About

We are a small design studio and letterpress print shop located in Orange County, California and we offer a range of custom-designed products from wedding suites, birthday invitations, announcements, stationery, greeting cards, business cards.. you name it!  We specialize in working closely with our clients to get a feel for their personal style and preferences so that we can create a truly unique design tailored to their needs.

What is letterpress? Letterpress printing is an old printing technique invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century that involves printing designs while simultaneously debossing the design into thick, soft paper.  Imagine taking a stamp and pressing it into soft paper, creating a deep, tactile impression.  Back in the day, this relief printing of text and image involved moveable type, linoleum blocks, wood engravings, etc.  and was how books, newspaper, and other printed material were mass produced.  Today, technology allows us to easily customize designs on photopolymer plates and create a relief printing surface from digitally-rendered art, producing district designs with a history all its own.

The Paper Mint Press History

The Paper Mint Press was launched in March of 2011 by founder Kathleen Bantad.  Kathleen is a graphic designer who loved to create custom invitations for family and friends throughout her college years.  As she continued to research and be inspired by other invitation companies, she noticed a growing popularity and resurgence of letterpress printing within the industry.  Her curiosity for letterpress printing brought her to take classes at the International Printing Museum, where she quickly realized how much she enjoyed printing on the vintage presses and how much she valued the fine craftsmanship it requires.  Her main focus is designing personalized invitations/stationery for her clients.

Emil Nguyen, illustrator/children’s book author, is the other man behind the press.  Emil took the same classes with Kathleen and deeply appreciated the printing process and techniques behind letterpress.  He works meticulously to ensure that each print is perfect.

The Presses

We currently house a Golding Pearl No. 3 Level Power Pearl Press that dates back to about 1874.  We don’t print on her too often, but she’s a beauty to look at and does great printing small runs. We are also in the process of restoring a 10×15 Chandler & Price platen press. In the meantime, we love to print on an 8×12 Chandler & Price platen press and Vandercook cylinder presses.