BirdDog Press: Printing in Lyons
BirdDog Press, owned and operated by Allison Bozeman Lawhon, is a design studio with a collaborative approach and a print shop. They honor history with modern technology and use/re-use every last scrap. Located in Lyons, I had the pleasure of taking a letterpress print making class with Allison and gained insight into the world of making marks with a printing press. I asked Alison to share her story with Colorado Creates.
Tell me a little about BirdDog Press and its affiliate organizations.
BirdDog Press is really just little old me (Alison Bozeman). I am a graphic design and letterpress studio, able to take projects from concept to completion. I employ a handmade, tactile approach and like to incorporate interactivity and non-traditional materials or treatments where I can.
I am also 1/3 of Firefly Handmade, a series of carefully curated locavore craft markets I like to describe as “Etsy Live”
Where were you educated/previously worked?
I was educated at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with a Bachelor’s in Fine Art in Graphic Design and after the distraction of hiking one third of the Appalachian Trail post-graduation, was nudged {kicking and screaming} into a digital/dot com design existence in the mid 90′s. Soon enough I gave up the fight and found that I actually enjoyed Flash interactivity and working for an internet shopping portal called IShopHere.com in Nashville, then moving on to CME online courses for a company called HealthStream. After migrating to Colorado in 2001, and a few years of corporate in-house design that was unfulfilling, it was the era of weddings for my peers and I began a stint in DIY event planning for friends, in turn reuniting me with my first love : paper + typography.
Are you from Colorado? If not, what brought you here and why do you stay?
My then boyfriend/now husband was living in Asheville, NC and I was living in his hometown of Nashville, TN and we decided to do something about the 5hr road trip between us. Long story short, Ben got a job in Boulder working for Leave No Trace – our first year out here we discovered Lyons via the RockyGrass festival and we were hooked. I do miss the South, but Lyons is a small community that feels like home for our family.
What is it about Colorado that works for you and your business?
I feel an entrepreneurial spirit amongst the Coloradans I tend to meet. One of the main things I do is logos/branding/promos for small businesses much like my own. There is no shortage of folks taking great ideas to launch and I am lucky to get to be a part of the kick start.
Why would you encourage people to use letter press products?
The power of the printed word is taken to the next level with letterpress. It elicits MORE from the senses. It has a bespoke quality unmatched by other products of design. My clients say that no one ever takes their business card and dismisses it to their pocket or messenger bag, they always give it a second look, and feel and really soak it in – and generally it starts a conversation. Stationery, greetings and announcements are cherished. Letterpress printing on the whole is handcrafted and more eco-friendly.
How can people find your products? Can they take a class?
BirdDog Press goods are found in a few boutique shops around the US, local handmade markets here and there and online. For custom work, one can set an appointment to come into the studio. This year a letterpress workshop was offered through The Makerie, a creative retreat and we have been asked to be a part of that again for 2013.
What is next for BirdDog Press?
Next? Ah! So many ideas, so little time. But we are currently working on a tiny letterpress studio on wheels via a small vintage trailer.
324 Main Street
Lyons, CO 80540
Bird Dog Press – Super 8 Film – Lyons, Colorado from Kevin Von Qualen on Vimeo.