Midwest Ephemera just started its third year as an official Illinois business entity, so it seems like a good time for an update.
Things are good! For the time being, MWE remains a “side hustle” but that was the plan all along, to grow it slowly as we accumulate experience and equipment. We’re not printing as much as we’d like, but our time on press is limited only by our schedule, not by any lack of excitement, ideas, or opportunity. We’re proud of the work we’ve done in the last few months, and we’ve got lots of great projects lined up, both for ourselves and for clients. Sure, the dream is to take this to some sort of “next level” eventually, but for now we’re enjoying a comfortable ride, on our own terms.
One exciting bit of news: After 18 months of paperwork and waiting, our trademark application for the Spinvite™ name has been approved. A bit of bureaucracy remains to make it official, but the name has been cleared by the USPTO for our record-shaped invitations, gift cards, and gift certificates. We’d love to make more Spinvites™ for (with!) you.
In other great news, our shopmate C’mon Home’s Vandercook 3 proof press is up and running, so we’re getting the hang of that, and excited about doing larger-format work as we continue our search for usable/affordable wood type. And our devil/apprentice M.K. is doing amazing illustration and linocut work, they’re going to be running this place before long.
Keep us in mind for any projects, and remember we’re happy to work on- or off-press. Aside from letterpress printing, we do graphic design, photography, illustration, typesetting, production, print brokering, and pretty much anything related to the graphic arts. And if we can’t find it, we’ll put you in good hands somewhere else. Thanks for being part of our progress!
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