This post is sponsored by Hoban Cards. Sponsorship doesn’t influence what I write. Here’s my take.

Every time I hand someone a Hoban card, the same thing happens. They stop mid-conversation, run a thumb across the letters, turn it over. That doesn’t happen with a card that came off a laser printer, and it happens almost every time with a card from Hoban.

Hoban Cards runs a small letterpress shop out of Chehalis, Washington, hand feeding paper into cast iron presses that are more than a century old. The ink doesn’t sit on the paper so much as get pushed into it, so you can feel every letter under your thumb. It’s the kind of detail nobody notices on a screen and everybody notices in their hand.

The templates have names like The Agent, The Mechanic, and The Enthusiast, which tells you something about who’s designing them. Prices start around $65 for calling cards, and shipping on U.S. calling card orders is $5 flat. If none of the stock templates fit, Hoban’s custom quote page walks you through sending over a logo or a rough idea, and their team in Chehalis takes it from there.

I keep coming back to Hoban for the same reason I keep an old typewriter on my desk. Most of what I make now lives on a screen, and I like having at least one thing that doesn’t. A card somebody keeps in a wallet for six months does something a digital contact exchange never will.

If you hand out business cards, or you’re looking for stationery that doesn’t feel like everyone else’s, take a look at Hoban Cards. You’ll get some fantastic stationery and support an excellent small business. Use the code MacSparky for $10 off your order.