Stationery solutions for those looking to keep the practice and art of paper communications alive.

In this day and age of mass emails, tweets, Snapchat, and every other form of digital communication some are choosing to go old school with pen and paper. There’s a snail mail revival afoot. Sending a card, a letter, a note of thanks is a much more personal way to let your loved ones know that you care and are thinking of them.

The more high tech we get, the more important it is to hold onto special traditions that can become even more special when it’s so super easy just to click a button to send someone birthday greetings.

But what are the stationery must haves to keep on hand for sending everything from letters to thank you cards?

Stationery Must Haves

1. Basic Rustic Stationery Set via Pinky Promise Bargains

You will want a basic everyday writing set to have on hand for last minute birthday greetings, to send best wishes on a friend’s new job, or to just keep up with your penpal. This rustic set is full of charm, but versatile enough whatever your needs.

2. Personalized Heart Stationery via Find Penny Paper Co

On the other hand, some personalized stationery might work just as well for your note writing needs. No matter your taste in fonts and decorations, there’s a set to match your style.

3. Flat Chevron Notecards via Hedoe Paper

There are two different styles of notecards–flat and folded notecards. Flat notecards are perfect for a quick note to a friend.

4. Folded Notecards via Pink Lily Press

Pretty folded notecards are a quick solution when you need a thank you or birthday card. Keep different designs on hand to tuck in with a birthday present or along with a host gift.

5. Printed Notepad via naomilynn

Not only are notepads a handy way to jot down some notes, but they can also act a stand-in for notecards and other stationery.

6. Thank You Cards via missive

Don’t forget your manners! Thank you cards are a stationery must-have and letterpress thank you cards are even better.

7. Bear Postcards via Bearly Southern

Sending a postcard is a fun way to send quick greetings to a friend. These quirky postcards would do the trick to send good cheer to a friend.

8. Kraft Paper Envelopes via When it Rains Paper

And it is always a good idea to keep extra envelopes on hand when writing letters or to send photos and other keepsakes. These Kraft paper envelopes are a practical stationery solution.

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In the mid 1400s Johannes Gutenberg invented the first printing press, a technology which allowed information to spread far more rapidly thanks to what is now a simple concept: movable type.

Nearly 550 years later, the advent of the internet had much the same effect, but you’ll have a hard time getting people to agree over which invention had a greater impact.

Graphic designers James Cuddy and Roma Levin along with digital maker Danilo Di Cuia comprise a London-based design collective that is tackling that question head-on. Their ongoing project, Out of Print, is an interactive exploration of the interplay between technology and the tangible.

With an installation that featured as part of autumn’s London Design Festival, an app, and a website in development, Out of Print is a multimedia endeavor that stemmed in part from the collective’s desire to reconcile two very different parts of their lives.

“We’ve all done printing and things that take a while—they’re quite tactile and they’re quite considered. But we also work in advertising where it’s very disposable and ‘now,’” Levin said. “We wanted to use letterpress not as a way to paint quaint, cute posters but as a way to show the contrast between the two technologies and the fact that they can work together at the same time.”

Step one was creating software that would generate headlines at random by aggregating words from trending headlines across selected news sources. The app uses the simple headline structure of subject, action, object—modeled after the loathed and loved British tabloid the Daily Mail—as the base of a simple algorithm.

When attendees of the exhibition entered the space, they chose what should be printed from a stream of fabricated headlines on a computer. The trio then used the most basic printing technology possible to create posters which filled the wall space. Think of it as a physical manifestation of Twitter, just much slower.

“There’s the idea that when you send a Tweet you forget about it after a couple of hours,” Levin said. “Whereas we wanted to play with what would happen if the Tweet turns into what looks like a work of art.”

Even though the assembly of the headlines was generated randomly by the created app, Cuddy said something resembling the hashtag phenomenon was evident as the exhibition progressed.

“You’d roughly see the things in the news change over the days. One day it’d be all about Kate Middleton and the next day something else,” Cuddy said. “So we want to take that idea and build the website around building up an archive of 2013 news.”

While the project did create aesthetically pleasing posters and generate some sales, the trio says that for them, using a printing press is not just a simple exercise in nostalgia destined to end up on Pinterest. Levin, who works in advertising, says he is increasingly put off by the fact that digital media is predominately used in a commercial capacity.

“For me, the project came about as a kind of reaction against the fact that digital is used heavily to just sell more things,” Levin said “So that was one of reasons why we wanted to reverse it and look at it from more of a perspective of how tech can serve other purposes.”

Cuddy added that despite the heavy use of technology throughout their design work, the collective’s ethos is all about putting a focus on the intrinsic value of a tangible object, and how that can coexist with technology.

“I do still value physical objects and I think things have almost come full circle in that the internet is now increasingly controlling physical objects,” Cuddy said “A lot of these new technologies are so young and are constantly being shaped, so I think it’s useful to step sideways a little and just sort of let them—they are changing the way we communicate, but they also have the potential to enhance it.”

The post ‘Out of Print’ Digital Design Fuses Technology with Tangibility appeared first on EcoSalon.

The concept of letterpress first surfaced more than a thousand years ago when woodblock printing became a medium for expressing spirituality in Eastern civilizations. After Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, this technique evolved and became the standard method throughout the 19th century. Although less widely used today, letterpress printing has emerged again as an art form. Fortunately, there are green options.

Here’s a list of the five fabulous resources to help spread the word.

With extensive customization options, Bella Figura is a great place to shop for eco-friendly invitations, save the date cards, baby announcements and more. Powered entirely by wind energy, this green company uses vegetable-based and low-VOC inks and cotton paper, donates a percentage of profits to environmental causes and is a proud member of the Co-Op America Green Business Network.

Members of 1% for the Planet, Smock uses wind energy to print stationery, gift tags, invitations and more on sustainably harvested bamboo paper. Plus, you can find a plethora of information about eco letterpress by visiting their blog.

Offering a variety of handmade stationary and art prints on post-consumer recycled paper, Sweet Beets artisans use 100% post-consumer recycled paper to craft their eco-friendly creations. Check out their blog to find out more about this family-grown operation.

Bird Dog Press prints their paper goods on 100% post-consumer recycled pulp and makes their envelopes from recycled grocery bags. Visit their blog for the latest news, shop on their site or find their work at EcoEtsy.

The Bay Area Business Program considers Julie Holcomb Printers to be an environmental leader, and we can see why. This green company uses tree-free cotton paper for their stationery, recycled paper for their envelopes and recyclable steel-backed plates for printing.

Image: Birch SF

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