GrafikWerk

A one-woman design atelier with its own letterpress

GrafikWerk is a graphic design atelier at Zur Kesselschmiede 29 in 8400 Winterthur, on the Lagerplatz site, run by the designer Sabine van der Wiel. The home page lists the work she takes on: wedding stationery (Hochzeitspapeterie), birth cards, magazines, newspapers, brochures, corporate identity and logo design, as well as websites and online shops, usability, editorial content, SEO and SEA. What makes it relevant for a wedding is a machine: she owns a letterpress, and she prints her own designs on it.

The about page is frank about where the weight of the work lies. She says she prints stationery on the letterpress alongside her design work, mostly for weddings and celebrations, but also for companies. So although the site presents a general design studio, wedding stationery is the most common job for the press.

How the letterpress work is described

The home page describes the press as a welcome addition to her graphic work. With it she can print her designs herself using a Tiefdruckverfahren (an intaglio or deep-printing process). The result, in her words, is "eine schöne Prägung im dicken Papier, was einen sehr hochwertigen Effekt ergibt": a beautiful impression pressed into thick paper, which gives a very high-quality effect. She calls it an ideal addition for a special occasion, for luxury business cards or for a wedding.

Two practical points follow from that description. The effect depends on thick paper, so a letterpress invitation is a heavier card than a standard digitally printed one. And the designer who draws the invitation is the person who prints it, so there is no handover to a separate print shop between proof and production. The site's menu has a separate Letterpress section and the footer points to a sister address, Letter-Werk.ch, for more on the printing; the home page itself does not show paper types, ink colors or sizes.

Design first, then print

The opening line of the home page describes what happens at the atelier: in the "stylischen Lagerplatz Areal" (the stylish Lagerplatz site) she creates individual designs, branding, websites, illustrations and concepts. Illustration and typography are therefore part of the offer, not only layout. For wedding stationery that means the design a couple commissions can be illustrated or purely typographic, and it is printed on the same premises. Her stated love of typography and beautiful paper, which she traces back to childhood, fits that kind of commission. The same design can then be carried across the other printed pieces of the day, since she also designs for print more broadly: brochures, magazines and business stationery are all on her list.

The designer

Sabine writes on the about page that she has loved typography, beautiful paper and everything to do with design since childhood. She trained as a graphic designer at a Fachhochschule für Journalistik (a university of applied sciences for journalism) in the Netherlands. She has lived and worked in Switzerland for more than ten years, and spent her first six years here as a graphic designer at an international company in Zurich while living in Winterthur. Since her first pregnancy she has worked independently in her own atelier. She now lives with her two children in Stein am Rhein and describes herself as still connected to Winterthur in many ways; the atelier remains there.

References in Switzerland and the Netherlands

The home page lists clients under two headings. In Switzerland they include Landolt-Arbenz, emineo, INVU, Faire Märkte Schweiz, Grenzen-Los, ISW, Kathi Herrmann, CreAmor, Küpferhof, Praxis Lotusblüte, Swiss Eyewear Group, Tennis & Athletik, Vinotrop, JET Wine and Yogaplatz. In the Netherlands they include Eureka Sport, Eye Fashion, Groenehartsport, IJsbaan Haarlem, Ik Speel Ook, Imagineear, the KMAR, Laser Clinic Cornea, Rijnhoeve, Schaatshal Leiden and several garden and landscaping firms.

These are business clients, and the list says nothing about weddings specifically. What it does show is a designer with a long record of work for organizations in two countries, which is useful context for a couple judging the design side of a commission. The home and about pages show no gallery of wedding stationery.

Working with the studio

The contact page invites anyone interested in working together to get in touch for more information, or simply to drop by the atelier at the Lagerplatz in Winterthur. The page has a contact form (first name, last name, email, message), and the footer links to email and phone contacts under Sabine's name. The site is written in German and addresses visitors informally as "du".

For a couple, the natural process is a first message describing the wedding, the pieces needed (invitations, save-the-dates, menus, place cards, thank-you cards) and the date, followed by a visit to the atelier if they are in Switzerland. Because Sabine both designs and prints, the same conversation covers the design and the paper.

What the site does not settle

The site publishes no prices, no minimum quantities and no lead times for letterpress printing. It does not say whether envelopes, envelope printing or other finishes are available, what paper sizes the press can take, or whether she ships finished stationery abroad. It also does not say which languages she works in. The site is in German; her training was in the Netherlands and her first job in Switzerland was at an international company, but the site makes no statement about consultations in English or Dutch, so a couple should ask. The timing for a full wedding set is therefore a question to raise at the first contact.

Who it suits

GrafikWerk suits couples who want a designer and a printer in one person, and who like the look and feel of a letterpress impression on heavy paper. It is a small studio, so couples get direct contact with the designer throughout. Couples in the Winterthur and Zurich area can visit the atelier to discuss the work in person. Couples planning from abroad should confirm the working language, the schedule and delivery before committing, since the site covers none of these. Couples looking for a large catalog of ready-made designs or published prices will not find them here.