Collection: Susan Porteous

Pull up a stool, take a breath, and meet Susan Porteous behind Green Bird Press. Based in Bend, Oregon, Susan runs the studio solo (with a generous helping of vintage presses, paper stacks, and creative energy). Her brand isn’t about loud statements—it’s about quiet craft, minimalist design, and the kind of everyday objects you don’t just use … you live with.

Susan’s story starts in the world of letter-press: each print, greeting card, journal, and bookbinding project is made by hand in small batches on her two vintage machines: a Vandercook SP-15 and a Kelsey Excelsior X.  What this means is each impression carries the weight and whisper of a moment in Susan’s studio—the inking, the placement, the press-squeeze, the alignment of type and texture.

At first glance, a Green Bird Press card might feel crisp and modern: minimalist lines, gentle color palettes, a nod to pop or nature themes. But look closer and you’ll see Susan’s geeky, thoughtful side. She draws on type, map lines, Oregon’s landscapes, tiny animals, vintage ad textures, and heartfelt design that straddles functional and poetic.  In her words: the studio is “modern, minimalist, often geeky.” 

In a world filled with fast-print and mass production, Green Bird Press leans the other way: each piece is printed by Susan herself; each journal bound by hand; each project treated like a tiny celebration of craft. The texture of the impression, the ink-tone, the waiting for press alignment—all becomes part of the final experience. 

So what do you discover when you step into a Green Bird Press piece?

• Familiar motifs with a type-driven twist: nature, maps, birds, trees, vintage furniture of type

• Minimal composition meeting layered meaning: the quiet and the almost unspoken

• A tactile quality: heavy stock, deep impressions, hand-bound journals that feel like a secret waiting to be written

• A voice that whispers: “Slow down. Touch this. Use this. Appreciate the small.”

Whether you’re pulling out a card for a friend, jotting down a journal entry, or choosing a print for your wall, Green Bird Press offers calm geometry and thoughtful craft. Susan’s studio proves that meaningful design doesn’t need big budget—it needs heart, precision, and a willingness to do things one page, one print, one impression at a time.