Buddy Monday - Twin Ravens Press

Alright you guys! Here we go with the first Buddy Monday.

I met Kristin of Twin Ravens Press when we both had tables at the first Meet Your Maker show here in Eugene. I remember loving her work right away and how clean and fun her imagery is. It was not until I started following her blog that I found out she also does beautiful business cards, wedding invitations and any other kind of announcement you could possibly want. She is totally awesome and friendly and I'm so happy to have met her and be sharing her to kick off Buddy Monday!


1. Tell us about yourself?

I was raised in the small, mountain town of Wilson, Wyoming and lived there my whole life until I moved to Eugene, Oregon to go to college. I studied photography, graphic design and printmaking at the University of Oregon and knew that I wanted to eventually be an independent or studio artist as a career when I graduated. I spent some time working odd jobs and applying to work in studios outside of Eugene and when my job applications turned up fruitless, I decided to start my letterpress printing and graphic design business, Twin Ravens Press. I continued working my side jobs for a while until at one point I realized I was making more money and enjoying myself more when I was doing my own work than I was working for others. At that point I quit my day job and started running Twin Ravens Press and developing my own work further, full-time.

When I'm not working, I love playing soccer and tennis, roller skating, reading, playing games, gardening, hanging out with my geeky boyfriend, cooking and eating tasty food, hanging out with awesome friends and doing pretty much anything outdoors.


2. What do you make?

I design and print custom wedding invitations, birth announcements, shower invitations, Bar & Bat Mitzvah invitations, menus, programs, business stationery and business cards, greeting cards, letterhead, small hand-bound books, calendars... you name it! I also have a small line of greeting cards, personal stationery, coasters and small gift cards and tags that are available for wholesale and retail sales. All of my work is designed either on paper or in a computer program like Adobe Illustrator, then printed on an antique 1912 Chandler & Price Letterpress. I pride myself on using organic, recycled, and tree-free papers and materials whenever possible, including vegetable-based inks, handmade papers, cotton papers, and recycled and biodegradable packaging.

3. How did you come up with your shop/business/blog name?

Coming up with a name for my business was really difficult actually. I wanted something unique and interesting, and I also wanted it to be non-specific enough to where the name could suit my ever evolving line of products and designs. My boyfriend was really into greek and roman mythology and was reading a lot of books about it when I was trying to figure out my name and he told me this story about two ravens: Hugin and Munin. One of the ravens represented thought and the other represented memory and the story went that they would fly around the world every day and return to the god Odin and tell him what was going on in the world. I really liked this idea and thought about how people use stationery to commemorate important events that turn into memories and how they also use nice paper products to write down their day to day thoughts and the thoughts they share with others. The more I thought about it, the name just sort of fit. 

4. Influences?

There have been a lot of artists and illustrators whom I'm sure have influenced my work over the last several years. A few whom I absolutely love though are:

Jay Ryan of The Bird Machine (http://www.thebirdmachine.com/)

KozynDan (http://www.kozyndan.com/)

Kate Endle (http://www.kateendle.com/)

Nikki McClure (http://www.nikkimcclure.com/)

Jessica Hische (http://jhische.com/index.html)

Among others. I also feel very inspired by the "older generation" of letterpress printers whom I've been fortunate enough to meet and/or stay in touch with. One such gentleman, in particular, my good friend, Bob Giles, has been both incredibly helpful and inspirational.

5. Who would you like to collaborate with?

I feel very fortunate to have gotten to collaborate with several different individuals so far. I work with two amazing calligraphers and illustrators on a regular basis, Fran Heider of Little Flower Calligraphy (www.lilflower.etsy.com) in Dayton, Ohio, and Crystal Kluge of Tart Workshop (www.crystalkluge.com), of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Both of these ladies are amazing to work with and I love their individual styles!

I tend to consider all of the custom work I do a collaboration between myself and the client. I want the work I create for others to really reflect their personality, business and/or event.

Who would I love to work with that I've never worked with before though? Sarah Lomba of S. Jane, Heather Moore of Skinny Laminx (www.skinnylaminx.com), this friend of mine named Amanda Ryznar who owns a pottery company named Yoga Goat (www.yogagoat.etsy.com) and does really amazing designs, Brook & Cory Burnett of Crowerks (www.crowerks.com), Nikki McClure, & Bruce Mau, just to name a few. There are probably dozens of others and many that I haven't even thought of yet. You can learn so much from collaborating with other artists and it's so refreshing, in my opinion! 

6. 5 songs you like to work to?


                    

To see more of Kristin's work you can click on any of the images in this post or visit the Twin Ravens Press blog or shop.