Piccolo Press

An Invitation to Cut the Mustard

Now that the social season is upon us, there will be an exchange of invites to this, that and the other vying for attendees. Email invitations just won't cut the mustard. They're impersonal and give the impression of lackadaisicalness. They land in your inbox — indistinguishable from invites from your gas supplier and local supermarket — then another thousand emails land on top, they shift down and out of view and all is lost.

If you're hoping to lure the right sort to your own bash, how the invitation is presented and expressed is of utmost importance. Have no fear — excellent chums Piccolo Press (specialist and bespoke printers), a happy band of a dozen craftsmen, can attend to all your invitational needs and matters stationery.

About Piccolo Press

Piccolo Press is based in Nairn, which is close to Inverness (on the glorious North Coast 500 route). For thirty years they have used traditional techniques of engraving, letterpress, thermography (fusing ink and powder to create raised surfaces) and blind embossing to print on thick card and fine papers. Their clients include London clubs and livery companies, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the MCC, the Carnegie Club at Skibo and Glorious Goodwood. Our kind of places.

If you get an invitation to a ‘do’ on Piccolo stationery, it's a 'do' that's definitely worth attending.

Printing Techniques

Piccolo Press is Scotland’s only remaining diestamper. They use copperplate dies and thick board to create handsome invitations with raised print. They achieve a similar effect using thermography and also the traditional letterpress, which pushes an impression into the card, creating a lovely tactile effect. Initials and logos are also sometimes blind embossed onto cards from the back for a more subtle raised effect.

Duplexing of cards to achieve extra thickness and with contrasting colours on each side is very popular, so Piccolo tell me. Added distinction can be created by lining envelopes with tissue paper, gilding the edges of cards, and adding foiling. Just look at what they can achieve on the photos above. It's artwork more than craftsmanship — something to be admired and treasured.

If an invite produced by Piccolo Press is sent out, no sooner does it land on the recipient's doormat than it is being propped on the mantelpiece — pride of place — the minutes being counted until the eager beaver can attend.