Requests come in from all over the world for Eileen Conlisk’s Brooklyn Bridge cards, which the graphic designer decorates with everything from hearts to snowflakes, depending on the season. Photo: Design Parlour
Each month in our Meet Your Makers series, we explore the back story of covetable, functional home goods and fashion, from a marble piggy bank to grass-fed bags. This month brings together three designers who can brighten your holiday greetings with unique handmade cards, and in one case, an app that allows you to design any type of printed material, be it gift tags for your presents or labels for your home brew.
Design Parlour cards begin as pen-and-ink drawings from the sketchbook of Greenpoint graphic designer Eileen Conlisk, then veer in a few directions, from the unexpected (troll dolls with flaming red and green hair above a “Merry Christmas” greeting) to the punny (“You’re Just My Type” below a typewriter) to the iconic, like her series of Brooklyn Bridge prints sprinkled with snowflakes for a wintry feel. “People all over the country buy those Brooklyn Bridge cards,” she says. No matter where it’s going, all her cards are made locally and printed on 100% recycled paper. Read more about her work here»
Based in DUMBO, Sesame Letterpress is run by Breck Hostetter, whose 19th century presses are both the means of production and the inspiration for her letterpress cards, invitations and printed curiosities. She works Victorian imagery into all of her designs, like a hot pink bookmark shaped like an ornate hairpin, or a holiday card of a classic-looking tree ornament with a miniature cityscape of New York inside it. “Holiday cards happen to be a little tricky. There’s a lot of bright, funny things out there, and there’s a lot of kind of classic, gilded things, but we really wanted to do a collection that was timeless and really beautiful. We went with fine, fine detail to make them special cards,” says Hotstetter. Learn more about her designs here»
Even on their own, Makr’s templates are as well put together and composed as any card stock you could find at a store, but the fun begins when you start creating custom touches of your own.
Makr is a brand-new app that democratizes the graphic design process, allowing you to alter readymade designs on your iPad for almost any use, from holiday cards to business cards to labels for your homemade pickles, and then print them at home or professionally. Says Ellen Johnston, the lead designer of the Makr team, which is based at The Yard in Williamsburg, “I’ve been using Photoshop, InDesign and [Adobe] Illustrator for over 15 years and to do something quickly and easily, and then to get it printed, is hard.” Makr, on the other hand, makes it easy. See all the things you can create with the app here»
