Signature Mix 2014: Trade Show Friends

We’re back in the swing of things after having a booth at Signature Mix at the Javits Center last month. Today, I’d like to introduce you to some of the amazing, talented makers we met at the show.

Above is the Formulary 55 booth, which was one of my favorites, and one of the few that, like ours, didn’t include any paper products. Cordelia’s work is very elegant, and her booth reflected her brand perfectly.

Our neighbor Jen, shown with her friend Garth, showcased her two SF-based companies in one booth — Paper Trail [cards, rubber stamps, and cute office supplies] and Plastique [fun, modern jewelry]:

Ohh Deer‘s booth was very diverse, because the company collaborates with illustrators from all over the world to develop quirky stationery, apparel and accessories:

Mariko of Arlington, VA-based Miks Letterpress Plus offered a line of simple, tech-savvy cards. In a sea of saturated color, her black and white presentation was refreshing:

Julie of Ten Four Paper had a gorgeous, preppy booth for her clever, preppy cards. Check out her booth construction — these walls were pre-printed foam core!

The ladies of Freshie & Zero traveled to NYC from Nashville with dimples and pretty jewelry [check out Freshie’s recap]:

Not to play favorites, but I instantly fell in love with Philly-based Black Heart Letterpress. There’s so much girly, froo-froo stuff at Signature Mix, while Kate and Joseph focus more on the raunchy, smart-ass end of the spectrum. Someone has to, right?

Kristen and Geoff of Cognitive Surplus use tons of science and math references to make “smart gifts for smart people.” I loved their booth and its fun chalkboard walls:

Allison of Ink Meets Paper showcased elegant stationery with lovely details like printed envelope seams and hidden messages:

Kate Funk‘s work is ridiculous, for reals. Her specialty? Costumed cats! She’s based in Milwaukee but travels to Cincinnati every year to work at Crafty Supermarket:

Kyle of Power and Light Press is based in Silver City, NM, where she creates lovely cards, coasters and prints, including a series of US state maps [as a map lover, I have to admit that this trend is getting way tired, but Kyle’s prints cleverly incorporate local icons and lore, which sets them apart from her competition]:

Steam Whistle Letterpress! Brian is actually an Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati neighbor of ours, and it was great to see a familiar face among all the strangers. Plus, his train station-themed booth was sweet:

I’ve admired the work of Chicago’s Starshaped Press for a long time, and it was great to finally see it in person. Plus, what a pretty, well-designed booth:

Austin-based Studio Slomo creates really nice prints, and meeting Sarah was great. We were completely lusting after her wooden walls with scattered petal details:

Signature Mix is actually three shows in one: Gift>It, Creative & Lifestyle Arts and the National Stationery Show, which is the biggest of the three. As you can see from my photos, there were a ton of stationery exhibitors, but a lot of variety among them. We feel lucky to have met so many wonderful people but regret not having had more time to wander around the show. Next time!

If you’re curious, here is some insight into our own booth design and logistics. For a couple of first-timers working within a compressed time frame, we’re really happy with how everything turned out, and we learned a lot that we’ll use next time.

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