The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our August 2019 issue, on its way to newsstands soon.
1 of 3
Biba Letterpress Studio specializes in custom stationery including wedding invitations.
2 of 3
Master Pressman Josue Colop
3 of 3
Carson McNamara lining envelopes by hand
Page Stationery is now Biba Letterpress Studio.
Owner Deborah Roberts acquired Page last year from printing company Worth Higgins & Associates. Rebranding as Biba, she’s focusing on custom letterpress stationery. “Custom is our baby; it’s what we like to do best,” Roberts says.
The company crafts greeting cards, stationery, coasters, gift wrap and tags. Its products are available at Merrymaker Fine Paper in Carytown as well as Paper on the Avenue and Paper Plus at Libbie and Grove.
Roberts and her one part-time and eight full-time employees work in a studio in Manchester that has four letterpress machines, dating from 1910 to 1965. With 30 years of letterpress experience (14 of them with Page and Biba), Josue Colop regularly operates and maintains the machines, printing the original designs produced by Biba’s creative team.
While Biba has digital printing capabilities, the letterpress work is a passion. Roberts notes it’s a special present for those who receive it. She quotes the song “L.A. Freeway” by Guy Clark to sum up the distinctiveness of a letterpress card: “Love’s a gift that’s surely handmade.”
Biba Letterpress owner Deborah Roberts
Roberts has a background in branding and marketing and worked 12 years for a brand design firm prior to acquiring Biba. “I was ready for something different, and I love print, so I thought this was something I could get my hands around,” she says. “Plus, I’ve always been an entrepreneur.”
The Biba portion of the business’s name is an homage to a 1960s London fashion house that Roberts says kicked off the mod trend and was a longtime influence in the design world. “It’s not just about trendsetting, but lasting influence. And I just think [the name’s] kind of cool,” she says.
Eighty percent of Biba’s business is custom work. Prices are typically $5 for cards and $18 for notecard sets. Custom stationery prices vary depending on the base design, materials and colors used, and add-ons.
Roberts says the studio is working with its retail outlets to educate them about what Biba has to offer. “We want our stores to know that anything [customers] can imagine, we can find a way to make it happen,” she says.
Biba is already gearing up for the holidays. “I can’t tell you how many holiday cards we do … that’s a significant part of our business,” Roberts says, noting that over the holidays in 2018, Biba sold 33,000 letterpress cards and 25,000 digital cards. Watercolors created by the team are part of the holiday lineup for this year.
Roberts loves the artistry aspect of the business and wants to utilize the letterpress process for additional products. “As much as we are a stationery company, I want to make art. I want to experiment and find ways to use the letterpress in different ways,” she says.
