Warrior Printress Letterpress and Design is a partnership between two creative entrepreneurs, Janelle Miller and Stacie Renné. Janelle, the original Warrior Printress, started the printing business in 2010 after apprenticing and working for Rick Allen at Kenspeckle Letterpress (featured previously on PDD). Stacie Renné, a graphic artist experienced in brand identity, advertising, and corporate communications, joined forces with Janelle this summer. This week in Selective Focus, they tell us what they have planned for Warrior Printress.

WP: The heart of our business partnership is the shared love for place, for the lake, for paper, for type, for the clank of the press, for the hiss of the ink on the press rollers, and shared passion for creating a quality impression. Couple all those things with a desire for delivering simple, creative designs that communicate clearly, and you have Warrior Printress Letterpress and Design. We fuse contemporary design, technology, and techniques with old world, quality printing processes to create a product that, as we like to say is, “as unique as you are.”

Janelle Miller (left) and Stacie Renné (right)

The two of us met because several of our mutual friends said we “needed” to know each other. Everyone who knew us individually, and thought we would be great creative partners. As it turned out, they were right. The first time we sat down together to talk about our creative and business ideas, we clicked. This new venture is something both of us have been longing for as we have both had solopreneur/ freelance careers in the past, but having a partner to bounce ideas off of, to plan with, and work beside is really a dream come true for both of us.

Stacie: Producing artwork for letterpress really feeds my creative soul. It forces me to slow down, create simple designs, and concentrate on a quality end product. Plus, I am so grateful to be partnering with Janelle who is not only creative, and fun to work with but also has a great work ethic, mad printing skills, and eye for detail. It is absolutely the creative partnership I have been looking for.

Janelle: I’m grateful to have been working with local businesses like Siiviis and Duluth Coffee for a few years now, but I’ve always had to rely on others to create their artwork. By partnering with Stacie, Warrior Printress can now not only offer a quality letterpress product, we can offer extensive creative design services, such as logo design, branding and other personalized designs without engaging a third party, and that feels really good. We are each also creating lines of greeting cards, broadsheets and other letterpress products to be sold on a retail level which is new and exciting for both of us as well.

Part of our business strategy is to “keep it local” and for us that means working with as many individuals, local and regional businesses as possible as we grow. We are poised to build this business with other like-minded, creative folks and view those we work with more like creative partners rather than simply clients.

As a niche business, our focus is on providing outstanding service, and specialized, high-quality products that our clients can be proud of. We see every printed piece—whether it is a customized broadsheet or poster created with hand-set wood or metal type, a hand-carved block print, a contemporary personal invitation, a simple thank you note, or business card—as a piece of art. We take pride in our craft and are excited to work with those who see the value our unique products.

We will be showcasing our business and selling some new lines of letterpress products at Glensheen’s Duluth Winter Village, Dec. 2-3. Until then, if you or your business is looking for a quality way to express your uniqueness, give us a call, we’d love to meet with you.

Links:
warriorprintress.com
stacierenne.com