Where did the name of your studio come from?

Alee came from the combining of my nickname & middle name "Lee" and the addition of my first initial. Alee stuck once I designed some logo concepts. I was smitten with the way that the "a" and "e" were the same shape, just flipped over. But, it does have it's issues that never even crossed my mind when I was concepting company names. 1. When one says "Alee & Press" on the phone it often sounds like "Alien Press". Kind of cool but also kind of not. 2. Everyone thinks my name is Alee or Ally. Nope. It's Amanda. 3. The ampersand can be a pain in web contexts. alee-amp-press. It can easily be fixed with "and" but we've also started dropping "& Press" and going with just "Alee". Other than that we love it and have some ways to get around the constant mispronunciation!

Who is on your team, and how did you come together?

The Alee team consists of the following people at the moment but it's always changing... Amanda Nolte = owner + creative director Hollis Griffith = designer, illustrator & project assistant (she was the replacement intern of another intern. They have to find a replacement before I let them leave me!) Richella Peace = letterpress apprentice (lover of letterpress + print making major) Stephanie Morgan = Designer (star student of mine that I recruited) I teach graphic design classes at The Creative Circus so there is always a flow of design & production interns that I get to hand pick. Sometimes friends come in to help on big projects & sometimes it's my husband staying up late stuffing cards or helping with an IT issue or just making us all coffee. So many people come together to keep Alee going and I am forever grateful for the love and support.

How did you get into design and letterpress printing?

After finishing my business degree, and dreading the thought of having to wear a business suite to work, I found myself applying to Advertising & Design Schools. I was also very concerned with having to take my nose ring out. Problems you have in your 20's! The day after I graduated undergrad I left for portfolio school in Atlanta. While I was there, I was introduced to letterpress through one of my instructors and immediately fell in love with the process. It was so tactile & I loved using unexpected materials and pushing the press in untraditional ways. + it’s undeniable that everything looks better when it’s letterpress printed. I was always finding projects to design & print for school & my friends. After graduation I worked for a branding firm until I found a letterpress in Canada that I had to have. I drove up, loaded it into a trailer, begged border patrol to let me bring it into the US, and somehow managed to get it into my 14th floor condo where it stood overlooking all of Midtown Atlanta. Work became extra difficult thinking about my new press and all the ideas I had for starting a business. I soon quit my job and 5 months later launched Alee & Press.

Where do you find inspiration for your designs?

Honestly I can find inspiration just about anywhere but the most influential places for me are from traveling abroad, type & typography & nature.

What kind of press(es) do you use?

We have two presses in our studio. A Vandercook proof press & a Heidelberg Windmill. We do so much of our printing on the Vandercook even though it takes a lot of time to print but the process is so much more gratifying that the automatic press. Anything that needs special attention or that we do for fun is done on the Vandercook. When we're mass producing something it will go on the Heidelberg.

Which press was used to print the Nicely Noted cards?

They were printed by hand on the Vandercook & scored on the Heidelberg.