Olive-Route

I’ve known Via for gosh, 8 years. I met her when I started working for Gap. I was a graphic designer and she was a fixture coordinator. She’s sweet, funky, and has always had a great sense of style. I remember her interest in what my group was doing and her need to push herself into a creative field. She knew she wasn’t a corporate girl for life and left Gap to go back to school.

Once she found herself in the graphic arts industry she knew she was where she needed to be. The only thing that designing didn’t fulfill was her love of hand crafting things. When she apprenticed with a print shop a few years back, she discovered a wonderful relationship. The thrill of designing and then printing her own work. Although Via is modern and hip she has a distinct vintage quality about her and this manifested in her printing as well. She didn’t take the typical route of a modern day press, she fell in love with letterpress. The old machines, the placing of each piece of stationary down to be printed upon, mixing your own colors by hand. Every detail she loves.

When someone loves what they do, the way Via does, beauty just spills out of every piece. She does both custom design, which is stunning, as well as printing pieces designed by others. She specializes in wedding invitations and stationary but prints fine art and other items as well.

She recently designed a box to house stationary products for a client and is now marketing these beautiful pieces separately. If you are a writer of letters or a lover of stationary, this box is a must have. The quality is impeccable and it’s beautiful when closed or open.

I’m so excited to have stayed connected with Via all these years and that our paths are crossing in such a creative way. I loved spending time with her in her shop, photographing her work, her studio, Max her dog who’s always with her, and of course, Via. We talked about our work and how we can expand our presence in the community. We laughed at how we’re members of Facebook and how we’re figuring it all out. It was fun because we both work alone so having an afternoon to work and talk to another person was not only inspiring but fun.

Here are some of the shots from the afternoon. I’m going to shoot more details soon so you can see the actual depression from the letterpress. But, for now, I’m in love with these images. I think I captured Via, which is what I had hoped to do.

If you’re ever in need of letterpress and are looking for an incredible eye for detail and an amazing sense of style, Olive-Route is the place to go.