Volta Press

I have not been to their shop yet, I know Laureen and John (and Volta Press) through a class at the San Francisco Art Institute.
This I can tell you…
They are very warm, down-​to-​earth artists. They balanced the class with a nice mix of printing history, technical training and hands-​on experimentation. Every step of the way, I could tell that they knew well beyond the questions I was asking. Instead of talking over my head, they explained technical jargon in an accessible way. And they walked me through various printing options and strategies so I felt like I was in control without feeling overwhelmed.
Laureen & John make a great team! Each one was willing to admit if the other was more of the expert in one particular area, and combined, their efforts resulted in me walking away with a letterpress project I’ll be happy with for years!
–David

Volta Press is the best! We had them design and print our wedding stationary (save-​the-​dates, invites, etc.) and they did an absolutely beautiful job. We’ve gotten so many compliments on our invites! They are incredibly nice people and are great at figuring out exactly what you want and responding to feedback. Design-​wise, I think their portfolio speaks for itself. Highly recommended!

There are so many good things to say about Volta Press that I don’t know where to start:
1) Super Friendly service, we made SO many changes to our invitations and John and Laureen were always willing to take care of all of them.
2) Our wedding invitations came out beautifully! The letterpress gave them such a quaint and personal touch that we were so happy that we went with Volta
3) They are awesome people! Seriously, John and Laureen are so first-​rate, you’d be crazy not to go to them!

My wife has the letterpress card I bought from Volta propped up on her night table weeks after I gave it to her.

I thought letterpress invitations would be far outside of our budget, but after getting the pricing from Lorraine, we realized it wasn’t too much of a difference to get customized invitations from Volta Press versus stock digital invitations from some of the bigger companies.
Lorraine was terrific to work with. She did three mock-​ups for us based on a meeting that we had, and was very responsive in tweaking the design that we chose until we were happy with it. I thought the turnaround from final mockup to print (3 weeks) was very reasonable. I got to try printing a few of my invitations when she started the process, so I really came to appreciate how labor intensive a 2-​color invitation can be.
We got a 2-​color invitation, and a one-​color double sided postcard. We printed on the 450gsm cotton paper. The one thing I might do differently is use the lighterweight paper for the postcard — because the thicker paper was getting a little bit shredded in the mail.
Even after our invitations were done, Lorraine was very accommodating about creating graphics for other stationery for our wedding — like program covers, or seals for our envelopes, even though we were going to do the printing ourselves to save costs. I just really liked working with her and thought the product turned out great. I’ll try to remember to post photos soon.

When it came to wedding invitations, Ben and I had only a vague idea of what we wanted. Luckily, I’ve known Laureen for long enough to know that she would be able to take that notion and turn it into something brilliant. And, as expected, Volta Press did not disappoint! Before we knew it, Laureen had created several different designs for us to choose from. She offered detailed suggestions on materials (paper, ink) and came up with very unique packaging ideas. We were dumbfounded by the options, but Laureen helped us choose the perfect design.
The finished product was truly more beautiful than we imagined. We were absolutely delighted and couldn’t wait to send them out into the world! Volta Press clearly puts a great deal of care into the quality of their work and this did not go unnoticed by our guests. I couldn’t count the number of people who complimented us on them. I’m posting a picture so you can see for yourself.
Mind you, Volta Press did all this work for us before they even had a studio to call home. I think that speaks volumes to their passion for the business and dedication to getting it off the ground. Kudos to Laureen and John for following their letterpress dreams!

We used Volta Press for our wedding invites. We took our design and concept to them and they executed the most beautiful invites we could have ever imagined.
They were extremely easy to work with. We waited til the last minute to print, but they hammered them out as quick as possible and delivered them to us exactly on time! We even used thin wood (which was a bit of an experiment) and it worked perfectly!
I have also posted some pics to demonstrate.
I will definitley be using them again… next on the list… thank you cards.
Thank you so much for your amazing work, Volta!!!

Laureen and John are true professionals. After ten years of working with print and design vendors I feel confident giving them Unilocal’s top score. Fast, excellent services. Originality is unparalleled. They created the design for our wedding invitations, as well as the table numbers and menus. Everything turned out better than we could have dreamed. Hanging out over at Volta Press you get a sense of the true artistic talent the both of them possess. If you’re looking to create a simple letter-​pressed piece, or something really special — something really creative — send it to Volta. They can take it.

John and Laureen at Volta Press are the best. I’ve frequently called on them for design services for my business and I’ve always been amazed with the results.
They also make gorgeous letter-​pressed business cards and wedding/​event invitations. Plus they do super-​awesome handmade books, photo albums, and cards which make fantastic gifts.
And on top of all that, they are just the sweetest people you will ever meet.
Ten thumbs up!

When they first opened, Volta printed my wedding invitations, which included a custom-​made ink color that they created from a fabric sample I brought in. Owners John and Laureen were professional and personable; they took the time to find out what I really wanted and made it happen. I love their innovative designs. I trust their impeccable taste as designers and printers. If I were allowed only a handful of words to describe Volta press, these would be the ones: simple, elegant, unique.
Volta Press is my favorite letterpress shop. I even subscribe to the literary journal they publish, Beeswax Magazine.

Volta Press is my go-​to letterpress studio for all my design needs! I’m a local graphic designer and went to them with a design for wedding invitations and they took the design and package to the next level. I found them incredibly professional, warm and extremely willing to work within my client’s budget. I can’t recommend them highly enough.
If you are looking to have something (anything) letterpressed, they will do an excellent, beautiful job, that will far exceed your expectations, meeting whatever your budget is.

I cannot say enough good things about Volta Press. They made printing our wedding invitations into a seriously magical experience.
We visited their beautiful studio with a vague notion of what we wanted to do — more of a concept than anything else — and within 20 minutes Laureen had sketched a beautiful layout. Not only had she made our invitation real — we walked out of Volta with a sense that our wedding was finally becoming real as well. We didn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day.
That studio sketch did not do justice to the design that was to follow. I’m adding a picture here so you can see it but she took our idea and brought that simple line sketch to life. We went through a couple of iterations to get the imagery just right and our feedback was immediately heard and incorporated. But as beautiful as the invites looked on the screen, we were not prepared for the delight of the beautifully wrapped packets containing the final print. They were well packed and delivered exactly on time.
They went out last week and people have been BLOWING UP our phones and emails telling us that these are some of the most beautiful and unique invitations they’ve ever seen.
We could not possibly be happier. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Volta Press.