Meet the design maven behind Greenville’s bold new letterpress studio
There’s an unintended consequence of getting a thoughtful handwritten note in the mail: optimism. After the crisp thrill of cracking open an envelope to reveal a beautiful letter-pressed card inside, you start checking the mailbox with excitement again—only to find the same stack of soul-sucking bills. It’s back to business as usual (until wedding season).
Elyssa Boyd of Milk Toast Studios is willing to live with the joy-inspiring consequences of her actions. Although the talented letterpress designer is new to Greenville, having just opened her shop in 2022, she is already finding ways to impress her clients and embrace her creative community.
“My husband and I spent the last year traveling in an RV, and we thought we were going to do that full-time—but we just didn’t love it,” says the Bloomington, Illinois, native. “We kept thinking about where we wanted to live, and comparing every stop we made to Greenville. There’s just something about this city that we love. The arts community here is so vibrant and organic, and I think there’s a real demand for great letterpress work.”
With a background in graphic design, Boyd was trained in Charlotte at the celebrated studio Crayton-Heritage, and also spent time honing her skills at Genghis Kern in Denver before deciding to strike out on her own. Her style is fresh and playful, colorful yet elegant and understated—a perfect blend of both the timeless aspects of letterpress design and a more modern aesthetic with broad appeal. “I’m just starting out, so I’m focused on building community, meeting people right now,” reveals Boyd. “Now that my husband and I are focused on doing what makes us happy, and not just getting a grueling nine to five—and now that I have the time to devote to it, I’m trying to take Milk Toast Studios full-time. That’s the dream.”
Making an Imprint
Her passion for the work manifests in the details—something you often need to feel and see to believe. “It’s the little things that I love. There’s something about letterpress work being handmade, getting to know the intricacies of your machine, paying attention to the details. It takes skill to get a good impression, one that isn’t too deep, because you don’t want the paper to crack . . . or getting a good amount of ink coverage, but not too much, so that the lettering stays crisp.”
If you think letterpress is only for wedding invitations, then Boyd wants you to dream bigger. “Yes, we do business cards and letterheads, wedding and birthday invitations, baby announcements, and beyond—think art prints, custom coasters, personalized stationery sets,” she expands. “The sky is the limit. Just about anything can be letter-pressed.”
For Boyd, creativity processes are diverse and collaborative. “I do both: custom designs and hand-lettering, as well as working with other designers and calligraphers on new ideas,” she smiles, referencing some of the collaborative art pieces in her portfolio. “Right now, everything I produce for my clients is custom, but I hope to introduce some templates in the future. This is how the process works: you’d come to me with an idea, we’d work together on the design, and I’d handle the printing and assembly. I’m also open to clients bringing me inspiration they found on other websites, and collaborating with other artists and designers to produce prints of their own work, too.”
In short, life is short—so here’s to the rebellious act of grabbing ink and paper, and filling more mailboxes with something to surprise and delight.
Photography by Elyssa Boyd.
