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"Your words, our art, their moment...a lasting impression."

THE BEST GIFT EVER!  

Let us scribe a letter for you.  Go beyond flowers, candy and cards, give the gift of a heartfelt letter, a "TIMELESS LETTER".  Whether you are celebrating one of life's milestones or affirming a relationship, nothing has as much impact as your words in a beautifully crafted letter delivered to your friend or loved-one! Today nearly all personal communications are done electronically via social media, text, email, eCards, Twitter... and for the most part this is a good thing in that it allows us to stay connected with those people we care about.  We believe however, that there are times when a real letter may still be the best way to communicate an important message to the people closest to us, and we promise you it will stand out in a very positive and lasting way!

WHAT WE DO... 

We take a letter you write and turn it into a beautifully crafted letter and send it on your behalf. If you are hesitant about your letter writing skills, we provide plenty of tools to lighten the task.  After you are finished, it is then our job to craft your letter.  We use a combination of advanced typography, digital imaging and traditional art methods and materials to create our letters, which allows us to send your letter in just a couple of days.  Your letter will be shipped in our custom developed packaging which will not only protect your letter but is visually pleasing as well. 

Optionally if you would like, we can also combine your letter with a high quality hand embellished quote or a limited edition artwork.  

Letter & Art Gallery

The following photos and detail close ups are representative of our work. These photos were taken from some of the the letter styles, quotes and artwork we created while testing this concept with friends and family.  You can see more examples of our work at our beta website TimelessLetters.com. 

The final letter styles and artwork that you will choose from are still under development and may not include these specific products exactly as shown here, but I think they are a pretty good representation.  I will post images and updates here as I finalize each pledge offering, so please check back frequently! One more thing, I welcome your ideas and feedback along the way! 

Thanks for taking the time to check this project out!  I hope to hear from you soon.

John

P.S. You will find more detail on our pledges near the bottom of this page.  





WHAT IS A PREMIUM "TIMELESS LETTER"...

We are passionate about the quality and details that go into every one of our letters.  All our Premium "Timeless Letters" include:

  • Large format (about 11.5 x18 inches) luxurious paper with a very unique texture.  Some say it has a leathery feel to it.
  •  Letters styles designed with great care, using advanced layout and imaging techniques to simulate real penmanship, right down to the way ink absorbs into the paper and the slight variances that naturally occur in real writing. We have collected many letters dated in the 17 and 1800's from antique sources in Europe to study up close the details; from paper aging, ink splatter and absorption, embossing, wax seals, fold techniques.....
  • Customized presentation packaging developed specifically for presenting our letters in a way that has the potential for the highest emotional impact to the recipient. 
  • Beautiful wax seals, applied using the traditional methods
  • Embellishment with Liquid Gold.
  • Hand embossed crest providing a textured seal of authenticity. 
  • Perfumed using fragrances that compliment the letter style or the occasion.  (I have collected fragrances from around the world so I have a huge library of perfumes from which to choose!)
  • Open-Type fonts which often provide multiple glyphs for each character to allow more sophisticated and authentic looking layouts.  We also have developed many custom glyphs especially flourishes and certain design elements.  

HOW IT WORKS ...

Step 1:  First make a pledge.  Most of our pledges include a custom "Timeless Letter".  The sooner you pledge the higher priority your letter(s) will have during peak demand times such as Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.  

Step 2:  Select your letter style and options - Once we are funded, you will be sent instructions on how to select the letter style and associated options you would like for your letter(s). 

Step 3:  Write a letter to somebody important in your life.  Whether you are expressing your love, affirming a friendship, sending wishes for a holiday, celebrating one of life’s milestones, or just saying thank you, nothing is more meaningful and sincere than your own words.  Don't worry -  we can help "kickstart" your letter.  We have compiled and written numerous letter examples, useful phrases, openings, closings, quotes and even useful word lists for just about every occasion which you can use either for inspiration or as a foundation for your own letter.   

Step 4:  Send your letter to us.  You can use the easy file uploader on our website or email us your letter. 

Step 5:  We will create and send your letter.  In most cases in just 1 or 2 days we can create and send your letter directly to you to present in person or directly to its intended recipient on your behalf.  

Note: For occasions in which it may be appropriate to include a gift with your letter (e.g. wedding or anniversary gift, 50th B-Day...) you can use our custom developed letter & gift presentation box to combine your letter with another gift, either from us, or by you.  (At this time we have a limited selection of gifts Larson Juhl framed hand embellished quotes & limited edition artwork) If we are successfully funded, we hope to expand to include gifts like word based jewelry, writing tools, supplies and collectables like wax seals, paper and pens, and more...

OUR STORY 

  • My wife and I are both full time artists, we work every day in our studios in an old cannery building in San Jose California. We do all of our business under the name Legacy Artists. 
  • I am passionate about digital photography, digital photo retouch and manipulation, digital painting, calligraphy and penmanship, typography (type layout and the development of fonts) and oil painting.  My talent in each of these areas is currently in the same order (starting with the highest).
  • I have developed a process which utilizes my digital imaging skills and traditional art tools and methods, primarily oil paint, to create portraits, mostly of people and dogs.  I have done a number of commissioned portraits over the last 10 years. 
  • My wife, Terry, is truly an awesome oil painter who likes to paint primarily from life, whenever she can.  I  have often "bribed" her into collaborating with me on a number of "high-profile" portrait commissions. 
  • About 5 years ago, inspired by the documents and letters created by the best scribes, illuminators, calligraphers and penman from the past as well as the present, I set out to see if I could develop a method to create letters which looked and felt as though they might have been written a very long time ago by a master penman or scribe.  I employed some of the same methods I had been using to create portraits for people.  My initial interest in doing this  was to use this letter as a gift card, so to speak, to be included with my artwork.
  • Shortly after doing a few such letters I realized that the idea of creating beautiful letters for people (with or without my artwork) might be a good idea.  In fact it was a client purchasing my artwork who first suggested this to me. 
  • Today of course nearly all personal communications is done electronically via email, social media, texting, twitter...  For the most part this is a good thing as it allows us all to stay more immediately connected to the important people in our lives.  One downside of this trend is that there is little documentation of our feelings, thoughts and wishes done in a permanent way.   A letter is the perfect and proven solution to this problem. The issue however is that people don't have the time it takes to write and send a letter, not to mention the tools, materials and skill necessary to make it appealing and also beautiful.  
  • I thought that if clients could upload or email us their letters and using the perfect combination of high tech and traditional tools, that I could transform their letter into beautiful tangible letters, in a  "reasonable" amount of time and at an affordable price point (under $100 was my initial goal) then send them on their behalf, there might exist a business opportunity. People could now spend all of their time actually thinking about and writing a thoughtful letter to someone special in their lives and we would take it from there.  A modern day scribe service.   
  • After a considerable investment of personal time, money, study, development, and countless letter design iterations and many "real-world" tests, mostly with friends and family, this concept is at a point where it needs to be introduced to a wider audience and tested on a bigger scale to see if there is enough interest to turn it into a ongoing viable business.  I promised my wife over two years ago that "I would launch very soon" but somehow I just keep making change after change to improve the concept. In the beginning it was mostly better and better letters and then it became finding "the perfect" packing to ship and present our letters.  Than came the website which after some time I settled on a simple site which I developed myself using a cool website development tool called Rapidweaver. 
  • To make this concept a viable business we need a sufficient volume of letters on a ongoing basis.  Today we are prepared to create a modest volume of letters on a daily basis (about 20-40 depending on their style).  
  • Visit our "Timeless Letters" beta site for more details.
  • We see this Kickstarter program as the perfect way to finish what we have started to see if the concept is of enough interest for people to make it a viable ongoing business.  If we reach our goal, we are committed to providing additional funding and resources to take the business to the next step.  If we do not reach our goal we will be very sad but will move on to the next project. 

PLEDGE DETAILS & PHOTOS 

#1 PLEDGE  ($5)  - THANK YOU! ....

The directions to download the iBook or PDF will be sent out in a backer update.  View a small sample of our iBook here.

#2 PLEDGE ($35) - CHOOSE ANY ONE OF OUR CLASSIC LETTERS OR QUOTES

  • Choose any one of our Classic letter styles or a hand embellished quote.   These classic letter styles are half the size of our premium "Timeless Letters".  We experimented in the past with our friends and family and they found them to be very popular.  More details to follow.  Look for updates.
  • Add $20 for a premium presentation box for letters or a Larson Juhl frame with museum non-glare glass if ou choose a quote.
  • The directions to download the iBook or PDF will be sent out in a backer update.  View a small sample of our iBook here.

#3 PLEDGE ($75) - THE REAL DEAL  - ANY PREMIUM TIMELESS LETTER

  • This is the pledge to get, if you love the concept but don't know exactly when or who you want to send your letter to.  You can even gift it to somebody else who you know could use it.
  • If you do want to use your letter for sure for either Valentines Day or Mothers Day you might be better off going for pledge 4 or 5 as they will ASSURE your letter gets done in the case of a very successful Kickstarter:-)  
  • The directions to download the iBook or PDF will be sent out in a backer update.  View a small sample of our iBook here.

#4 PLEDGE ($75) - ANY "TIMELESS LETTER" - In time for Valentine's Day!  - Limited quantity / 250 letters - Pledge  today! :-)

  • This pledge is your best bet, if you love the concept and know now that you want to send somebody special in your life a TIMELESS LETTER for Valentines Day.  We have carefully planned enough time and resources to get all of these backer's letters done in time.
  • Our pledge #3 backers may also use their letter on Valentines Day but depending on the success of this project may be required to submit their letters to us earlier, in order to give us enough time to finish it by Valentine's Day.

#5 PLEDGE ($75) - MOTHER'S DAY LETTER - Limited quantity / 250 letters - Pledge today! :-)

  • This pledge is your best bet, if you love the concept and know now that you want to send a special Mom or Grandma in your life a TIMELESS LETTER on Mothers Day. We have carefully planned enough time and resources to get all of these backer's letters done in time. 
  • Our pledge #3 backers may also use their letter on Mothers Day but depending on the success of this project may be required to submit their letters to us earlier, in order to give us enough time to finish it my Mother's Day.

#6 PLEDGE ($150) - Very special gift by Christmas - Limited quantity-10 - Pledge today! :-)

For only a handful of backers we can get you a letter & gift in time for Christmas with this pledge.  Exact details will be sent to backers in future updates.

Photos coming soon!

Use of Funding:

Our primary objective with this project is to get a significant number of letter orders and sufficient funds to test and execute scalability plan. By reaching tour minimum goal we can   the letter creation and operations process for a minimum of one year.   Here are some of the specifics:

  • For this concept to become a viable business and scale we must have a significant number of letter orders. 
  • Finalize the designs of our first letter collection.
  • Create at least 2 new limited edition works of art, which can be combined with our letters.
  • Continue to pay our one full time employee (Vicki)
  • Hire and train additional resources - the number of people depends on the projects success.
  • All web development to date has been done by myself.  We need to get some outside web development (mostly PHP, SQL) help for such things as managing client accounts, building a more robust e-commerce backend and developing a comprehensive built in letter writing toolbox to help people write and store their letters in process.
  • We believe the best way to promote this concept is through word-of-mouth PR, but we may do some limited targeted advertising.
  • If our project exceeds our minimum goal we have several great ideas for new products, (letters, art, gifts) as well as a really exciting iPad application related to this concept (more on this later).
  • We also have a number of new and exciting features & functionality we would like to add to our website site (one I will mention here is something we call a "group gift" whereby many people are invited to write letters to one person or a couple, we create and bundle all the letters to be presented at a event like a party, wedding… this is a really cool gift.  We have already done a couple of tests on this concept with very positive results). 

Risks and challenges Learn about accountability on Kickstarter

By reaching our minimum goal we are committed to providing whatever additional resources will be required to continue our operations for at least one year. This will guarantee that each of our backers will have a minimum of one year to write, submit and receive a letter.

Our current limited resources will require us to limit the number of letters we can guarantee delivery of around key holidays like Valentines Day and Mothers Day. This is why we created specific pledges for Christmas and Valentines day with limited quantities, we are very confident we can create all of these letters provided our backers submit them to us on the deadlines indicated in the pledges.

We are currently a small group of individuals consisting of myself, my wife Terry, Vicki (my sister in law) and on a part time basis my brother Jim. If we are successful in reaching our long-term goal, we plan to hire more employees to help us create and produce your letters.

FAQ

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14
Backers
$1,431
pledged of $100,000 goal
0
seconds to go

Funding Unsuccessful This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on December 16.

Funding period
Nov 20, 2012 - Dec 16, 2012

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  • Pledge $5 or more

    0 backers

    #1 PLEDGE – THANK YOU! A very special thank you from us. (1) Download of our Letter Writer iBook (or PDF). (2) Lifetime VIP status! Check out pledge details and photos on the left.

    Estimated delivery: Jan 2013
    Add $5 to ship outside the US
  • Pledge $35 or more

    1 backer

    #2 PLEDGE – CHOOSE ANY ONE OF OUR CLASSIC LETTERS or QUOTES (1) Choose any one of our Classic letter styles or a hand embellished quote. (a) Add $20 for a premium presentation box for letters or a Larson Juhl frame with museum non-glare glass if you choose a quote. (2) Download of our Letter Writer iBook (or PDF). (3) Lifetime VIP status! Check out pledge details and photos on the left (We will be adding more details in the next few days but in general the classic letter styles are much smaller in size and accommodate fewer words 20-40).

    Estimated delivery: Jan 2013
    Add $15 to ship outside the US
  • Pledge $75 or more

    7 backers

    #3 PLEDGE – THE REAL DEAL! - ANY PREMIUM TIMELESS LETTER (1) A premium Timeless Letter in any one of our styles. Details on choosing your letter style and options will be made available after we reach our goal. You may: (a) Add $45 to your pledge to include a small 4" x 4" limited edition floral art or quote (many quotes to chose from). (b) Add $60 to your pledge to include an 8"x 8" signed limited edition floral art print or a quote of your choice (we have many quotes to chose from for all occasions). (2) Download of our Letter Writer iBook (or PDF). (3) Lifetime VIP status. (4) Choice of letter styles and options made available after funded. Price will be $90-250 after Kickstarter Check out pledge details and photos on the left.

    Estimated delivery: Jan 2013
    Add $25 to ship outside the US
  • Pledge $75 or more

    1 backer Limited (249 of 250 left)

    #4 PLEDGE – VALENTINE'S DAY SPECIAL! (1) This pledge is the same as Pledge #3, but is limited to the first 250 backers. Details on choosing your letter style and options will be made available after we reach our goal. You may: (a) Add $45 to your pledge to include a small 4" x 4" limited edition floral art or quote (many quotes to chose from). (b) Add $60 to your pledge to include an 8"x 8" signed limited edition floral art print or a quote of your choice (we have many quotes to chose from for all occasions). (2) Delivered in time for Valentine's Day. (3) Download of our Letter Writer iBook (or PDF). Price will be $90-250 after Kickstarter Check out pledge details and photos on the left.

    Estimated delivery: Feb 2013
    Add $25 to ship outside the US
  • Pledge $75 or more

    2 backers Limited (248 of 250 left)

    #5 PLEDGE – MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL! (1) This pledge is the same as Pledge #3, but is limited to the first 250 backers. Details on choosing your letter style and options will be made available after we reach our goal. You may: (a) Add $45 to your pledge to include a small 4" x 4" limited edition floral art or quote (many quotes to chose from). (b) Add $60 to your pledge to include an 8"x 8" signed limited edition floral art print or a quote of your choice (we have many quotes to chose from for all occasions). (2) Delivery in time for Mother's Day! (3) Choice of letter styles and options made available after funded. (4) Download of our Letter Writer iBook (or PDF). Price will be $90-150 after Kickstarter Check out pledge details and photos on the left.

    Estimated delivery: May 2013
    Add $25 to ship outside the US
  • Pledge $150 or more

    2 backers Limited (8 of 10 left)

    #6 PLEDGE – VERY SPECIAL GIFT by CHRISTMAS! (1) Any of our Premium "Timeless Letter" styles. The detailed process to choose your letter style and options will be made available after we reach our funding. (2) A 8"x 8" signed limited edition floral art print or a quote of your choice (we have many quotes to chose from for all occasions). (3) We can deliver this pledge by Christmas provided you can get your letter to us by Dec 17th. (4) Download of our Letter Writer iBook (or PDF). (5) Lifetime VIP status. Price will be $200-250 after Kickstarter Check out pledge details and photos on the left.

    Estimated delivery: Dec 2012
    Ships within the US only