Cranky Pressman is a commercial letterpress located in the depressed town of Salem, OH. The sole reason we still operate this primitive sweatshop is to serve our growing list of persnickety customers throughout the country. We produce custom letterpress printing for graphic designers, illustrators, art directors and all manner of creative professionals with their black turtlenecks, pipes and lofty ideas. We don’t tout design work ourselves but instead break our backs to make you look good.
What we do offer is old-fashioned know-how, full letterpress production and binding capabilities, all at damn reasonable prices. The bulk of our workload includes materials such as business cards, letterheads, stationery, envelopes, folders, booklets, postcards, folded cards, invitations, tickets, coasters, hang-tags, labels, packaging, posters and all form of letterpress ephemera. Die-cutting, embossing, short and long print runs are accommodated.
Look at Cranky Pressman’s flickr site for examples of our work. Also take a gander at our house paper selections Intended to help keep prices down. All house papers were chosen for maximum creative opportunity and recycled content. They range from basic chipboard to fancy 100% cotton rag. Vegetable-based inks are used for printing (If we must be friendly it might as well be to the environment).
Check out our Printery & Bindery. Through this shopping space, customers can simply get prices and order straightforward letterpress printing such as business cards and folded card & envelope sets. The idea is to make working with letterpress easier for you while eliminating some torturous quoting work for us. Our appreciation is passed back to customers in the form of savings when they order online. Have a look at what's available in the Printery & Bindery and use it when it suits your project specifications. We have grand ideas for the Printery & Bindery and will be rolling out improvements and new services soon.
Designing for letterpress requires a different creative approach. Any fresh-faced designers or those who need to brush up on how to work with letterpress should visit the Letterpress Trade School. Plans are on the drawing table to add to the school area.
Letterpress is not the easiest form of print production, but those familiar with the tactile look and feel it brings to a graphic piece understand why we go to all the bother. It is not suited for every type of project. Anyone who’s looking for slick four-color printing should drop us a line and we will gladly tell you where to go. If however you know what you want, that being letterpress, send us an e-mail or ring 1-330-337-3341 to discuss your job. You're sure to catch us sweating over someone’s work.
