Today we’d like to introduce you to Rob Charlton.
Rob, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started Goosefish Press in 2005. After working in the corporate world for a few years after graduating college I went back to school at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston where concentrated in printmaking and artists books as I completed a Post-Bac. After finishing up at Museum School I knew I wanted to have my own studio, but I wasn’t sure how to get started. At the time I had a loft in Fort Point and I found a letterpress for sale, so it moved in with me. I had a background in publishing and graphic design so I started printing projects for clients and doing my own design work. After about two years of having Goosefish Press as a part-time venture I went full-time with it and things really took off from there. I moved from Fort Point to Southie for a little bit, then down to where we are in SoWa now with a storefront right at street level but the presses are still here with me!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Being self-employed is always an adventure! Our primary business is custom printing for wedding invitations which is pretty much a seasonal industry, so the fall and early winter can be slow sometimes which can be worrisome in some seasons.
The biggest adjustments I’ve had to make is moving out of Fort Point when my building got renovated and moving again down to SoWa. The presses are how I make my living; they’re 100+ years old pieces of living history that weigh 800-1200 lbs. each, and they’re not easily replaced. So moving them is gut-wrenching for me and always a terribly stressful event.
However, as far as the business goes, we’ve gotten a little bit bigger and a little bit better every year!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We’re really known for making very nice wedding invitations and stationery. I never thought I’d be known for that when I first started out, but it’s what our primary business is and we do really nice work. All the design work we do is custom for each client, so everybody gets something that’s exactly what they want. We also do all the printing in-house on our own antique letterpress equipment, so we’re pairing 21st century design tools with 19th century printing equipment, making something that’s really beautiful and unique for each client.
What sets us apart is that we do both the design and the printing right here, and that we customize the design. A lot of places that do custom design have to outsource the printing, and many printers aren’t designers as well. Also, a typical stationery store just has books of invitations you choose from, but here we’re collaborating with clients to give them a look they want as well as printing everything ourselves.
I’m most proud of the fact that I built the company from scratch with my own work, ingenuity, and the help of some terrific assistants. My first year I had just a few projects and a full-time day job, and now I have a small staff and several presses, it’s been a long road but I’m really proud of the business I’ve built, and at this point I’ve made over 1000 clients very, very happy with their invitations!
What were you like growing up?
I always like maps, books, and especially old books and I think that’s what got me into letterpress in the beginning. I love to laugh and have a quirky sense of humor so the greeting cards we create in-house which are definitely not like something Hallmark would come up with are a reflection of that too. I’ve always been a little obsessive and a bit of perfectionist which also helps.
I’m a proud New Englander as well, and I love contributing to the community I grew up in!
Pricing:
- 100 invitation sets runs about $775 but depends on a number of factors including the number of colors and what’s included in the set.
- We also sell cards, coasters, books, and paper that cost anywhere from $3-25
Contact Info:
- Address: 450 Harrison Ave.
#65 (on Thayer Street)
Boston, MA 02118 - Website: www.goosefishpress.com
- Phone: 617.728.2822
- Email: rob@goosefishpress.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/goosefishpressinc/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/Goosefish-Press-268184299467/
Image Credit:
Felix Rust
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