S6E7 - Systemize your Project

We hope you enjoyed Season 6 of Hot Off The Press!!! In this finale we recap 2024, and look ahead to 2025. We're heading into the new year with high hopes, big plans, and new ideas for how Hot Off the Press can be a helpful tool for our printing community! We love you for being here, tuning in, and asking us all of your questions. We hope to see/hear even more from you next year! HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! WE MADE IT! WOO!

In this episode, we’re joined by Kseniya Thomas, Director of Ladies of Letterpress, and the Owner/Presswoman of Thomas Printers.  🎉 We can't count the times we've turned to the forums or classifieds of LOLP during our printmaking journeys, and we can’t wait to attend one of the conferences in person. (2025 goals!) As female printers ourselves, we fully understand the importance of the LOLP organization and greatly appreciate what it stands for, so we are thrilled to get to chat with Kseniya about it all! (Jillian was especially excited that for once she wasn't the only one showing up to the recording with a baby! Yay for moms of letterpress!!!) Links: Ladies of Letterpress LOLP Facebook Group LOLP Instagram Thomas Printers

If you're being bombarded with ads for in-house/studio lasers then, like us, you may be very tempted to take the plunge. While we have *so* much to say about our experience with the three lasers we each have, we thought it'd be great to give you an overview of the lasers themselves - what they're capable of, and what we have and haven't liked so far.

If you joined us at the Los Angeles Printer’s Fair in October, you might have seen some of our new prints the three of us created. You might have also noticed a few similarities… A few of them were printed in a combination of colors to create an ombre effect.  However you want to name it - split fountain, gradient, ombré - this printing method results in some really fun colors, usually more colors show up than you put on the press. Overall: an amazingly fun tool to have in your pocket!  This season, we’ve been talking a little more in depth about specific print methods, tools, and equipment. Tune into this week’s episode as we dive into creating an ombré effect on platen & flat bed presses, and with a good ol’ brayer if hand inking is your style! Don’t forget to join us on instagram to see some of the projects we discuss printing, and be sure to visit hotoffthepresspodcast.com to see some of these prints (and maybe get one or two for your space)!

In this week’s episode, Cara Jo & Moriah are united in Denver and joined by Jason Wedekind, of Genghis Kern. We discuss his journey into printing, his experience in the design world (seriously cool branding & packaging is his speciality), and how he came to be a part of the Letterpress Depot.  The Letterpress Depot will be a living museum where you can get your hands inky and learn about letterpress, but it will also be a community oriented space in Englewood, Colorado where you can host meetings, attend workshops, and so much more. In order for this historic building (and it’s incredible collection of equipment!) to be open to the public, they need our support! No matter where you’re located, you can provide valuable assistance to make sure this resource is opened as soon as possible. During the month of November, your donation will go twice as far thanks to Colorado Gives. Your donation will be matched, so there is no better time than today to donate whatever you can! You can also purchase limited edition letterpress prints and more on their virtual marketplace, or purchase a membership to the museum. Don’t forget to follow them on Instagram or join the mailing list to receive all the progress updates and stay in touch. Colorado has a rich letterpress history and it’s not done yet. Jason, Cara Jo, and so many more are not only a part of the story, but working hard to keep this legacy alive for generations to come. Tune into the episode to hear all about Jason’s story, Genghis Kern, the story behind the Depot & the plans for the future.  Links: Colorado Gives: https://www.coloradogives.org/organization/LetterpressDepot Depot: http://www.letterpressdepot.org/Depot IG: https://www.instagram.com/letterpressdepot

In this week’s episode we’re talking about something a little different… Modern technology!  While century old equipment is usually what we’re discussing on the pod, this week we’re changing it up a bit and discussing some newer technology. We’ve encountered a growing number of requests for this little tool in the wedding stationery industry, as well as on print items in general, so we thought it would be fun for all of us to learn a little more about it. So tune into this week’s episode to learn all about QR codes! Their origin, how they work, and what you’ll need to know in order to make sure when you print one, it scans smoothly. We also touch on NFC chips, which are seeing an increase in paper popularity too. Whether you’re a wedding stationer (or planner) looking to make the RSVP process as smooth as silk, or a business who wants to ensure their print collateral stays accurate for the long term, this info will be relevant to many!

As a continuation of our episode from season 2 "Working on your Workflow" we discuss the processes and systems we use to keep jobs flowing smoothly through our studios. The three of us all have very different preferences and strengths when it comes to organizing our workflows. We hope you guys find it helpful to hear some examples, and that you take the time to tweak your workflow if it hasn't felt groovy for you just yet.

As we recover from the 16th annual Los Angeles Printers Fair, we travel back in time to the summer of 2024 when Moriah and Jillian discuss one thing that had befuddled them for so long... Motors. This episode is *not* for the electricians or engineers (HAH)! It is for us entry level machinists who just need a better understanding oh how motors work so we can find the right one for the job at hand! Looking to buy a motor? Check out our supply guide here!

This week we’re journeying all the way up to Alaska to visit with our friend Meghan Chambers! Meghan has been pulling some incredible prints, and building an understanding & appreciation of Letterpress all the way in Juneau, Alaska. We invited her to join us on the podcast to celebrate the grand opening of her new art gallery (The Laundromat Gallery) and to generally get the scoop on what it’s like living & printing in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Find Meghan at the links below: Salt Water Press on Instagram and www.saltwater.press The Laundromat Gallery on Instagram and www.thelaundromatgallery.com

For years, acquiring a foil press for our shops was a hotly debated topic. Would it be worth the investment? How would we feel about doing foil in house? Where on earth will we put another press??? We discuss all of this and more with Cara Jo because she took the leap and bought the highly sought after Metallic Elephant KSF3. Tune in to find out whether it was worth dwelling so long on the decision! Interested in learning how to use the foil press? There are currently two courses offering indepth lessons online: https://www.sal-studios.com/foil-pressure-dwell-heat https://papelnco.com/the-art-of-foil-press-printing Don't forget to check out (and follow) Knapp Design Co on instagram to see all the fun things Cojo has been foiling with Tin Man: @knappdesignco