Lilikoi Design & Letterpress

I have used Lilikoi design several times and I’m constantly thinking of ways I can use them again. Andria is so creative and it shows in her designs. Working directly with the designer and printer allowed me to be a part of the creative process. I enjoyed this much more than going in to a stationary store and having them send it out to be letterpressed. They are professional and very accommodating with time frame and pricing options. I wanted to have a wax seal for a menu but it needed to be done onsite, so they weren’t able to do it before hand. When I went to pick up my invitations, they provided the wax and seal and asked that I return it after the event, it was a pleasant surprise. They helped me realize my vision, whether it was for my son’s birthday, my parents 50^th anniversary or holiday business cards, they did an excellent job. I’m grateful that I found them.

Poor communication. The work itself was nicely done, but after a month and a half from first meeting to final product, I was disappointed by the process. After I sent my artwork for a double-​sided card, Lilikoi took only two weeks to print off a hot foil stamp sample, which was done in their LA studio. Their LA studio informed the SF studio of an impression; the stamping from one side was visible on the other side. The owner said she was hesitant to run off the rest of the batch unless I was okay with the impression. The owner explained that she wanted me to be happy with the final result. I asked for the LA studio to mail the sample rather than just rely on the camera phone photo that they had sent. When I saw it, I didn’t feel okay about it given the price I paid and my initial understanding before signing a contract (I understand the nature of letterpress/​hot foil stamping, but I had explicitly asked about impressions). She said that she wanted me to be happy but didn’t explain that changing papers to reduce the impression would be even more expensive. When I came in, she said that the cost point would still be about the same, and it wasn’t till another few weeks of back and forth, being surprised by additional costs (almost an additional 50% of the original price), that I finally decided against signing a new contract for the change in paper, and went with the original plan. But I was charged a resetting fee even though I hadn’t ever officially signed off on anything different.
I don’t question the craftsmanship, the ambience, the presentation – this studio definitely delivers. But the poor communication led to a lot of heartache over something that I had only ever dreamed of getting to do. And now I’m not sure I’d want to do letterpress again.

I recently joined Andria for a holiday garland workshop in her studio. Much like Lilikoi’s stationary designs, the studio is clean and sophisticated. It was nicely decorated with flowers and there was a spread of berries, cheese and wine for us to graze on. After we got a lesson on how the press works, we each got a hand on the wheel. Andria is very passionate about what she does, and it shows. She is a great resource for letterpress knowledge, tips & tricks. She not only shared the great history of this craft but also recommended resources for the best quality paper and plate makers. Her story is inspiring and I can’t wait to create some of cards of my own.

I was so happy to have found Lilikoi Design & Letterpress to create and print our baby announcements! I could not have asked for a finished product that is more beautiful and unique. Friends and family have been so complimentary, saying that the announcements were simply beautiful and visibly hand made with such care. Andria listened intently to the ideas I had to understand what look and feel I was going for and then sent me several options she created that were all so spot on it was so hard to choose! She is incredibly talented and takes so much pride in her work and took such care to ensure I was thrilled with the design, doing multiple versions and tweaks. Working with her was totally smooth as well, every thing went according to schedule. If you are looking for someone to put a huge amount of individualized attention to create a totally custom design and incredibly unique and beautiful finished product that you will want to put in a frame forever, I highly recommend Lilikoi Design!

I know two different couples that have used Lilikoi for wedding invitations and both turned out AMAZING. When I read about the Holiday Garland Workshop on
, I jumped at the chance to see the printing process and the press itself, and also picked up a few birthday and baby-​congratulations cards she had for sale. My holiday garland turned out great too :-) All of her work is exceptional, and I definitely plan to use Lilikoi in the future for my own stationery and invites.

I went to the Holiday Garland Workshop Lilikoi Design was offering at the time, and had a genuinely great time. The studio was intimate and Andria went out of her way to make sure all of us had a great experience, by providing wine and a cheese plate for snacking on, and teaching us briefly about the history of the printing process as well at the machine itself.
Although intimidated to try the large C&P machine she had in the studio, she demonstrated the process of printing a card, and was very patient with us as we tried to letterpress ourselves.
I had a great time while I was there, and the time just flew by. I think you should definitely use Lilikoi Design & Letterpress if you need any letterpress work done, because she knows about the history, the process and the materials… Oh yeah, and her work is fantastic! If you’re looking to go to a larger workshop where you use a flatbed machine, this wouldn’t be the place for you, but if you are looking to use any machine in an intimate space, or really want to try out a C&P machine, then you should definitely try Lilikoi.

The wedding invitations, save the dates, programs and menus were creative and beautifully done. The quality was great; we received a lot of compliments.