Frequently, a 4 Bar’s contents can delight in inverse proportion to its size. I received a 4 Bar last summer bearing a big reagh (pronounced “ray”) of sunshine: Letterpress printer Patrick Reagh loves to pun around. The invitation (above) to his Befourth of July party is a case in point. Reagh printed all eight typographically tantalizing, two-sided cards on a single press sheet and die-cut them.
Reagh has favored the 4 Bar format on other occasions, including the invitation above to a magical evening.
The cards are also dazzling as a fashion accessory. As seen above, The Printer is almost wearing his art on his sleeve.
The 4 Bar size is excellent for a short-and-sweet note. You can find several splendid examples at Felt & Wire Shop, including the ones below, from Pie Bird Press. Pie Bird proprietress Hannah Berman describes the 4 Bar as the “least intimidating” size for many people. She adds, “In the modern world, it’s nice to be able to send something that is personal and pretty, without a preprinted message, but where you only have to write a couple of sentences or even just ‘Happy Birthday!’”
Another Felt & Wire shopkeeper, Andrea Jenson of Inkadinkadoodle, is also a fan of the format. Her 4 Bar artichoke card (below right) is letterpress printed in metallic copper, but many of her cards are basic, beautiful black letterpress. Jenson comments, “I have always been a believer that ‘bigger is better’ in many regards, but people love our small cards. Since it is certainly easier to print small things on a letterpress, that has encouraged me to shrink things down. I’m adding to our offering of letterpress-printed 4 Bar cards.”
And Petite Suite offers a foursome of 4 Bar snowbell cards (above left). The cards are hand-engraved by proprietress Nancy Sharon Collins (a.k.a. The Engraving Lady) in slate blue — and their price is delightfully diminutive. With thank-you note-writing season almost upon us, think about stocking up on some 4 Bars — which are also great for stuffing a stocking.
Ilene Strizver, founder of The Type Studio, set the return address for Alyson Kuhn’s imaginary club (see topmost photo in this post) in jotty ITC Samuel. Tomorrow on Felt & Wire, we will make a big flap about the 54 million (!) envelopes — from A2 to 9 x 12 — in stock at mohawkpaperstore.com.
Alyson ~
Thanks so much for the feature in your great article about 4 Bar cards. They are so cute and like little works of art. Some day I would like to cover a whole entire wall with 4 Bar cards that I had collected! Maybe if I start now…
I agree ~ good things always come in small envelopes ~ no designer can resist anything 3 5/8 by 5 1/8 ~ trust me on this one ~ all my little samples , little cards, and littlest Mohawk promos disappear faster than Halloween candy !
And the savvy designers at Anthropologie agree! I just received a 4 Bar from them, with a little dark blue fabric wallet inside, holding a discount card proclaiming: A birthday gift from us! The fabric is screen-printed in white, with a constellation of tiny stars and “What’s in the stars for you, Sagittarius?” Little milky-white button closure, stitched on with navy thread. CHARMOLA.