RUSSELL SLOANE
336 W. 37th St., Ste. 204
212-539-0184; russellsloane.com
Letterpress printing is the old-fashioned standard for putting ink on paper, much the way Gutenberg himself did it. Raised type is coated with ink on a hand-cranked, decades-old Vandercook press, fed one sheet of paper at a time by hand. It’s a beautiful process to watch, and the results can be the most elegant printing there is—the bite of cold type into paper gives it a fabulous, almost sensuous texture. That’s why we want our letterhead, business cards, and the like to come from the husband-and-wife team Sloane Madureira and Russell Maret of Russell Sloane. She has a studio art background from Pratt; he studied book arts with a renowned master. Their designs incorporate all sorts of craftsmanlike, unique details: printing on handmade paper or even wood veneer, binding with linen or silk, adding elegant closures to envelopes. All that hand work admittedly keeps the prices high: Wedding invitations with many parts (maps, binders, and so on) can go up to $60 per piece, and more everyday but equally gorgeous social stationery on a two-week turnaround can cost $700 to $1,000 for a box of 200.