Startups and Serendipity (Pt. 2): Igloo Letterpress

Igloo Letterpress' special "Blogger Night" highlighted the creative
capabilities of this Worthington-based printing business to attendees.

For Part 1 of this post, please click on this link.

Part 1 of my post briefly touched on our dabblings in Columbus-area crowdfunding, and our experience with The Commissary, a food-focused incubator that we happily supported during their efforts to get off the ground.

Part 2 touches on another previously blogged-about businesss with an ongoing crowdfunding campaign to help it move to a bigger location, with just a little hint of serendipity thrown in to boot.

My previous post on Worthington's Igloo Letterpress, a true favorite of both myself and my spouse, came by happenstance on the day before their announcement that they were taking over a larger space just a half-block up from their current location. Since that day, Igloo has also decided to utilize the crowdfunding option to help fund the move, launching a Kickstarter campaign to not only assist in the actual moving process, but also to optimize their increased operating space.

My spouse and I have taken advantage of some of Igloo's open-to-the-public events in the past, so were understandably thrilled when Igloo Invited us to attend last week's Bloggers Night at their current work space on West New England Avenue to help get the word out to folks.

You don't have to be a blogger to appreciate the Igloo's tools of
its trade, nor realize how their limited work space presents
unique challenges to both employees and customers during
an evening of numerous interactive experiences.

I had written in my previous blog post that Igloo's current work space as having a "certain chaotic organization that you better appreciate as you watch the employees perform their duties." This came out in more stark relief during this night of numerous letterpress-related activities and demonstrations. Viewing the dozen-or-so invited guests and gathered staff in combination with Igloo's equipment and other tools of the trade from afar, I got a picture of the machinations that might have to take place trying to combine production work and a scheduled class at the same time.

This vision was elaborated upon in a delightful conversation I had with Igloo's Studio Director Beth Dekker. She explained that their letterpress' business, community interaction and education goals come into conflict more frequently than desired due to this lack of space. She added that that utilizing certain pieces of equipment for one purpose by default shuts down use of that machine for other uses; there had been times when Igloo's capacity is maxed out to the point where potential production jobs and/or chances for community interaction events simply have to be refused.

This event highlighted one of Igloo's most engaging aspects: giving the public an opportunity to exercise their creative side in a truly hands-on manner. For the invited this night, these activities ranged from the very simple (picking out the font type to print our note cards) to the kinesthetic (operating the actual machine to print said cards), and was not restricted to a single activity (along with the note cards, we walked away with a mini hand-bound notebook and a set of printed cardboard coasters.)

The long hand note is always preferable, especially if you're
using Igloo's whimsical printed creations.

Simply viewing Igloo's finished products allows you to appreciate the creativity and quality of work coming from this business, from the uniquely witty and whimsical designs of their greeting cards, to the unique poster-sized materials (a Worthington street map produced from a restored wood print block dating back between 1950 to 1960) and everything in-between. The Snow House, their current gift shop, is a favorite place of my spouse and I to drop by, especially when the Worthington Farmers Market is in their outdoor season.

Overall, this night was incredibly enjoyable, from all the various activities to the interactions with Igloo staff and the opportunity to meet many fellow bloggers who I have discovered during my Internet travels in person for the first time ever (I most certainly hope this is not the last time either.)

Moreover, I would like to re-emphasize the little gem that the Columbus area has in Igloo Letterpress. As you grow up, you get to learn that life isn't terribly fair at times: a combination of unfortunate circumstances and/or just sheer dumb luck has derailed numerous high-quality and truly worthy endeavors throughout the years. Often times, little can be done by the customers or beneficiaries of those endeavors when they cease their operations.

Igloo Letterpress owner Allison Chapman demonstrates the
capabilities of a Heidelberg printing press machine. Special movers
will have to be hired to transport the equipment to its new digs.

Sometimes, the opposite happens: a little serendipity allows a quality venture to grow. Dekker related to me a story that night about how Igloo Letterpress' owner Allison Chapman was struggling to balance the business and production aspects of her fledgling business. Meanwhile, Dekker's employment had just ended, and she was simply trying to land somewhere where her skills could prove useful. Despite having no real letterpress experience, Dekker sent an inquiry e-mail to Chapman touting her skills.

During a particularly rough stretch, and in realization that she truly needed help to handle the business side of her venture, Chapman decided to scope her e-mail (a task which she increasingly had less and less time for) for a possible solution.

Guess whose e-mail was listed first?

Serendipity is a good thing. In Igloo's case, it helped bring Chapman and her letterpress equipment to the Columbus area in the first place, helped in matching up Dekker and Chapman, and now has given them an opportunity to reach their optimal potential just a mere half-block away from their current location. Perhaps the serendipitous cherry on top of this fun evening was Chapman returning from a city of Worthington meeting with approval for Igloo's new storefront.

Igloo's current Kickstarter campaign not only helps out with the moving process, but would allow the addition of extra printing press and related studio that would allow Igloo to teach classes and host public projects. The space would also be available for private rental as well. This additional space would allow Igloo to host these services without adversely affecting their mainline production, as is the case currently. In addition, the gift shop would be centrally located with the business, with the current Snow House Gift Shop going back onto the residential market.

For me and my spouse, knowing that we can help out Igloo Letterpress reach their ultimate potential through their current Kickstarter campaign is a little serendipity for us in its own right.

If you would like to help out Igloo Letterpress with its move, please check out their Kickstarter Campaign page. Numerous unique rewards are available for those willing to contribute to the cause. The campaign runs until Friday, April 10, at 6 PM EDT.

Igloo Letterpress/Snow House Gift Shop
39 West New England Ave
Worthington, OH 43085
(614) 787-5528
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Font and Center: Igloo Letterpress

Igloo Letterpress is a gem of a business nestled in Olde Worthington

Like many others, doodling was a constant companion throughout my years as a student. My doodling subjects depended a lot on my whims at the time, but something I would always come back to was letter fonts. Whether it was hand re-creating those that I saw and liked (Prince's "Purple Rain" album font was a favorite) or trying to design a personalized font I could call my own, I could at least pass myself off as looking engaged with the class lesson of the day.

Once I had moved to Columbus, I occasionally spied some gloriously old-time fonts and graphics on what appeared to be letterpress produced media on signs and products for sale at local businesses such as German Village's Pistacia Vera, Easton-located Celebrate Local and Worthington's Sassafras Bakery, among others. Eventually I figured out they were produced by a company in Worthington with a rather colorful name and an interesting story behind it.

Igloo Letterpress was founded by owner Allison Chapman in her home back in Minnesota in 1996. When her husband landed a job in the Columbus area and they made their subsequent relocation to Ohio, Chapman found that relocating her letterpress business was something of a challenge. She needed a building that not only had enough space to handle their large work tables and drawers of type, but also handle her over 13,000 pounds of letterpress equipment, including her grandfather's 1892 clamshell press.

Eventually the building in Olde Worthington that would become their current location came available, and Igloo formally opened their doors here in 2009. Since then, the business has continued to prosper, garnering raves from their clients and customers as well as well-earned recognition for the business and Chapman herself, including her inclusion as one of the Eight Badass Columbus Female Founders You Should Know by Amy Taylor of writehuman.com.

The Snow House Gift Shop has all of Igloo Letterpress' retail
products as well as the work of other local artisans

The Igloo Letterpress property covers two buildings. The Snow House, acquired by Igloo and re-opened as their gift shop in September 2013, contains all manner of Igloo Letterpress' retail products as well as a collection of arts and crafts from numerous local artisans. Often time my spouse and I have simply dropped by to browse through the shop, especially in concert with a visit to the Worthington Farmers Market; almost everything within these walls has a high level of visual pull. In a way, it's like window shopping without a window between you and your eyes.

But even more satisfying is in the purchasing, especially anything that has been run through their letter press or book binding machines. For example, the tactile feel of the indented letters and graphics, the simple yet clever greetings, bright vibrant designs and colors and bold typeface fonts that are characteristic of Igloo's greeting cards (which cover just about every occasion you care to imagine) make their mass-produced competition sterile and lifeless by comparison.

The heart of Igloo Letterpress is their studio space.

I believe you even gain more appreciation of their finished products when you venture inside Igloo's main production building. Cozily charming on the outside, the building interior has a certain chaotic organization that you better appreciate as you watch the employees perform their duties. Everything is hand-produced here at Igloo. From the whir and clank of the presses, to the sight and scent of vibrant inks, the concentration of employees in aligning and arranging the various graphic media, and then surveying their newly printed materials on the side as they dry and await finalization: the whole process is an homage to art form which has now been concentrated around the country into a few select bastions of creativity.

Even better, anyone can participate in this process, via one of their drop-in Saturday Farmers Market or holiday-oriented workshops or scheduled classes, some of which can handle even the younger tykes of this world. Last year's Valentine's Day (a similar event was held just this last weekend) and Christmas-oriented drop-in workshops that my spouse and I participated in proved to be incredibly fun, hands-on experiences. The Valentine's Day workshop especially was a uniquely satisfying tactile experience for me, feeling the weight of the type in my hands and arranging it alongside the graphics blocks such that it not only it actually could run through the press (hint: sharp angles generally do not work so well) but produce a little piece of art of which the creator could be tremendously proud.

Igloo letterpress is a gem of a business that seems destined to keep their tried-and-true machines and and age-honed printing methods and processes running for many more years to come in the Central Ohio region.

Igloo Letterpress/Snow House Gift Shop
39 West New England Ave
Worthington, OH 43085
(614)787-5528
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Update: Things are indeed going well for Igloo Letterpress!  Just today, they announced on their Facebook feed they are moving to a larger space just up the block in from where they currently operate in downtown Worthington.

Post by Igloo Letterpress.