Tugboat Print Shop Woodblock Prints

I stumbled on this amazing print shop called Tugboat the other day. They create incredibly detailed woodblock prints and have fantastic photos detailing the process on their website. The amount of craftsmanship and artistry is mind-boggling. I want at least one of each! Even the woodblocks themselves are wall-worthy!

Inkjet Transfers - Printing on Metal

I came across this great tutorial on YouTube when searching for ways to print on metal. You need a gigantic laser printer to do this, but the results are pretty amazing, and makes me wonder about what else I could print artwork on...hmmmm. The results were really gorgeous and luminous. Anyone want to go halfsies on a large-format Epson with me?

Fancy Tape

These fancy tape rolls are a great example of cool print ideas! You could use the lace one to decorate furniture, add a border to the wall, or even fancy up a vintage mirror. The hinges would look awesome for packaging, on a bookshelf or desk.

The Curious Mixture

This could possibly be one of my absolute favorite packaging designs. The use of Lost Type Co-ops' Tomasso, and clever marketing creates an absinthe bottle worth purchasing and never consuming. Not only does Stig Bratvold have a fabulously minimalist approach, but a touch of whimsy almost makes the entire design light-hearted. The dark bottle could have been heavy and drab, but excellent choice of display type in a beautiful contrasting silver gives the feeling of a bottle straight out of an apothecary, and the burlap sack gives an additional texture that compliments the design instead of fighting for attention.

Gorgeous Tea Packaging

This is some of the prettiest tea packaging I've ever seen. I love how clean and simple it is, not to mention the shape of the tea bag itself is stunning. The shape of the box is intriguing as well. Lovely work by Natalia Ponomareva from Russia.

In honor of the nice weather...

I want these lawn chairs more than anything ever. Ok, maybe not like, anyyyything...but. You get the picture. They use prints designed by Salvor, and would increase the awesome of any lawn they sit on.

Lovell's Lager

Lovells Lager was created by two successful Australian music industry professionals, with a passion for great tasting beer. Lovell’s Lager is an Australian beer brand that features some different and unique packaging. Most beer companies don’t really think about creative and clever packaging for their beer but this unique box with a black boombox graphic and hint of retro on a plain white box sure stands out of the crowd! 

USPS Revisualization

Matt Chase took re-branding to an extreme. The Unites States Postal Service should seriously consider this face lift, and it's all done up from top to bottom. Chase re-branded the USPS with a more graphic, simple, clean, and quirky identity. The colors are bright and invigorating, and graphics have a slight vintage feel. Beyond just being visually appealing, Chase poured effort into creating a complete re-branding. He meticulously applied logos, styles, and graphics to packaging, advertisements, uniforms, buildings, vehicles, a website, stamps, and even mailboxes. Revitalizing the way we send items essentially revitalizes what we want to send.

Jonathan Faust

Boy genius Jonathan Faust is a young graphic designer, who during his school years, worked on the Earl/Grey identity. A fictitious company, Faust put a great deal of love and attention into a minimalist approach. All from the hope of bringing popularity back to the Earl Grey tea variety, he came out with a beautiful portfolio piece, and admittedly, a print design worth putting into real production.

Tactile Surrealism: Tang Yau Hoong

tangyauhoong.com

 Tang Yau Hoong is a Graphic Designer based in Malaysia. His work is immediately striking, as he makes use of negative space, surrealism, and visual metaphors — all framed with bright colours and impeccable layout. His images have a sense of humor, and themes that immediately resonate with the viewer, keeping them locked on the image.

 He has several series exploring different themes: Playing cards, light, negative space (to name a few). Tang Yau Hoong's work has a playful, almost tactile quality. It is a great example of a very graphic style that translates beautifully to print, and I would happily have several of these hanging on my walls!

EarBudeez Packaging

Ahhh! These are the cutest earbud packages ever. Called EarBudeez, these are such a clever design. Designed by JDA in Long Beach, CA for Audiovox Accessories. They won one of PrintMag.com's 2011 Creativity + Commerce Competition awards for their genius! Just shows that award-winning print design doesn't have to be serious.

Handmade wedding invitations with serious rustic flair.

http://woodandgrain.com/post/8722900564/invitations

These wedding invitations from Wood & Grain are seriously beautiful, and are an instant reminder of how stepping away from the norm can create an impact. These invitations will surely be kept longer than the traditional white paper/letterpress invitations, and they'll definitely be topics of conversation. More importantly, the use of theme and smart design makes these wedding invitations more relevant to the setting and style of the couple's wedding.

The nature theme present here means that an electronic invitation wouldn't be appropriate for this type of scene, and the bride and groom have definitely made the most of their decision to stick with print. Texture, innovation and fabulous design have been employed wonderfully here. They have even included equally beautiful supplemental material. This is a prime example of how print can be used to make an impact for an important event.

So go take a look, and I promise you will never look at wedding invitations the same way again!