experiment no. 1 | printed envelope art

I’m finally out of printer poverty. My girlfriend found me a ten-year-old HP Envy 5660 printer/scanner for free through her neighborhood’s Buy Nothing Facebook group. Which is a score, for sure (thank you), but I immediately had to pay $50 for ink cartridges…

An HP Envy 5660 printer on a crowded desk with paper loaded in the rear tray.

The free printer that started the experiment.

I’m excited to print and annotate papers, essays, and story drafts, but also to catch up on some creative visual projects that have been on the back burner. Stay tuned.

First up, I’m experimenting with printing images directly on No. 10 envelopes. I have to preserve free zones for addressing, the USPS barcode, and postage, but otherwise I’m letting things run wild. I might try to find the limits of what gets through postal sorting—and what triggers a return to sender.

Diagram of a No. 10 envelope showing clear zones for the recipient address, postage, and USPS barcode automation.

The approximate clear zones used in this project.

The first tests were:

Floral

Flowers inspired by Linnaeus’s botanical illustrations.

A No. 10 envelope printed with curling green vines, leaves, buds, and orange-red flowers.

Predator

A similarly illustrated great white shark that took a big bite out of the postage corner.

A No. 10 envelope printed with a great white shark and an illustrated bite missing from the postage corner.

Creature wraparound

A similarly illustrated common octopus whose tentacles wrap around the edges and across the back flap like an old-fashioned wax seal.

Front and back of a No. 10 envelope printed with a common octopus whose tentacles wrap across the flap.

The octopus wraps around the envelope and meets across the back flap.

Ancient traditions

A moonlit scene of a heron standing on the bank of a pond, inspired by Japanese woodcuts.

A No. 10 envelope printed with a heron beside a moonlit pond and falling red leaves.

Deception and illusion

An impossible staircase and torn-paper illusion inspired by M. C. Escher.

A No. 10 envelope printed with an impossible staircase emerging through an illusion of torn paper.

Overall, the colors aren’t the most vivid, but I think these first tests came out so cool, and I’m really satisfied with the results. I send a lot of letters, so I’m going to enjoy coming up with personalized designs for each personal letter, party invite, and holiday card.

If you have any other funny, interesting, or creative printing ideas, please let me know!

Five printed envelopes featuring flowers, an impossible staircase, a heron, an octopus, and a great white shark.

The first five printed-envelope experiments.