You want it? You got it.

After a customer saw our Alice series at the Stationery Show, she asked if we had a Very Merry Unbirthday card. Nope. But 10 minutes after she left the booth, a new design was borned.

Here comes the reaper.

This latest design is from Asheville artist and long time BBH collaborator, Lisa Nance. It will debut at the National Stationery show in NYC next week.

NSS 2009 Part the 5th: An Outsider's View from the Inside

by Buzz Poole

If you're reading this, that means, presumably, you've read what came before. Brandon's been saying lots of nice stuff about my day job. But he's biased, as am I when it comes to the world of letterpress.

I've known Brandon for a long time. I’ve changed his kid’s diaper, helped start his business, caused mayhem with him, been his press monkey, played peacemaker between he and his belligerent doppleganger, stayed in close contact after we both moved across the country, ballyhooed him and his endeavors whenever the opportunity arises. Such thoughts preoccupied me as I rode a cross-town bus to the Jacob Javits Center to visit Brandon at the National Stationery Show. We've met up in Manhattan this way several times now in the last few years: I arrive to the show a little early, walk the floor with him, drink some beers, watch him close up the booth and then we have a night on the town. But this time new factors were in play. I had work to do. Brandon asked me to guest write for the BBH blog, my job was to report on the show as an outsider. Also, I had a feeling there might be trouble, given some information that Brandon had neglected to mention until the day before we planned to meet.

Though I was curious to see what beautifully mad-capped printed ditties the BBH crew had created for this year’s show, I was unsettled by the news that his brother Tony was back on the scene, and would be meeting us for drinks after the show. Neither Brandon nor I had parted on good terms with Tony when the two of us pulled up anchors and left the Bay Area. You'd think the mythical evil twin is the stuff of terrible television writing, the brothers Mise have a way of making bad fiction an inconceivable reality. It was when Brandon called me up from the show on Sunday to make arrangements for the following day that he broke the news of Tony's return to the States. When I learned that he would be hanging out with us, I had second thoughts about showing up.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"He's gotten better. He's only a dick if you set him off."

"I don't know. You should hang with Tony tomorrow. You and I can meet up on Tuesday."

"He's here all week. He's asked to see you." At that point a customer entered Brandon's booth and he excused himself. "C'ya at 4:30. He'll be good. I promise."

Then the line went dead. I'd been promised this before.

Brandon and I met in the gridded atrium of the Javits Center, Brandon sporting a “MILF Academy” hoodie, griping about Manhattan’s dearth of PBR (a fallacy). Brandon ushered me past security and into the fray, shouting out at sales reps and checking in with letterpress cohorts and other spirits kindred by edgy bawdiness.

Take Olga Krigman of Offensive + Delightful. The company may be out of Los Angeles but the cards read like eavesdropping in some long-gone Hudson River sailor bar. The designs pit vintage images with Oh no you don’t sentiments, saying the things that most of us never say out loud. Have you ever seen a “Congratulations on Your New Pooping Machine!” card? Me neither.



The front of the catalog insists: “I’ve broken lots of bones and even sank a car in a lake once... but deep down inside I’m really very shy.” I don’t believe it.

I was drawn to the Bob’s Your Uncle stand by virtue of the company’s name. I travel to London often and this is one of the most mystifying idioms I’ve encountered. It’s kind of an all purpose “There you go” but to my American ears it always sounds a tad dodgy. Unsurprisingly, the company’s owners are British, though they live in Boston. When we spoke with designer Martin Yeeles he didn’t really elaborate on the company’s name but the website provides the best theory on the origin of the term, which I will forever assume is a historical fact: “Possibly inspired by Victorian Prime Minister, Robert Cecil, who appointed his nephew to a ministerial post, therefore to have Bob as your uncle was a guarantee of success.”



The cards, coasters, luggage tags and abecedaries comprise clean, sans-serif typography, emboldened by bold colors. They also produce placemats and melamine that feature photographic images of Americana and its signage, the loopy large-scale lettering of the word “motel” serves as a great counterbalance to the other printed matter. Not boring, not offensive, well designed – I’d be hard pressed to think of people that wouldn’t enjoy this stuff.



The most arresting image I encountered while walking the floor with Brandon was this heart by L2 Design Collective. Wow. What awesome screen printing these folks do. From nostalgia chic to wonderful original illustrations and lettering – they even have a “Mad Props” graffiti card – this collective exemplifies contemporary design, with that all important handmade touch.



Lots of other cool purveyors of stationery of course, as well as toys and doodads, like my friends Noted. But the day was winding down and we were out of beer.

Walking off the show floor with Brandon and Kyle to meet Tony in the atrium, the voice inside my head made me wonder why I was being made to engage with the jackass who had once impersonated his brother to frame me for stealing art from a collector's home.

Like a waft of smelling salts the stench of cleaning disinfectant knocked me out of my thoughts. And then I saw Tony, puddled up in the chair by the Jacob Javits statue. He was emanating the smell, incredibly cheap whiskey. Brandon kicked him awake.

"I need more money," were Tony's first words. He looked at me through one eye and slurred. "I remember you." Then his eyes closed again.

Brandon smacked him in the face a few times to wake him up. "Couldn't hold it together for a day . . . a single fucking day?" Passersby turned their heads as Tony woah-woah-woahed and assured us he was cool.

Brandon sighed. "Let's get this picture over with."


We managed to fake an air of normalcy. Tony lost his lunch in front of the statue as Brandon retrieved his camera from the stranger who took our picture. As Tony slumped over to examine what he'd done, Brandon, flushed with embarrasment, snuck Kyle and I through a crowd of folk exiting the lobby and hurried us out to the street. We caught a cab just as Tony appeared and ran after the cab, beating on the window as Brandon and I urged the driver to keep driving. We made our way in awkward silence to Press New York, where the four of us were supposed to have cocktails.

NSS 2009 pt the 4th: My show, it runneth over.

"For me New York will always have the luster and magic of a
Brand New Adventure around every corner..." Jacob Javits,
New York Senator from 1957-1981.

I predicted on this blog not too long ago that this year's NSS was "going to suck hard," and I believed it, but there were some factors in the fucked economy equation I hadn't considered.

When I arrived at the Javits the day before the show to setup, I was shocked at what I'd seen, and was washed over with the feeling that something incredible was about to happen at the Javits Center. What was it that I saw? The number of manufacturers/exhibitors had severely dropped off, what I estimate to be at about 35% less than the usual attendance.


The empty view depicted here was full of exhibitors at NSS 2008. This year, a whole block of real estate was shaved off the entire length of the back end of the Javits Center.


Surtex, an image/licensing show that happens simultaneously with the NSS, used to be on the second floor of the Javits Center. This year, it took up an estimated 20% of the main floor where NSS exhibitors used to reside. Additionally, two full rows on the south end of the show were vacant and hidden by curtains.

This is the smallest the show has been in the four years I've been in attendence. And what does that mean for the exhibitors? I have theories.

1) Crap successfully flushed: I often refer to the Javits floor as a sea of crap--as every dumb ugly and poorly manufactured product imaginable have made certain ailses an unappealing walk to buyers, thus causing harm to those who are doing quality work and hidden in the rubbish. This is the first show I can say that the sea of crap has dried up considerably and it was a very attractive show. My theory is that the economy has made buyers more careful about the products they carry and that those who make inferior product simply couldn't drum up the dough to attend. Good riddance.

2) Less exhibitors = More exposure. One of our best trade shows in BBH history was the Toronto Gift Show, which was about 75% smaller than the Javits shows I've been accustomed to, and its because it was easy to stand out. With a small show, buyers can walk the entire floor in a short amount of time. I have NEVER seen the Javits floor so full of traffic as I did at NSS 2009- and I don't think it had anything to do with how many buyers were in attendance.

3) Less competition. Alot of my favorite vendors failed to show this year. Buyers come with a spending budget and they have shelves to fill. They had plenty of time to snoop around and figure out what it was they wanted, and then spent their dollars. I think alot of us benefitted from the lack of choices.


Erika Firm of Delphine Press sets up her booth the day before the show.

The exhibitors I talked with about the show came here with low expectations, as did I. We were ready for dissapointments. But the general consensus when it was over was that everyone did alright, considering the circumstances. For me, an okay show is when you've almost broken even, a good show is when you do break even, a great show is when you come away with more than you had hoped for, an excellent show would be if you wrote twice as many orders than you spent on being there. I haven't an excellent show just yet, but we had a great show. In fact, we wrote more orders at that show than in any show to date, and a third of that revenue happened in one crazy flurry on Monday afternoon. Those who do so-so at the shows need to remember that customers that like your work become repeat customers. And some people who snoop out your work wait as long as a year to place their first order. And if you are picking up sales reps, well then that opens a big old barrell of potential cash for years to come. It's not about what you come away with, its what is bound to follow that really counts.


The BBH booth unpacked and ready to be assembled.

I think the primary reason for coming away with some healthy figures was an across the board price hike on our product. We've been tired of breaking even at shows, and have seen colleagues wholesale their single cards at 2.50 for some time now. Our cards were mostly 2.00, some at 2.50, very few at 3. We simplified the formula to a flat 2.50 for everything and it has really made a difference in the last month since the change has happened, we tested an order that totalled $1000 using our new pricing structure and found it made us close to an extra $200. We also had shifted our minimums to dozens last August, and it immediately had positive effects on our sales.


An important part of these shows is meeting and chatting with the folks you've known for years but never really get to see. David Kidwell of Crane's Paper, who has a strong presence on the letterpress listserv, arrived in our booth at almost the exact same moment as Kathryn Hunter of Blackbird Letterpress and Alison Bozeman of Birddog Press came to say hello.

Three pairs of wings.

Aside from a very nice string of orders, we have regained representation in the Oregon territory, have an interested lead for an OH + PA rep, and most importantly, and most exciting, is that we've finally cracked the UK market with a very distinguished UK distributor--who we've been flirting with since our first NSS in 2006. On the last day of NSS 2009 we finally shook hands-- international distribution is a whole different ball game, the distributor has to eat big duty and shipping costs, and so goes half price on wholesale, which wouldn't have been feasible given our old prices, but now seems like a worthwhile endeavor. I said I'd do it with the right quantities, and took the bait when he said he'd do a minimum of 50 dozens per style, and if I treat this gig as custom work, making stuff to order, it's very worth our while. BBH will be represented in a show in London called Pulse, which happens in two weeks. I'm very curious to see how that plays out.


Barry, my favorite Bartender in NYC, hails a crowd of adoring drinkers.
We were introduced to him via Spitfire Girl last January and my liver hasn't been angrier at me since. He tends bar at our new Javits dive of choice, The Hudson Yards Cafe, which is a mere block from the show.

I've very little else to say about the show in general. We set up our booth late in the day, and were having drinks at the Hudson Yards by 9 pm. Barry, who will drink right along with you at the bar, kept us entertained until 2 am, after which point the bar emptied of everyone but Kyle and I, and at which point free liquor drinks were passed across the bar and shots were poured for BBHers and staff alike. Next thing I know, I'm awake in my bed 2.5 hours after the show was supposed to start, with no recollection as to how I made it to my hotel. We beat our record for late arrival to a show, waltzing in 3.5 hours after it had started. A hell of a way to start the week.

I had come to the show swearing up and down to myself that I would not spend money at the show for the retail section of our studio this time around, as we have alot of heavy investments being made in beefing up our equipment this year, and we've run out of room to display product. But of course I caved. Only for a select few.

Up next in the NSS report, a feature on who I bought from this year, plus a guest blog on the NSS from my long time pal and one of the original conspirators of BBH, Buzz Poole.


A small collection of manufacturers gather post NSS at the Javits Statue.
L to R: Sabrina Moyle (Hello Lucky,) John Arquette (Delphine,) Mike Foley (Random Cookie,) Brandon (BBH,) Kyle Durrie (Power & Light) Martin & Michelle Yeeles (Bob's Your Uncle,) Ken & Shino (Fugu Fugu)

NSS2009 Part the the 3rd: All the shite that happened between the last time I blogged and this morning.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Here we go.

I leave for NYC for the NSS tomorrow afternoon, and as is BBH tradition, I am suddenly out of my gourd making last minute designs after having goofed off/procrastinated for the last month and a half. Here's what we churned out today, negative arrives in an hour and we get printing. All of these captions are by Tyler Dockery but the last one. Someone had written the caption on the image and I have yet to figure out who it was.

2009 National Stationery Show Pt 2: Repping the Alumnus

BBH alumnus Kyle Durrie takes aim at a baby zebra.

In January I had secretly flown former BBH apprentice and employee Kyle Durrie from Portland to NYC to play a practical joke on BBH shop manager Sarah McDonald at the Winter NYIGF. It was a reunion of sorts, as we had done the last ever Toronto Gift Show together as a trio, and had a smoking good time.


Brandon, Kyle, and Sarah at Niagra Falls on the Canadian Side

The results at the NYIGF were similar, as this photo set of a night with Spitfire Girl will demonstrate. The long evening of debauchery ended very abrubtly. Kristin (the Spitfire Girl) and Sarah were doing cartwheels in the hotel hallway while screaming with hysterical laughter. They came back to the room with a very large and empty Star Wars toy box that had mysteriously appeared. Sarah put the box on her head. Kristin took a swing at Sarah's boxed head and sent her flying into the headboard. Seconds later there was a knock on the door and an armed security guard informed us that there were dozens of calls about the noise and the next call they got would result in us being kicked out of the New Yorker. Kristin's fiance Jason escorted Kristin out as if this was something he was used to.


The following morning I found a destroyed ironing board on the floor. "What the hell happened to the ironing board?" I asked. Photos later revealed that I had destroyed it while trying to demontrate how a proposed photo of Kyle being ironed should look.



This card by Kyle's young letterpress outfit makes me insanely jealous.

During Kyle's visit to the Winter NYIGF she frequented "The Arm" to work on her own line of letterpress greeting cards-- when the show was over, and we were chilling at my mother's crib, she showed Sarah and I what she was working on. Kyle had designed several cards for BBH and they are all favorites of mine-- when I saw her most recent work my jaw dropped to the floor. Clearly she was on the road to her own success.

A couple of BBH products by Kyle Durrie



She and I schemed about things over the following months, and this is what we came up with: She would work the booth at the upcoming Stationery Show for free in exchange for booth real estate to hock her wares, I would take a sales rep percentage of her sales, but would take payment in trade for her cards to sell at Blue Barnhouse. Win win win win win.



I'm pretty excited to have her along at the show, especially because I ain't paying her jack!

In all seriousness I'm really proud how far she's come along, we taught her pretty much every aspect of the BBH business model and my hopes are she'll have an easier time rising to the big leagues than we did. The name of her press is Power and Light, located in Portland, Oregon. You can check out some of her work on her etsy store. The store is currently scarce of product but I know she's working her tail off at the moment, and we should see an impressive line of products in her store in the coming weeks. You can also check out her blog here.

Stationery Show Ahoy!

Sarah knocking out some reprints.

For the first time in BBH history I am slacking off before a show. My Hot GF was in town for a month and we've been hanging out/figuring out what it's gonna look like when she gets here this summer. And since the day before she left, I've been sick, in bed, watching an endless barage of Battle Star Galactica. My official first day back was midday tuesday. The January NYIGF was slack enough that new product is not a top priority. I was gonna print some T-shirts myself, but after what Fritz Klinke of NA Graphics dubbed "the Bluebarnhouse economic stimulus package," that same day I decided to hire a friend to make prototypes of 14 different T-shirt designs in time for the Stationery show two Sundays from today (and bought an iPhone that same day). Yes, we make money. But then we immediately spend it on new endeavors.


F-hizzle screens a call.

We printed like 100 new designs since NYIGF August so I'm not sweating too hard about cranking out anything new, though we finally knocked out the colonoscopy card. That might be a good one for Fritz. I'm more worried about being prepared, as more than 20 styles are awaiting reprints currently, and more than 50% are in a 2nd reprint status and requiring larger, more expensive runs. But there are a few new ones coming out, because it is the BBH tradition, but late nights and stressful leave conditions are not in order this time around. The idea is whatever happens, is what will happen. Everything is waiting for us in NY already. Having a booth stored up in NYC is a huge stress relief, as we can just fly in this year, as opposed to the original ordeal of packing up a trailer driving up all day before setup.


Emily reprints Daddy Come Home.

What else. We got pirate wood postcards now. Again, I am paying an assload to someone else to make new product, which is a new thing but I know I can sling them like candy. I really like these cards and figure our audience will too, so I talked to Kristin Sekula of Spitfire Girl fame about buying these cards I designed for her enmasse at a lower rate than what she normally sells them at and reselling them through our own market. They will have her name and manufacturing on it, our sense of humor and design aesthetic. I got a sample before they went to print. They look amazing.


1 of 6 wooden postcards printed in the pirate tradition.

I've said it before that I don't expect much from the NSS this year. And usually when I don't expect too much I get blindsided-- my hope is that the lack of competiton at the shows will bode very well for us this year. More to report on this subject on the Manhattan side here in a week and a half.


Cranking it out the BBH way. All 3 pressses going all day long.