Best New Studio/Gallery in the Crossroads

Maybe it's the romance of the old-fashioned printing press that makes us biased toward Brady Vest's Hammerpress, but we know we're not the only ones who are in love with his work. Vest's designs on fliers and music-show posters -- as well as on random scraps of cardboard left around his studio and now even on handbags -- is instantly recognizable; he uses an antique press to stamp sturdy card stock with printed images and bright colors. The studio's handiwork stands out as much as its Wyandotte Street façade, a radioactive turquoise surrounded by brick neighbors. Vest, a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute, moved his studio to the Crossroads early this summer. Faced with a display of Hammerpress postcards, one tends to think of all sorts of long-lost family members and friends who need handwritten notes.