Midwest Ephemera LLC is a Chicago-based studio led by graphic designer, photographer, and letterpress printer Bryan Bedell, along with his family.
Bryan is best known for his longtime (and continuing) design work at Field Notes Brand. Read more about Bryan and his work at bryanbedell.com
Contact Us:
Email midwestephemera@gmail.com
Call 312-218-7079
The shop:
Midwest Ephemera
5610 W. Bloomingdale Ave. #41
Chicago, IL 60639-4113
Open by appointment only.
If you have a scheduled meeting, please call or text from the front door when you arrive. Street parking is usually plentiful, please do not park in the lot.
Mail/Packages:
Midwest Ephemera
6917 W. Shakespeare Ave.
Chicago, IL 60707
Our Philosopy:
We’re mechanics, not artists.
Creativity and craftsmanship are essential to any vocation, but design is not a matter of personal expression or ornamentation. Design is problem-solving, and a designer’s job is to expertly and efficiently convey a message.
Design is a team effort. The quality of the end result is a product of the collaborative process. The team includes clients, designers, writers, photographers, illustrators, printers, and end-users. Everyone involved must respect the others, and expect the same respect in return. The process should be as exciting as the result, and rewarding for everyone, no matter how big or small the project.
Midwest Ephemera excels at getting maximum impact for your budget; not by cutting corners, but by making creative use of what’s available.
We strive to work ethically and responsibly, and to consider our impact, privilege, and role in the community.
If we make a mistake, we accept accountability, learn from it, and don’t make it again.
We’re not looking to take over the world, we wouldn’t even know what to do with it. We simply want to make quality printed materials for good people.
Our services:
Graphic Design: We’ve been designing for print for over 40 years. Logos, ’zines, invitations, manifestos, ads, flyers, posters, stationery, products, packaging, you name it, we love making it.
Letterpress Printing: Printing should never be an afterthought, design is nothing without quality printing and materials. While we’ve only been running a press for a few years now, we’ve been working closely with America’s best printers for decades. Our strength is our familiarity with printing, binding, and production methods and materials, far beyond the experience of most designers.
Record and Jukebox Ephemera: Following a lifetime of record collecting, and a more recent interest in jukeboxes, we started making reproduction jukebox lettering kits in 2020 and are continuing to develop exciting tools, gifts, and accessories for jukebox aficionados, record collectors, DJs, musicians, and music fans. We’d especially love to design and print your album cover, or simply talk to you about album covers, at great length.
Photography: We can photograph just about anything — people or products, in-studio or on location, strobes or natural light, still or motion, B&W or color, digital or analog…
Other services: We’ve picked up a lot of other skills over the years. We can write, edit, and proofread. We can manage projects and production (we offer our letterpress printing when appropriate, but we’re also uniquely qualified to work with other printers to get the results you need). We can illustrate a bit, especially technical and mechanical drawings. We’re handy with a wrench, and not afraid to get our hands dirty. We’re often described as “useful,” and we think that’s just about the nicest thing you could say about someone.
Please allow us to show you what we can do!
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