Madison design firm, Swink, created this groovy direct mail piece to invite clients to reconsider the way they market themselves. Swink hopes that their campfire will spark some good conversation and if you drop them a line, who knows, maybe they’ll even bring the marshmallows. And although they live over the border, we also have to give props to Midwest letterpress team, Studio on Fire who executed this pop-out piece. It was a 3/2 PMS letterpress job plus laser cutting – also notice the overprint of blue and orange to create the brown – brilliant!

The Little Friends of Printmaking, a husband and wife team living and working in Milwaukee, run this well-known silkscreen company and are becoming a lot more than “little” these days. Their work is best known for their clever layering and loose process, which can be seen in this “Visit Milwaukee” print. Visit their online store to see the entire “Baddies” series and this new print called “Core 77/ACD”, made for the NYC design conference. With enough traffic, maybe this team will consider updating the rest of their website… but who needs a website when you have a blog?!

Stop hiding those little stickers from your afternoon snack under your desk. Instead, hang this clever poster in your office and keep track of your daily fruit intake. Vik, the brains behind this design, suggests a variety of apples such as a Belle De Boskoop, Newtown Pippin, Peasgood Nonsuch, or Turley Winesap. Who knew there were so many apples available with such interesting names and stickers? This large letterpress poster (18×23) is run in two colors (Pantone 7532U and a light varnish) on substantial Strathmore 130# cover stock. Purchase Vik’s poster here and see this Wisconsinite’s work at v-i-k.com. Chiquita bananas will be so jealous!

Don’t you love receiving a beautiful piece of mail? One with a well thought out label design or colorful envelope? Julie at Bohtieque Design agrees and puts a lot of thought into her custom address labels. Working from her home studio in Black River Falls, Julie suggests using her labels to customize your stationery, packages, gifts and book tags. Most sets include one sheet of 30 self-adhesive labels, starting around just $5.50. See all of her work at 1000 Markets, Etsy and Bohtieque.com.