The Art of the Letter

Who says snail mail is dead? Personalized handwritten card company Punkpost begs to differ.

Punkpost’s hand-lettered logo makes for some cool custom gear

Co-owners and couple Alexis “Lex” Monson and Santiago Prieto came up with the idea for Punkpost after Lex sent Santiago a handwritten letter of encouragement in the mail. Santiago was thrilled receiving the personalized card but soon learned how challenging it is to find the time, energy, and skill to handwrite and mail a letter.

Realizing that there had to be others out there in a similar predicament, Santiago brainstormed with Lex to come up with a solution. Founded on the belief that there is a market for people who want to send personal handwritten cards but experience the same challenges Santiago faced, Punkpost launched in July 2015. Now, anyone who’s ever struggled with sending a Thank You or Mother’s Day card has an option that’s much more personal than the usual pre-printed sentiments.

Since Punkpost’s start in San Francisco, they’ve been featured nationally in Forbes, The Washington Post, Elle, and the ABC network. With attention like that, Punkpost proves that the art of the handwritten letter is alive and kicking!

After this level of success, Santiago and Lex wondered how best to celebrate Punkpost’s four years in business.  As an organization that was founded on offering custom cards to customers, it seemed like there was one correct answer: collaborate with a company founded on offering custom apparel, and create a custom t-shirt for your team and customers to wear!

Punkpost showing off their fabulous 4th birthday apparel!

Like Custom Ink, Punkpost provides people with a way to add a personal touch to events—so naturally, when it came to their four year birthday they felt it only appropriate to create something unique that their team members, customers, and fans could wear to display their pride. It didn’t hurt that their customers had been asking for shirts for a while! After coming up with a shirt design showcasing the Punkpost logo (created by Santiago) and taking pre-orders for it, it was time to make this t-shirt dream a reality.

Following recommendations from team members, Punkpost came to Custom Ink with their design in hand. “The good experiences of ordering in the past were a huge factor in using Custom Ink—as well as the customer service that is there through the whole process,” says Lex. “It was so smooth, and we had our questions answered at the start of us looking into things, as well as great support in placing the order [and] making sure it was received as intended and met expectations.”

For such a momentous occasion, it was also very important to the team at Punkpost to make sure the shirts themselves were the perfect canvas for their logo. They also needed to be something that their team and community would want to purchase and wear again and again. “[We] also got suggestions and guidance in which shirts would work best for what we were looking for, which was a helpful jump start in us deciding which t-shirt brand to use.”

After reaching out to Custom Ink, it was only a matter of time before Punkpost had the letter-perfect personal statement for their birthday. And according to Lex, it’s more than just a custom shirt. “It’s really a great way to build brand awareness and let people who are on your team or super fans show their support for your brand.”

It was exciting for the team at Punkpost to unbox the shirts—they turned mailing out the birthday presents into an organized packing party at their Bay Area office. Being able to see team members and customers receiving their shirts through social media was a present in itself for Punkpost. Lex says, “It’s been great not only seeing people unbox their t-shirts and post them around social media but to also hear the stories and conversations they get into about Punkpost because of the t-shirts.”

Party day! Special delivery from Custom Ink to Punkpost.

With the custom shirt a success for both the Punkpost team and their customers, what’s next for the company? As their first custom shirt showcased their clean and crisp company logo, Lex says, “We’re already thinking about future t-shirts and how we could change things up and get our community involved with the design.” With a community involving a team of  a hundred artists within Punkpost alone, whatever they come up with ought to be noteworthy!

You can visit Punkpost at www.punkpost.com, find them on Twitter and Instagram @punkpostco, or see more photos of the shirt with #PunkpostSwag