DESCRIPTION FAME Open House Party Materials CLIENT Self-promotion DATE March 2009 DESIGN CREDITS FAME Creative Director: Bruce Edwards Design Director: Eric Weiss Designer/Illustrator: Sam Soulek Copywriter: Chris Yocum PRINT CREDITS Letterpress Invitations and Envelopes: Studio OnFire Matchbooks, Coasters: For Your Party Keg Cups: Riptide TYPE CREDITS Agincourt (Fontek), Leviathan (H&FJ), Stanzie (Jukebox), Bernhard Condensed (Linotype), Fling Plain (Linotype), Copperplate Gothic (Linotype), Archer (H&FJ), Knockout (H&FJ), Bryant Pro (Process Type Foundry)

QUANTITY PRODUCED 500 PRODUCTION COST $2,700 PRODUCTION TIME 10 Days DIMENSIONS: WIDTH × HEIGHT × DEPTH Invitations: 5.75 in × 9.25 in A10 Envelopes PRINT METHOD Letterpress (Heidelberg 13 × 18 Windmill and Vandercook Universal III) PAPER STOCK Invitation: Ahlstrom Blotter, 60 pt A10 Envelopes: French Speckletone Brown NUMBER OF COLORS 2 Spot

Note: The details above are only for the invitation and envelopes.

For 2009’s annual Open House party at Minneapolis-based FAME, a retail brand agency, the team decided on a “dive bar” theme that informed all the materials, from invitations to party accouterments. They created a fake identity for a fake bar, called FAME: Branding Bar & Liquor Lounge, that is actually pretty cool for any entrepreneur looking to open a bar called FAME. Sam Soulek, a designer at FAME, explains:

Being that it was a particularly good year for FAME but not the industry overall, we tried to restrain our print spending in the spirit of sensitivity. The bar kit elements were produced using economical online printing services that surprisingly did a great job for the price. The promo poster, table tents, and nametags were produced in-house. But when it came to the invite itself, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to work with our favorite letterpress printer, Studio OnFire. This was the real crowning achievement of the party. The double card invitation was send out in a rich brown envelope letterpressed in gold, advertising the event as a bar opening, complete with dive bar bingo and a meat raffle.

The invitation generated more buzz than any previous agency promotion and resulted in over 500 RSVP’s, ranging from current clients, potential clients, industry peers, vendors, and friends.

Meanwhile Studio on Fire chimes in with some advice for aspiring coaster-printers:

The blotter paper gives that thick coaster feel to the whole invite card and does take a nice impression. However, this is a notably difficult stock to print. Blotter stock has a textural and loose surface. Our joke is that it is basically like trying to run a rabbit through the press because it leaves so much fuzz and fiber behind in the press. The presses needs several wash ups during the run.

It’s really amazing to see what a simple color palette paired with a strong idea can do.