CoinOp

 

Meet the foul mouths behind 16 Sparrows, a creative stationery company based in Chicago. You might not expect it, but 16 Sparrows actually uses a whole lot of profanity, but in a good way! Clever cards are their forte and we have had the chance to work with them for a number of years now. This hyper productive team not only offers crass cards, but stationery kits to stay in touch in style, tote bags, and even custom stationery design. To hear more about slipping crass comments into casual conversation, Grandma Club, and genuine affection for hand written notes, read on!

 

A2 Cards 2/0 apart of the F***ing series

I have never seen such beautiful design surrounding the “f” bomb. What’s the trick to using cussing in a tasteful witty fashion? 

D: That’s really Kathy’s forte. She began 16 Sparrows in 2003 for the specific purpose of supplying the greeting card market with the sass and snark that it was really missing. The genius of her work is that the crudeness of the message is mitigated with the delicacy of the design. I’ve seen people pick up the cards at craft fairs and not even notice the profanity. Their eyes read right over it because it’s so unexpected against such an elegant display.

K: I used to curse a lot in conversations, but use the words to express good things rather than negative. A lot of my friends picked-up on it and soon enough our congratulations or cheers would always be smattered with the “f” word. That spread to making cards for such events in order to reflect our personalities. I figured if my small group found them useful and entertaining, others out there would too.

 

16 Sparrows Studio

Business partners, who does what and how does it work?

K: When I first started the business I did everything, but after I got into grad school I asked Donovan if she would take the day-to-day reigns for me. There is no one else I would trust to be the better half of 16 Sparrows, so I was excited when she accepted the business partnership.

D: Basically, I handle the grunt work of mailing and making and Kathy handles the virtual world of website goodness. We both work on designs & ideas and we are each others art directors.

K: Yeah, the back and forth we have with designs, copy and concepts is really interesting. I really enjoy the creating process.

1/1 Business Cards Environment 120# Cover

What is the greatest part of running your own business and what is the hardest?

D: The best part is watching people at craft fairs look at our stuff. Draw them in with curly-ques and pretty designs and then hit them right between the eyes with a well-chosen swear. It’s tons of fun. The hardest thing is budgeting both time and money. Both Kathy and I work full-time jobs and it’s always a touchy balance between what we want to do and what we can afford to do.

K: I agree with Donovan. We constantly have several ideas on the board of products we want to make. It can take us anywhere from a week to a year to actually create the item due to finances and time. Since we are web based, I love seeing people’s reactions to our stuff. The feedback really keeps me motivated. I also enjoy doing custom design work. The ideas people come to me with are amazing. For wedding invites or even personalized stationery I’m constantly wondering why I didn’t think of such a cool idea. Luckily I have tons of fun fleshing out and creating the ideas for clients.

A2 Cards 1/0 apart of the F***ing series

What are your PR schemes? Any tricks to your excellent product coverage?

D: Thanks for saying we have excellent product coverage! We have used The Sampler many times with excellent results, but that’s our only real “scheme”. All the rest of our press is through the kindness of friends and strangers. We just focus on putting out unique products with quality and quirk and let the PR evolve naturally.

K: I wanted to hold out on advertising for as long as possible when the shop launched and see how far 16 Sparrows could go on word-of-mouth alone. It has worked so far for us, as we have yet to put out an ad. We sometimes consider placing an ad in a small magazine, but end up deciding to use the money for product instead. I think we make the right choice on that end.

 

Adorable Polaroid Postcards 2/0

What is the most unusual product you have released? Anything does surprisingly well? Are there any products that didn’t catch on?

K: I was absolutely shocked at how well the telegram stationery did when it was first introduced. I made it one day just to write a letter to a friend. I like the way it looked and decided to put it up on the shop, thinking I may sell a couple. A week later, Daily Candy contacted me saying they wanted to feature it on their website and a tidal wave of orders came through. It was surreal.

D: Unusual? Well, we have a stationery called “Blood Money” which is sort of intended to be used for when you’re paying bills you don’t really want to pay. It’s a bit contrary, sending a fancy letter to protest spending or giving money. Everything else is a bit more variable. The Telegram stationery does very well, and lately, the Bad Ass Robot anniversary card has been very popular. The Letter Writers Alliance stationery which comes with a membership to the Alliance is probably our best seller at the moment. We had a really sweet set of vintage camera notecards which came in a silk-screened box which didn’t sell at all. It was sad. I still have tons of those cards. I use them.

K: Oh, those Polaroid note cards; it is so sad they didn’t sell. I absolutely love that set and hand silkscreened each box they are packaged in. I’m using them as my thank you cards.

 

Secret loves outside of the print goods?

D: Vintage office supplies, anything to do with the postal system, religious icons, typewriters, cooking equipment, maps.

K: Donovan and I share similar interests, except I am a wee obsessed with vintage magazines (circa 1930) and anything that has to do with the eras of the 20s – the 40s. I have a large collection of Old Time Radio shows spanning from The Great Gildersleeve to Casey, Crime Photographer. I’m also a super geek for knitting and sewing. I think my old magazine obsession may be rubbing off on Donovan though. She really enjoyed flipping through a January 1940 copy of Ladies Home Journal I had in my house.

 

Juggling grad school, the Grandma Club, the Letter Writers Alliance, and 16 Sparrows, how do you delegate time to each project?

K: We both make time for everything because we are passionate about what we do and have fun making everything. It helps that we both have jobs that don’t require us to work outside of the 9-5 and are analytical, so doing 16 Sparrows is our creative release. All in all though, I think being so busy forces us to schedule our time very well. There are two of us, so we can split the work load, lean on each other when it gets hectic or give the other a reality check when needed (it is normally Donovan giving me those). I don’t know if I would categorize Grandma Club as work, it accidentally became a side project. Donovan, our friend Noel and I got together to make jam one day and realized that we were all into the same geeky grandma-type activities and decided to meet once a month to do grandma-type projects together. The blog is our way of recording what we do and showing people out there how to do the same.

D: Kathy was the grad school girl. I’ve yet to climb that mountain. My additional project is that I also run my own Etsy shop. It’s really not too hard. I’m always doing something. I’m happiest when I’m doing something. Plus, my day-job allows me the time to do a lot of the bookkeeping aspects; so my after-work time is spent just creating.

 

Grandma Club In action

Can you talk about your side projects and how they relate to 16 Sparrows? What are the overlaps?

D: Well, the Etsy stuff I make is also paper goods, it just has a much less snarky aspect. My “G” rated designs are all on Etsy. Still, the supplies are similar. Same thing holds true with the Letter Writers Alliance. All of it exists to justify buying all the vintage paper and supplies that I love to hunt down on Etsy and Ebay. Grandma Club is a different thing all together. That’s just fun.

K: Lots of fun, especially the liquor infusing project we did as grannies. Letter Writers Alliance relates to 16 Sparrows in that both are trying to keep the art of letter writing alive. The Alliance is more proactive in that respect that it is member-based and we maintain a pen pal swap. Donovan and I cherish letters and postal goods; we want to do all we can to keep that tradition going.

 

What has your experience been with Trade shows and hosting an online shop? What is your preferred method of business?

D: We’ve never done a “trade” show, but we do craft fairs. I really like the craft fairs because I can see the reactions of everyone that I don’t get to see with the online orders. Still the online shop is the majority of our business and it’s really great at getting our stuff seen by people all around the world. If I could do craft fairs all the time, I would, but both have their place in our business model.

K: I enjoy both; there is a place for craft fairs and web sales in our business. It never ceases to surprise me the huge differences between best sellers in each venue. Something that never sells online can be the first thing we sell out of at a fair and visa versa.

 

Any recommendations for neat blogs, books, or stores we should keep an eye on (aka shout outs)?

D: I’m currently addicted to www.smittenkitchen.com and am eagerly awaiting the publishing of Good Mail Day, a book of mail art, by our friends Carolee and Jennie of www.podpodpost.com. My favorite places to spend the money I don’t have are Greer http://greerchicago.com and Paper Doll http://paperdollchicago.com in Chicago.

K: Sigh, there is too much stuff! I just recently got my hands on the book Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it by Karen Solomon. All the grannies agree it is an awesome book that we each need to own. For anyone who enjoys Grandma Club, pick this book up. If you are one who loves the 20s, 30s or 40s, I highly suggest reading Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1940 by David Kyvig. It goes through the history of the common American and explains how our country evolved with cars, radios, architecture, etc. It’s a mainstay in my library. As far as blogs, the newest one I’ve been reading and absolutely love is Felt & Wire (http://www.feltandwire.com), while the Soule Mamma (http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama) is the blog I’ve been consistently reading for years now.