterpress chew on it. It's sure to be a show-stopper.

I've got swatchbooks here at the printing press so come down and check these out!

-Dusty

Publicide, Inc
Letterpress, Printing + Design
481 Washington Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10013
212-629-6517
www.publicide.com

Pantone Alone

2009-03-19T10:40:00.006-04:00

After emptying trashes in the Publicide Printing Office other day I came across this tenacious Pantone chip clinging to the bottom of the dustbin. Pantone 130 U, to be exact.

I immediately composed a 2 word poem to the chip:

Pantone alone.

Then, via iPhone technology I emailed the chip to my illustrator pal Cara who in turn composed this haiku and illustration:

Pantone 130
Sad and Alone in Dust Bin
color of solus

I'm now thinking that in order to insure that the art endures, I will rubber cement the chip to the bottom of the can. And I have placed a printed out memorial of the artwork near to the bin.

Skip Feeding, Rider Rollers + More

2008-12-31T11:41:00.003-05:00

The New Year will bring exciting new equipment to Publicide's print capabilities! I've just ordered a new roller set for the Heidelberg Windmill along with the glorious and amazing Rider Roller. This item is sure to become indispensable to printing on the letterpress. It adds a third ink roller on top of the two form rollers to fight ghosting and put more ink down at one time.

After inventing a new technique for double inking the rollers to make up for the lack of rider roller, I discovered that this technique had already been invented and even had it's own video on YouTube! I didn't make up a snappy name for it but luckily someone else has—it's called "Skip Feeding". Which just goes to prove that everything is already known about letterpress printing, it just needs to be rediscovered or unearthed.

Thanks to these great sites for helping me ascend ever higher into the firmament of letterpressing:

Excellent prices on new and used Heidelberg Parts at: Printers Parts 4 U

Excellent blog for letterpress tricks with cool online store: Spark Stationery

Letterpress Perfect!

2008-08-03T20:19:00.002-04:00

Finally, after poring over old Heidelberg manuals for weeks and weeks, today Publicide cracked the code on perfect letterpress registration for any thickness of paper.

Credit here is due to the letterpress manuals, the Dolce Press blog, and my dear dear friend-designer and artist Cara Lynn Kleid.

Despite my attempts at center-fed registration, I was still burning up some serious paper (and sort time) with the 2/3rds method of registration. Which is where you miss one out of every 3 sheets and have to recycle it! Unbelievable, and certainly no way to print but I'm telling you it is so impossible to figure out these old machines.

Anyway, it turns out the Heidelberg 10x15 Windmill has its own set of registration-perfect guides that you clip inside the press for perfect runs. I was wondering what all the 'adjust for guides' signs were talking about. Anyway the guides are genius! Heidelberg does it again! Well, I mean they did it again, like in the mid 1800s I guess. Figuring out that the main gripper can't be trusted to register perfectly every time, they made it so the gripper can be set to drop the paper into the clip-in guides! But it is even cooler than it sounds because the machine waits until the sheet is perpendicular to the ground and then drops it on the guides. It is registered with gravity! Perfect, unfailing, always faithful Gravity. You just turn a little switch and set your guides and perfection ensues.

I seriously have been trying to figure out how anyone could have ever run CMYK process color on one of these things and just not figuring it out. BUT never fear, I now have a perfect understanding of how to accomplish this, and was entirely successful today printing two colors exactly perfectly one on top of the other on a whole big pile of cards. So amazing.

The other super best thing about this is that the gravity part makes it so that running insanely thick paper (cardboard, lunch bags, bound books. . . ) through this thing will only make the gravity work better! It seems that the mechanism gets more perfect as the paper gets thicker.

Stay tuned for wicked good Publicide printing merch that includes hairline letterpress registration.

10 hour letterpress print marathon

2008-06-22T20:43:00.010-04:00

I was printing for 10 straight hours today on the Heidelberg windmill letterpress. Making notepads for company recognition since everyone loves a little free stuff. I think I used 8 different ink colors, 7 different graphics, and 3 kinds of paper.

Also produced some really cool open-end business envelopes with the company graphic.

Usually, we are printing wedding invites, business cards, or other good stuff on the letterpress. It's distinctive printing style pushes into the paper when delivering the ink, which makes for great texture. Add a textured paper and you've got the ultimate piece of print art.

I also was able to make some cool videos of my work today to post on the YouTube. Check them out here on the Publicide, Inc. YouTube video site!

Also, we're very close to cracking the code of polymer letterpress plates—which would make letterpress more affordable for the masses. At this point, Publicide uses mostly magnesium or copper plates—which are totally rad and hardcore, but also totally so expensive since they are made with molten metals. The polymer plates are supposedly the future of letterpress printing, but so far we haven't achieved consistent results. The breakthrough today involved ink volume as it seems like if there is 1 dot of ink more than necessary on the ink rollers, it makes the whole die and print job gooey. SO we will continue on with the metal plates until perfection is achieved.

Publicide, Inc—Printing NYC

JetMount Media

2008-06-14T21:31:00.003-04:00

The response to JetMount, our new large-format print medium, has been terrific. This machine prints on most flat surfaces up to 2" thick! It is a breeze for foam core, vinyl, even printing on wood, glass or mirror! It seems to me that we've only just begun to scratch the surface of its usefulness. I'm excited to try printing on a heavily textured board next. The sky really is the limit with this equipment. Amazing!

With almost 60" width and an endless possible length due to its construction, this machine is set to be the new king of large-format printing. Printing in reverse on the back of a piece of glass in full color CMYK inkjetting. Now maybe I can realize my dream of one day printing to cover an entire scaffold around a building.

On a trip to Europe several years ago, I noticed that in Barcelona and Lisbon, when construction was happening and buildings were wrapped up in plastic, some genius had the idea to print ads on the stuff! I'm talking ads 12 stories high and wrapped around entire buildings as thy were being refurbished. Anyway, now if I can just land the account that will get me that printing. I should probably do a marketing push geared toward the top Manhattan construction places.

Anyway, I digress. the JetMount inkjetter is awesome.

Busyness at Publicide Inc

2008-06-14T21:21:00.007-04:00

This post is blank

Web Searching

2008-06-06T21:29:00.002-04:00

WOW. I just spent all day researching why it is that when you google "printing nyc" the only thing that comes up is a bunch of ki nk os. I spell it here oddly because apparently if I write their name in the same sentence as "printing nyc" they will just get more goodie points added to their file. What I want to come up is Publicide, Inc. PLEASE.

So what I've discovered is pretty amazing and led me to create this blog today. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with it, but since I get totally obsessively compulsed by all things having to do with work, it should be no problem. It is extremely important to write a lot about Publicide—that is, Publicide in reference to printing, web design, graphics, letterpress, flash, HTML, CMYK and whatever else might apply.

I found out that the site I've had up for months at www.publicide.com is totally useless for people searching for print services from me! Unless they already know the name—and let's face it people, it is pretty hard to get good name recognition in New York City without paying bundles for it. Or making large-format ads stuck to cars and people. Maybe I should do some shirts or something and give them out.

I am meeting with my wonderful new business advisors over at Muffin Cupcake next week to discuss this and other exciting business prospects. I'll, of course, report everything that is not totally secret. Jessica Resler and Matt Demanett — my business advisory committee members — are devoted to my success. I have them planning all sorts of world domination type things for exalting my brand status to new heights! Exciting stuff, I know.