Fine printers Benwells (I designed their identity) asked me to create a printed piece to promote their business. They wanted something to send to existing clients, and also to send out to potential new clients.

I wanted to create something which not only showcased Benwells’ particularly fine work, but which was also something that people could actually use. I had a think about the sort of things you might send or receive in the post, which got me thinking about postcards. Now, it’s not that often you get sent a postcard these days. Email, texting and social media have usurped that role for themselves. But when you do receive a card – well, it feels just great. It shows that someone thinks you’re worth just a little bit of effort.

So I teamed up with Benwells to create some postcards that were a pleasure to send, and a joy to receive.

I designed two limited edition packs of typographic postcards – one pack, ‘Thanks’, to say thank you; the other, ‘Greetings’, to say hello. The outer packs feature white foil-blocked Nomad Buff sleeves, sent out in tear-open Colorplan envelopes.

Each pack contained ten different cards, all using delicious G·F Smith papers, with a whole range of print processes: litho, letterpress, foil-blocking, debossing and embossing. The reverse of each card detailed the process used to print it, and what stock it was printed on. So even if you didn’t decide to send them on to anyone, they were still really useful.

I also created a fold out card which rather neatly combined a couple of different greetings: