Beyond the Blue Door
Beyond the Blue Door - what happens in there? What is a letterpress? Who is Color Box Letterpress & Design? Where do they come up with this stuff?
All Valid Questions – and you’re in luck, we’re here to end your Color Box Curiosity.
Color Box Design & Letterpress is a boutique letterpress studio near White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas. Voted in the past as readers choice for Dallas’s best stationer and with various works featured in D Weddings, Paper City and Dallas Morning News Color Box has grown it’s business from an independent stationer into a thriving creative house. With a pinch of charm and a dash of wit – this trio of letterpress ladies does it all from invitations for all occasions to logos to their newest venture - a line of greeting cards, notebooks and other irresistibly cute things that make you ooh-and-ahh. all while being functional has kept these letterpressing ladies busy for months. They’ve created several collections of greeting cards and hope to spread their own brand of cheer beyond the Lone Star state. For the other daydreamin doodlers out there they’ve created notebooks with letterpress covers that we hope will inspire creativity in folks of all ages. The die cut tags are set to dress up gifts for any occasion, so cute you won’t even need a fancy bow. And a line of blank notecards for those who enjoy supporting the post office as much as we do! There is a little something for everyone.
Rhonda Camp Warren started her career in corporate graphic design, but her desire to wear brighter colors and being told that she laughs too loudly (you ought to hear it for yourself) she decided she could give it a whirl out on her own in the great big city of Dallas. After a year on her own of doing what Color Box calls “regular” graphic design Rhonda had an intersting call one day, apparently she had mentioned her love of letterpress to the owner of a local paper store and they were calling to say there was a Vandercook 4 press in need of adoption that had been abandoned. As a dutiful wife Rhonda called her husband Lelan, to discuss the matter before taking on the 1,100 pound press. It seems he did not share her love of letterpress, or even know what it was and advised that they had no where to keep such a large “hobby” item. So, she immediately called the person back and said of course she would love to have the press, what was the next step in aquiring it. That was eight years ago and that little orphan press is still in service along with another Vandercook 4 and a Kluge platen press. Needless to say Rhonda’s husband was pleasantly surprised that what he thought was a “hobby” turned into a nice little business.
For those of you who need a quick lesson in the art, here’s how letterpress works. The paper is hand fed one sheet at a time for each color on the piece, on our Vandercook presses the paper wraps around the cylinder, then over a raised surface photo-polymer plate. As the paper is pressed against the plate it creates an indention into the paper as it lays down the ink, the depth of the resulting "bite" will vary depending upon the type of paper, (thicker, softer papers will carry a deeper impression than hard or thin papers). The printing process is a bit like manual labor, but it’s a labor of love by the girls at Color Box. They love seeing their designs come to life from start to finish and hopefully put a smile on someone’s face when they receive a card or invitation in the mail.
Rhonda works alongside her daydreamin’ duo Traci Carlson and Richelle Brown, who have collectively brought both artistic value, industry knowledge, commitment to quality and extra hands for stamping, stuffing and the occasional delivery services. While Color Box Design has made invitations, menus, tags and favors for many Dallasites and beyond they’re excited to take their creativity to the shelves.
The ability to be a part of such a special time in people’s lives leaves this Color Box crew warm and fuzzy – but the real passion lies within the beauty of the details. The paper, the press and the people they get to meet along the way is the foundation of this perfectly placed studio. So beyond the blue door you will find fresh ideas, endless creative juices, passionate people with a passion for people and a dose of positive energy and infectious laughs. But most importantly above all, beyond the blue door you will find piles and piles of paper just waiting to hit the press.
