The Settling Dust

Ah, it's been a crazy ride these last few weeks. As we mentioned- the pace was intense as we were moving invitation jobs through production and out the door before we left for the East Coast (sounds so glamorous, doesn't it?).

Finally, we arrived at The National Stationery Show in New York City!
The show was good- smaller, as expected (I'm shaking my fist at the economy right now...). We were actually very pleased to see the snarky meter was amped up a touch. Blame it on the economy, maybe, but it opens the door for us to return to the show next year and not scare all the little sweet store owners away with our biting sarcastic cards. Here were our favorites: Old Tom Foolery, Nuk-u-lur, and Mean Cards (it's good karma to give shout outs to the worthy competition).

And it was very exciting of course to see our invitation displayed at the show as a LOUIE finalist.

So back we went to the hotel to get cleaned up for the LOUIE awards dinner. It is fun to dress up every once in a while! When we got to Capitale (an old Bank building, with it's coffered ceiling lovliness- turned swanky party venue), we made a bee line to see our invitation displayed again... no, first we got drinks, THEN we went and took cheesy pictures next to our invitation again- and of the building, like the architect dorks that we are.

(see how pale we are from working so hard and never seeing daylight?!)

So after grazing on the fancy appetizers ("Top Chef" quality, as I described it) and earning back our ticket price in drinks, it was time to begin. The presenters read the teleprompter in expected awkwardness (I was imagining someone sitting at their cubicle writing the "witty banter" thinking, Oh yeah, this will get laughs baby...). And they zipped through the awards with the fantastic phrase, "...and the LOUIE goes to..." clapping, gasping, a bright spot light shined on a table, a humble designer stands up and squints into the light.... it was all very magical.
ESPECIALLY when the time came for our category, and after that famous phrase, they actually said, SPILLED INK PRESS! Wow. We stood, we squinted, and they clapped. It was a blur (it might have been the dirty martini's, granted). It was fairly early in the presentation that we were announced, so the relaxation set in early and we were able to enjoy the night comfortably. It was exciting when the big award at the end of the presentations was announced, "Card of the Year" and it went to our fellow table mates with Compendium, Inc. Apparently table 15 was the place to be.

After the award ceremony, we had our picture taken for... gosh, I'm not sure what. I was on the phone with my parents in Ohio screaming that we won (to my Mother's praise, "Oh my lands!"... that's Sue-speak for "awesome"). And then we hit the dance floor. No, we didn't. We hit the tables next to the dance floor and ate the equally as fancy desserts and watched the rest dance. This is us having our cake, and eating it too.
It turned into a regular wedding celebration at that point- which seemed oddly appropriate. There was a few guys dancing that shouldn't have been, a few that knew what they were doing, a cheesy DJ, the usual.
It was anything but usual that night, and let me tell you, it was amazing.

We won a LOUIE!

Wow, what a night....we won a LOUIE award! One of our custom wedding invitations received the honor of being named the best personalized invitation selling for $5 and under. What a great award to win considering how the poor economy means tighter wedding budgets.

Stay tuned for a detailed review of the awards dinner and our stop at the National Stationery Show. But for now, we just wanted to update our loyal readers with the big news!

planes, trains, and automobiles

After a long week of sleepless nights finishing off a bunch of invitation jobs, updating ongoing designs, and a little architectural work for old time's sake, Spilled Ink Press is enjoying a relaxing night on the first leg of our three city tour this week. It is always nice to enjoy the quiet setting of rural Ohio for a day or two, but even more so today. We needed a break. This trip is going to be pretty hectic too, so it's good to start off slow. Toledo, New York, DC...and we'll be using just about every mode of transportation you can think of to get around.

Of course we love seeing the family, and meeting baby Lily in DC in a few days will be cool, but the highlight and reason for the trip is the middle stop...New York, the National Stationery Show, and of course...the LOUIE Awards! We're thrilled to be finalists for our first LOUIE. Check back later this week and we'll fill you in on the awards dinner, the show, and hopefully tell you about our big win!

The Gradation Effect

Ever since Obama's marketing team has stormed the internet, I've noticed internet graphics that are trying to look young, fresh, hip (whatever you want to call it- if I keep going I'm going to sound lame and old) taking their graphics to that same aesthetic.

That aesthetic... GRADATION. It's what makes things not look 2-D. It's a 2-dimensional way of saying... ok, I know this is supposed to look like it's popping off the page, so this is how I'm pretending like it is.
I was pondering where it started to take sail. I think perhaps Microsoft might have started it. At the very least, they've been using that blue color, ya- this one for a while now. If your on a PC, look at the bar at the bottom of your monitor, it's blue and it's- oh yes, gradient. I'm on Windows XP, which is practically a dinosaur in computer terms and there it is. (I fear even saying this- where's some wood? Geez, don't jinx me for pointing out how old my computer is...)


So they may have started it- maybe not. Actually, it's probably a web design tool that started to take hold in some toolbar in some program I don't understand...). And they may have been the first to show us we like that blue. But boy, the mac world made it cool.

It started subtle, with the song highlight bar on our ipods. It was different, and it became a subliminal part of why we felt cool for having one. You didn't realize it, but it was.
Shiny. Clean. We like this.

And now... start noticing, it's everywhere... the gradation effect.
And yes... even Obama jumped on that train- to successful results, of course. His marketing team are gradation whores you could say, it's EVERYWHERE on his site.

And we love that glaring gradient button... click me, move your mouse over me, that's right. Do it. CLICK ME!!!! Oh my god, I just gave $20 to Obama... what? I mean, I would have probably, (and I did, actually) but hmmm... was it the button, or was it the message? Oh my.
So if you want to make a glaring, gradient, fancy button... here it is. Step by step.
Happy button making!

Happy Earth Day!

Some of you may have noticed we've recently added an extra page on our website titled, "our green story". It dawned on us that we've always been a "green" company, we just never took the time to let people know! So happy Earth Day everyone! Maybe you're out there appreciating the sunshine (at least in Chicago it's a gorgeous day), perhaps planning your home garden, changing your bulbs, recycling your newspapers... Here's our green story, in a nutshell.

Happy Easter everyone!

Ah, someday we'll get around to doing the "skully and sher" line of cards... until then, enjoy the holiday and seasonal pics as they come.

Happy Easter everyone!

Reggie the Cat

Amanda and I have made the walk between Spilled Ink Press headquarters and the Western Brown line stop about a million times, and it's always nice to see our buddy Reggie on the way. Reggie is a big orange cat that hangs out around Lincoln Square. We were calling him Charlie for a long time until I thought to look at his tag. Yeah he's got a tag and lives in the area, but he gets a lot of freedom to roam and interact with his neighbors. He'll usually walk with you for awhile if you stop to pet him, unless he is lounging comfortably. Actually, he usually walks us to the corner of his block, but no further. And he always chatters at you. Today we saw him hanging out in a big pot like it was a throne or something, right outside of Cafe Selmarie.