Bam! Chipboard and black! Can’t get any better than that.
Business cards, Custom trim, 2″ x 2.5″, Chipboard 20pt. Kraft, Pantone soy-based inks

Lo Martin of Editorial Pinch is at it again with the glorious business card design! This straightforward chipboard card for PT Brooklyn Restaurant oozes classiness while employing strong typography. Nice one, Editorial Pinch!

I think we’ll have to do a Pinball-clients tour of New York City at some point, stopping into sweet spots like Small A Projects, the NYC library, Flatbush Community Church, the New York Stumptown Coffee, and of course PT Brooklyn Restaurant!

Gold foil: classy bling.
Business card, Environment PC100 120# Cover White, Pantone soy-based inks, Gold foil

Small A Projects has some new digs. The formerly Portland-based contemporary art gallery recently packed up and moved to New York City’s Lower East Side, and of course a move requires new business cards! Laurel Gitlen, the gallerist behind Small A Projects, had these fresh cards printed and gold foiled.

If you’re in NYC, stop into Laurel Gitlen’s Small A for their current exhibition by Jessica Jackson Hutchins, entitled Over Come Over. The gallery is located at 261 Broome Street in Chinatown, and I recall a delicious dumpling house two blocks down near Eldridge… maybe you can make a day of it?

Congrats to Laurel on her big move!

Brownies? Yes, please.
Poster, Chipboard 20pt. Kraft, 11″x17″, Pantone soy-based inks.

Jolie Guillebeau created this terrific poster that is also a recipe! Brownie-colored ink shows off her handmade illustrations of all the ingredients in the recipe. You can find it for sale online in her Etsy shop. Hang one in your kitchen and never be without a delicious brownie recipe!

Green goodness!
Business Cards, 1/1, Environment PC100 120# Cover White, Pantone soy-based inks, 1/4″ corner rounding

Editorial Pinch is the Brooklyn design firm of Laurence (Lo) Martin, Art Director, passionate designer and creative. She worked with Claudio, the owner of D.O.C. Wine Shop, to create this snazzy business card, which boasts bold graphics and meticulous type. The wine shop is located in Williamsburg in Brooklyn, and its classy interior design (seen here in a photo Lo kindly sent over) welcomed a bright addition to an otherwise muted color scheme.

Lo tells us that DOC is the spot. The kind folks at D.O.C. are oenephiles to the utmost degree: deciphering wine geek terminology to help you find a bottle that’s perfect for any meal or occasion. Sounds good to me!

“Everything you can imagine is real.”
Scout Books, 2/0, blank interior, three styles, Chipboard 20pt Kraft, Pantone soy-based inks.

Viola Sutanto from Chewing the Cud and Stacy McCain (an event planner) joined forces to create a series of Scout Books that would work for both of their businesses. Featuring quotations from Pablo Picasso and Confucious, the Scout Books have identical covers save for the different names on the back. Brilliant! Splitting an order into two styles is easy, and the minimum to add styles is only 250 pieces.

Call up a friend, pick a color, and get designing!

Jill is at it again with the amazing-ness.
Greeting Cards, 4/0, A2 size, Environment PC100, 80# Cover White, Pantone soy-based inks.

Beautiful greeting cards from Jill Bliss boast a new direction for one of our favorite Portland artists: animals! Jill created these animals from illustrations of flora and fauna, each one an intricate compilation of a robust ecosystem. Ah-mazing. Are you a sea-life person? Go for the octopus. Maybe you’re a salmon lover. My personal favorite is the elk. There is a meadow inside this elk, and it looks like a meadow I’d like to visit.

Find these cards online in Jill’s shop, or at the Land store in Portland. She even printed corresponding posters of these illustrations! We’ll report on those soon.

More photos below!

Nature and art unite on this Scout Book by Theresa Joyce.
Scout Books, Chipboard 20pt. Kraft, Blank interiors, Pantone soy-based inks.

Theresa Joyce is an artist and garden designer based in Sonoma, California. She created these charming Scout Books for her art and horticulture practice Twig Art and Garden. They feature a lovely owl illustration that reveals a handmade quality.

Straightforward, simple, and awesome.
Business cards, 2/0, Chipboard 20pt. Kraft, Pantone soy-based inks.

Robby Hottois Construction created these straightforward business cards recently, and we’re big fans. There’s something so pleasing about chipboard and bold typography, don’t you think?

“Make Things Better.”
Scout Books, 1/0, Chipboard 20pt. Kraft, Grid interior, Pantone soy-based inks

Douglas Shepherd is a Portland-based contractor specializing in residential remodels. His company, Maple Seed Renovation, created these lovely Scout Books that say, “Make Things Better.” We think that’s a pretty good idea.

Amy Ruppel in her studio!

Amy Ruppel is an artist, illustrator and graphic designer who makes beautiful, beautiful work. We can’t decide which we like more: her delicate, miniature beeswax collages or her bold graphics that grace everything from snowboards to Converse shoes. Really, we adore it all! We are pleased to release the latest edition of our Designer Card series featuring a new illustration by Amy! Pairs of state animals parade in symmetrical fashion across a 100% Recycled cover stock in a muted natural color. Amy took a moment to share her thoughts on creative practice and what’s taking shape in Portland’s art scene.

Designer Card #15 from Amy Ruppel!

What is your earliest memory of making art?

I used to drag my pencils and paper into the woods (Wisconsin) in a ramshackle fort I made and draw there…I was maybe 4 or 5? I forget. Was so long ago ;)

Do you prefer to think of yourself as a painter, illustrator, designer, artist, or all of the above? How do the different activities overlap in your practice?

All of the above. A “Jill of all trades,” so to speak! I enjoy doing them all, and I like combining them when I can.

Awesome little winged vinyl toy from Kid Robot.

When did you know that you had managed to create a livelihood from your creative output? Was it a gradual process? Sudden realization?

It was a bit of a process…I did work in the side during my 9 to 5 job, and then just decided I had to quit and desperation to pay my rent and bills would make me get my butt in gear. So, I had to figure it all out quickly just to stay afloat.

Deer, the Pennsylvania State Animal. Part of the State Animal series.

You are so amazingly prolific Amy! How do you tackle it all?

I really don’t know ;) I don’t sleep much. I love what I do, and it never feels like a chore, so…Being happy makes it all seem so easy. I never say “I wish I had more time to do –– .” There is always time.

Oregon Print by Amy Ruppel, available in her shop!

You work a great deal with themes from nature (Birds, of course! But insects as well, and trees, and many other natural forms). You are also a self-described science TV nut. Can you tell us a bit about your love-affair with nature and science?

I think growing up in the woods, surrounded by animals and wildlife, and near the Mammoth Ice Age Center, and always finding fossils on our land really sparked an early interest. Plus, when I was little I wanted to work with Jacques Cousteau on the Calypso. I even have a letter from him, when I wrote and asked what college I should go to so I could work there (5th grade). I actually went to college for Marine Biology, but ended up in the art program. Decided to stick to what I knew best when the math got hard!

Amy Ruppel Converse shoes for the 2008 Fall series.

Your monthly online art sales are such a brilliant idea. When did you first decide to do this? Is it challenging to juggle a “brick and mortar” presence with gallery shows, along with your online endeavors?

That harkens back to the desperation stage from question #3. I had to find some way to make money, so I thought why not post what I have and send it to all my friends? That was the start of that…been doing it ever since. That was 2000! Wow, time flies. And I’m still having the sales. So grateful they are doing well after all this time.

Super fun illustrations for EcoMotion, a Portland-based electric car company. (Do I spy Mount Hood?)

Name your top three inspirations so far in 2010?

I’ve gotten back into reading poetry by Billy Collins (brilliant, charming and funny), and have been writing again myself. That helps create visuals of a different nature for me to be inspired from. I am wanting to paint more realistically with acrylics again, so I am loving perusing the work of Josh Keyes (http://www.joshkeyes.net/paintings.htm). And the rest…it’s something new every day via the art and design blogs. Where would we be without the internet?

Card and stationery designs for Vigo

Favorite tools for focus? Favorite tools for distracting?

Favorite tools are my iMac, Adobe Illustrator and my scissors. My wireless headphones are a nice tool for distracting me when a rockin’ song comes on KEXP ;)

A self-portrait!

You are a very active participant in the creative community in Portland. Do you think there is something special brewing right now in Portland (ha ha, besides all the good beer and coffee)?

Oh, and I do my share of imbibing of said beer & coffee! ;) But I am loving the shows coming together at Together Gallery. Such talent there. This town is so creative. There’s something new popping up every week, artists moving here every week…If you close your eyes, you’ll miss it! So it’s best to just get out there and see all you can, when you can.

All images ©2010 Amy Ruppel Illustration