A Fireside Chat with Siyun Lim, Co-Founder of Carda

 Carda believes that it is a matter of making prints that matter.

Once Upon’s business cards are designed and printed by Carda’s team.

One of the things I think is the most important when it comes to networking in a professional capacity is introducing yourself to new people with your business cards! And preferably with both hands when you present your cards, too. If you’re interested in learning how to make a good first impression at events, you can click here to read it on my blog (one of the most-clicked post on Happily Ever Style, by the way)!

That’s why I was thrilled when Once Upon partnered up with Carda & Co, our client who specializes in designing and producing luxury, high-end paper goods!

Truth to be told, Carda is more than just paper. The brand offers the experiences and the impressions that their paper products bring to everyone’s life. Be it a social greeting card, a postcard, a piece of wall art, a business card, a branded package or a brand new artistic creation, Carda makes beautiful things that matter.

Today, I invited Siyun Lim, co-founder of Carda, to sit down for a chat. Read on to learn more about the brand through her eyes.

Tell us the story of how Carda & Co came to life.

Carda started when both founders, J and Siyun wanted some letterpress stationery that was sensible, elegant and unique. And so the journey began…

Taking hands-on to a whole new level, J started learning from letterpress communities all over the world, and was soon making letterpress plates from his own kitchen sink. That soon progressed to having customers from all over the world.

The founders were fortunate enough to meet a respected print enthusiast and veteran. 

In the spirit of endless possibilities, the trio founded Carda Lab where experiments are conducted all day and night.

If your business cards were to tell a story, what would it be?

They would probably lament the long journey of being formed from wood pulp, all the way to the level of detail paid to them when they are in the limelight - on the printing press. 

This is in total opposition to what most people think of printing. They believe it's a simple case of sticking their USB into the computer followed by clicking on "print". 

That cannot be further from reality where a quality print starts with ensuring that the file provided has the right resolution, a bleed area, the right color settings, the right sizing etc. 

Only after the pre-press process, do we then output it to the press, which in itself is a another task of ensuring that the rollers are clean, the ink is just the right amount, the alignment is ideal and so on.

Basically, Carda’s business cards keep it real and it shows when subjected to granular inspection. 

It is a challenge to produce a multi-colored letterpress card, yet Carda does it beautifully with precision and high quality paper.

What makes your products different from others?

Carda's mission is to serve up quality prints that are thoughtfully handled from beginning to end.

Whilst the resulted products do not differ much on a broad superficial level (i.e. just regular eyeballing), Carda likes to think our products meet a higher standard especially with creative businesses who are particular about how their designs materialize in print. 

At Carda, we emphasize the details and the compulsory quality checks before delivery. 

We want to delight the customer and the environment by thinking of ways to reduce print errors and material wastage.

Anything else you'd like to tell us about your brand?

In the debate of whether Print is Dead, Carda believes that Prints can still be relevant if used purposefully. 

Prints matter and are increasingly creatively used in the domains of identity, promotion, marketing and even our social life. 

Learn more about our campaign with Carda here.

Thank you for reading!

Best,

Tricia Chen, Founder & Managing Director at Once Upon