September 20, 2014
SNEAK PEAK OF GOLDY CARDS
September 15, 2014
LABELS FOR BIENWERK & TÖRTCHEN TÖRTCHEN – PATISSERIE COLOGNE
Kikisoso has been printing Cologne’s own Bienwerk honey labels for a a while now and just recently they asked us to design and print a special branded label for one of their best customers. Exciting stuff for the Kikisoso team. Törtchen Törtchen literally translates in English as ‘Little Tarts – Little Tarts’, it works better in German of course. They create amazing, beautiful and colorful cakes, tarts and french pastries etc. it is a patisserie with artistic flair making it stand out.
For the labels we wanted to do something original but yet make sure the branding was not ignored. A colorful splash (brand colour of course) contrasted with the negative logo on Bienwerks traditional black white cotton labels was perfect. Bienwerk’s honey comes in 360g squeezable bottles and 325g glass jars and it is already starting to populate Colognes best cafes and restaurants. You will also soon be able to buy it online, so watch this space.
you can see the original Bienwerk logos here and also a re-brand of their logo and business card here, all carried out by Kikisoso earlier this year.
Thanks for reading the blog. Please remember to share if you like our post. To be kept up to date with kikisoso’s latest products, news and competitions then please subscribe for the newsletter here.
July 14, 2014
LETTERPRESS BUSINESS CARDS BLIND DEBOSS AND EDGE PAINTING
Designer and programmer Berndt Kraemer designed the layout for these cards for his client Kai Bretall and he wanted something a bit special to make the cards stand out from the crowd when his client visited business gatherings. Blind deboss and edge painting was the solution. This is where the edge painting really takes over. Using a heavy stock, in this instance the 100% cotton 600gsm Gmund New Grey the orange/yellow edge colour was the perfect contrast.
Edge pained with a lovely bright and contrasting orange. Here you can see how thick these cards really are. With edge painting it is best to use thicker stock to make the colour pop.
The rear side of the cards was treated with a blind de-boss meaning without inking up, we pressed the photopolymer plate hard against the cotton paper to produce an impression into the card which was not only visible but could be felt with the fingertips running over the soft surface, basically that’s what the new era of modern letterpress is all about.
See more of our letterpress business cards here and here. If you are interested in having your own business cards letterpress cards printed then simply drop us a line here and we will be happy to give you a competitive quotation. We also printed the business cards for the UK’s well know Graphic Designer David Airey, also printed on Gmund cotton 600gsm paper with an orange edge finish. You can read more about that here
July 11, 2014
WES ANDERSON STYLE LETTERPRESS WEDDING INVITES
These quirky letterpress wedding invites went out the door a few weeks ago for one of our customers who will be celebrating their wedding this September in Spain. Naomi and Owen came to us with a ‘Wes Anderson styli’ theme, namely using the Futura bold font throughout the design. If you are wondering what that means, it is because Wes Anderson uses Futura Bold for everything to do with his films from film posters to end credits. So we decide to create some bold chunky invitations in Futura bold with a difference, we wrote it by hand, or rather printed it out and then traced it by hand. The plates were then created and a rich navy rubber based ink chosen for the print.
Here you can see the text biting the paper giving a lovely haptic quality to the invitations
The cards were printed on cotton paper in a extra heavy weight to allow a deeper impression and provide a nice base for a bright orange painted edge. Edge painting was perfect for these invitations as they were until this point very simple and needed the boost. After trying out a few ideas for the rear of the cards, Naomi decided on going for an illustration related to the restaurant where the wedding would be held in Palamos and so that’s where the giant shrimp with the book and the Glass of champers came from. Not to upset the colour balance too much we decided to print the illustration in a light grey which worked very well with the navy type and orange edge painting.
The bright edge painting makes the cards glow when they are stacked together. A lovely effect for a simple card
Here at Kikisoso Creative we create beautiful, bespoke wedding invitations for couples ready to tie the knot using the finest quality papers and stationery etc. Our customers spread over many countries from Ireland, England, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Kuwait, USA and Hawaii. Get in touch with us here to talk about YOUR special day.
July 7, 2014
LETTERPRESS BUSINESS CARDS FOR BIENWERK – LOCAL BEEKEEPER
Close up of the logo we created, pressed nicely into the soft cotton stock.
We created (designed and Printed) these simple business cards for Cologne Bienwerk Imkerei (local beekeeper and honey producer). Printed on soft cotton card and a decent impression easily felt on the fingertips.
Here you can see what makes letterpress different from the standard business card.
The paper is extremely soft to the touch and with the impression of the logo and text gives it that haptic and luxurious quality with which standard cards just can’t compare.
read about Bienwerk’s honey labels on our earlier post here. See more of our letterpress cards here. Alternatively, you can see our edge painted letterpress business cards for UK Graphic Designer David Airey or a preview of Cologne based designer Nick Bohlen’s 2 colour cards printed on Cranes lettra cotton stock.
July 3, 2014
HONEY LABEL PACKAGING FOR LOCAL BEEKEEPER
DE – Südstädter und Imker Frank bat uns die Verpackung für seine Honiggläser neu zu gestalten, aber bitte ohne Bienen, dafür mit einem Wal und typischen Imker Werkzeug!
Das haben wir sehr gerne getan und sein Logo neu gestaltet und dann die Illustrationen für Wal und Bienensmoker gefertigt. Die Etiketten haben wir dann im Letterpressverfahren auf unserer guten alten Golding von Hand gedruckt … wir sind sehr zufrieden mit dem Ergebnis … und der Honig ist köstlich!
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EN – Local beekeeper and honey producer Frank Methien dropped by the studio with an idea for the packaging for his honey and it didn’t involve bees. As you would expect, most honey labels and honey packaging is based around the bees and the natural honeycombs hexagonal form. Frank didn’t want bees and he didn’t want hexagons… he wanted a whale. At first we were a little unsure, but in the end it all made perfect sense and we are chuffed with the outcome.
The beekeepers’ smoking tool featured on one of the labels.
The project started with a re-design of the Bienwerk logo, just to make it a little bit less serious allowing the label and branding for Bienwerk to be a little more playful. Logo completed, we got to work on the illustrations. The first illustrations were of the Bee Keeper’s tools in the end choosing the Smoker as the most interesting. The second chosen illustration was of the whale you see below.
The whale is featured on the second label and the translation from German is ‘Save the whale… eat honey!’
If you reside in the Cologne Südstadt and want to get your hands on a jar of Frank’s tasty honey then you can get in touch with him here.
May 27, 2014
LETTERPRESS GRUSSKARTEN / GREETING CARDS – SPECIAL DISCOUNTS
3 CARDS OF YOUR CHOICE ONLY 11€ we are aware that postage and packaging costs can sometimes be a little bit pricey to say the least, but we are trying to help take the sting out of buying our letterpress greeting cards online. If you buy 3 cards of your choice you can save up to 2.50€ on the individual price and… you only pay shipping on 1 card. Go to the shop now
LET KIKI HANDWRITE & POST YOUR CHOSEN CARD Another money saver for you here… why not have kiki handwrite your card so we can send it directly to your loved one? By doing this you can save up to 2.50€ shipping. We ship the cards in their supplied envelopes for you and we write your personal message into the card in blue or black ink, depending on your preference. All details are to be inserted into the ‘message to seller’ input box when making your payment. Visit page
May 26, 2014
NEW ‘B’ IS FOR BIRTHDAY CARDS
Just off the press on Friday, our new funky hand-drawn Birthday cards are, as always, printed on premium quality cotton paper. We wanted to make this card stand out a little more by pairing it with these lovely grey, tissue lined envelopes.
Remember: if you wish to buy and send any of our cards directly, then just go through the buying process as normal but remember to add your message, name and recipients name and address in the ‘message to seller’ area. On receiving your order we will hand-write and post you card directly. Go to our online shop
May 21, 2014
KIKISOSO LETTERPRESS STUDIO – INTERVIEW BY KÖLNSÜD TV
Vor einigen Wochen haben wir zum ersten Mal bei Köln Süd Offen teilgenommen und ein Wochenende lang unser Kölner Letterpress Studio für die Öffentlichkeit geöffnet. Wir wurden spontan von Tim von Köln Süd TV interviewt, dabei ist dieser kurze Film entstanden. Danke Tim!!!
Das Wochenende war toll und hat großen Spass gemacht. Wir haben live gedruckt und jedem Besucher eine Kikisoso Postkarte geschenkt.
Vielen Dank an alle Besucher und natürlich Dena, die alles so toll organisiert hat.
Eure
Nick & Samay
kikisoso creative studio
PS: Falls das Video nicht automatisch im Browser startet, klick bitte hier
EN: This was the spontaneous interview with Köln Süd TV at our studio during the Köln Süd Offen 2014 event. We printed these letterpress postcards for all visitors on the day, explaining and showing the whole process of how we create our greeting cards, business cards and wedding invitations etc. The weekend went really well and it was great to meet a lot of locals and new faces interested in seeing the machine in action. A big THANK YOU to Tim from Köln Süd TV for the interview and video.
May 14, 2014
LITTLE CREATURES – NOTE CARDS
cute animal note cards letterpress printed on fine cotton paper – May 2014
These note cards have been very popular with our kids and, were originally just created for them to send to family members for birthdays etc. They were so well received, we decided to make them into a range of note cards for our online store. We chose the fox, the owl, the hedgehog and the squirrel as these were the animals our kids loved the most. However, we want to add to the range and not just a few either. Let us hear your ideas for other animals that you would like to see on the note cards to help the range expand. We will have a competition to win 2 sets of 8 of the note cards. Remember these are premium hand printed cards that will make an impression however you choose to use them. Sign up for our newsletter and contact us with at least one animal suggestion for the note card range and you will be automatically entered into the draw.
letterpress fox note card – May 2014
letterpress owl and hedgehog mini note cards
see more on the kikisoso online store where you can buy the cards singularly or as a pack of 8 (2 from each design). Thanks for reading the blog. Please remember to share if you like our designs. To be kept up to date with kikisoso’s latest products, news and competitions then please subscribe for the newsletter here.