<p>It&#8217;s always heartwarming to be reminded that consumers are as mesmerized by letterpress as those of us lucky enough to work within the industry. Personally, I tend to forget when I&#8217;m caught up in putting an issue together that what I&#8217;m creating will ultimately be read &; hopefully enjoyed by others — and it&#8217;s most likely not too different for stationery designers.</p>
<p>So I&#8217;m guessing that it was very exciting for Fran &; Jen Shea of Zeichen Press to be named &#8220;Best Greeting Cards&#8221; by Minnesota Monthly (and I was also gratified to see <a href="http://www.mara-mi.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mara-Mi</a> taking well-deserved honors for &#8220;Best Office Supplies.&#8221;) The editors compiled a list of classic “bests” that have stood the test of time — alongside newcomers they believe will never go out of style.</p>
<p>I wasn&#8217;t familiar with Zeichen until Fran approached me, but it&#8217;s definitely got a distinctive look and edgy sense of humor. It&#8217;s flourishing beyond Minnesota&#8217;s borders too, available at over 500 shops worldwide (they can also be purchased <a href="http://zeichenpress.com/product-category/greeting-cards/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>). Their &#8220;about&#8221; page reads, &#8220;Zeichen Press is Fran Shea, Jen Shea and 10,000 pounds of letterpress equipment. The division of labor goes something like this: Fran talks a lot and Jen does everything else. If you’d like to see how this could work for you and/or your company, contact us. Jen will pick up the phone and Fran will talk to you.&#8221;</p>
<p>Cards are blank &; printed on recycled or tree-free cotton paper. I&#8217;m partial to the clown design myself, as frankly, his superficially jolly visage is completely terrifying to me. Just $4 gets you all the nightmares you and your friends can handle.</p><div class="inline-post clearfix"><div class="see-also byline">See also</div><div id="block-wrap-19722" class="block-wrap-native block-wrap block-wrap-23 block-css-19722 block-wrap-classic columns__m--1 elements-design-3 block-ani block-skin-0 tipi-box block-wrap-thumbnail ppl-m-1 clearfix" data-id="19722" data-base="0"><div class="tipi-row-inner-style clearfix"><div class="tipi-row-inner-box contents sticky--wrap"><div class="block block-23 clearfix"><article class="tipi-xs-12 clearfix with-fi ani-base tipi-xs-typo split-1 split-design-1 loop-0 preview-thumbnail preview-23 elements-design-3 post-15125 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-funny-papers tag-brooklyn tag-christmas-cards tag-doris-day tag-etsy tag-greeting-cards tag-jocelyn-kirouac tag-louise-brooks tag-national-stationery-show tag-roland-kirouac tag-sarah-schwartz tag-snail-mail tag-stationery tag-thank-you-stationery tag-the-paper-chronicles tag-umlaut-brooklyn tag-valentines-day-cards" style="--animation-order:0"><div class="preview-mini-wrap clearfix"><div class="mask"><a href="https://thepapernerd.com/umlaut-brooklyn/" class="mask-img"><img width="100" height="100" src="https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/F-11-copy.jpg?resize=100%2C100&;ssl=1" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/F-11-copy.jpg?resize=150%2C150&;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/F-11-copy.jpg?resize=200%2C200&;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/F-11-copy.jpg?resize=293%2C293&;ssl=1 293w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/F-11-copy.jpg?resize=75%2C75&;ssl=1 75w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/F-11-copy.jpg?resize=390%2C390&;ssl=1 390w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/F-11-copy.jpg?resize=585%2C585&;ssl=1 585w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/F-11-copy.jpg?resize=24%2C24&;ssl=1 24w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/F-11-copy.jpg?resize=48%2C48&;ssl=1 48w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/F-11-copy.jpg?resize=96%2C96&;ssl=1 96w" sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" /></a></div><div class="meta"><div class="byline byline-2 byline-cats-design-4"><div class="byline-part cats"><a href="https://thepapernerd.com/category/funny-papers/" style="color:#b79b0d" class="cat">Funny Papers</a></div></div><div class="title-wrap"><h3 class="title"><a href="https://thepapernerd.com/umlaut-brooklyn/">Ümlaut Brooklyn</a></h3></div><div class="byline byline-3"><span class="byline-part date"><i class="tipi-i-calendar" aria-hidden="true"></i> <time class="entry-date published dateCreated flipboard-date" datetime="2016-06-17T14:15:14+00:00">June 17, 2016</time></span><span class="byline-part likes-count"><a href="#" class="tipi-like-count " data-pid="15125"><span class="likes-heart"><i class="tipi-i-heart-o" aria-hidden="true"></i><i class="tipi-i-heart" aria-hidden="true"></i></span><span class="tipi-value">0</span></a></span></div></div></div></article></div></div></div></div></div></tipimidc>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2132" alt="cant thank you enough.4 wide" src="http://thepaperchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/cant-thank-you-enough.4-wide.jpg" width="288" height="371" /> <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2133" alt="clown nightmares cake.4 wide" src="http://thepaperchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/clown-nightmares-cake.4-wide.jpg" width="288" height="373" /> <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2134" alt="raise the roof.4 wide" src="http://thepaperchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/raise-the-roof.4-wide.jpg" width="288" height="368" /> <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2135" alt="snowflake brighter.4 wide" src="http://thepaperchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/snowflake-brighter.4-wide.jpg" width="288" height="365" /></p>


Friday Funnies: Zeichen Press
