era404.com Reboot

era404 screenshot

I always say that the cobbler’s kids have the oldest shoes. The last relaunch of era404.com had been in 2005, before the widespread use of iOS devices (which don’t support Adobe Flash) and the release of browsers capable of supporting HTML5, CSS3 and JQuery.

For the last few years, as all designers seem to do, I kept saying “God, I really need to update our site.” As my brother Chris always says, “the second worst problem in the world is having too much work, but it’s far better than the alternative.” era404 has been fortunate in that we’ve never found ourselves with too much idle time on our hands. That said, we’ve been seriously lacking in the capacity to explore new business development and professional upkeep and maintenance on our public image. Until now. Read more

The New era404 Stationery Goes to Press

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of taking a press run to PermaGraphics to watch the production of the new era404 stationery. Mike Caloni, the founder of the 13-year-old printing firm, led me on a tour through the facility, starting with the 70-year-old duplicator his mother bought to print wedding paperie at their kitchen table, and ending with the incredible Komori 6-Color press (you can see one in action here). Our business cards are a #130lb Cover, far too thick for the in-house Heidelberg presses. Operators Pete and Frank even let me nit-pick to get the spectrometer below .03 difference between the letterhead and buisness card stock (in fact, they seemed eerily content with my perfectionism).

PermaGraphics obviously has a passion for their craft—an increasingly rare trait in an industry squeezed financially by the eVendors—and provides more than competitive rates for the New York City metro area. I highly recommend the quality and professionalism of their services. And Mike is genuinely a great guy. More photos after the jump.

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