Let's Get Real

It turns out that scientists have discovered a mathematical order to the crumpling of paper, which is predictable and relatively simple. This past November, in his research paper published in the journal Communications Physics, Omer Gottesman, a phys...

Whether the project is an annual report, product design, packaging, Web site, interactive product, marketing brochure, corporate identity program or environmental graphics, companies can save time and misunderstanding by putting together a design bri...

Kelly is known for his focus on the dynamics between shape, form and color, based on real-life observations. While his body of work includes paintings, sculptures and works on paper, Kelly also created installations. In 2015, shortly before his death...

When I found the Ink app by Sincerely Inc., (Sincerely.com/ink) I felt a certain kind of joy—one that celebrates print AND the ease of instant gratification that technology often delivers. While the idea of marrying the capability of your phone wit...

For me the most surprising outcome of the study is how 18-24-year-olds feel about print and paper—a generation that has been raised on technology and for whom technology is more fully integrated into their lives and behaviors. The study showed that...

WAD workBefore meeting the book-jacket designer Louise Fili, now my wife of more than thirty years, I had never heard the name of nor seen any work by William Addison Dwiggins (Dwig, WAD, Bill). I had no idea that he (or anyone else for that matter) ...

When Sun Chemical’s sales and marketing teams needed a paper piece to showcase the company’s printing inks and pigments, it found a solution on Sappi’s coated paper Opus—and reached a whole new audience in the process.The problemSun Chemical ...

To highlight their products the design team concepted and produced a condensed piece on Opus with 10 perforated tear-off cards that highlighted examples of special effects possible with Sun Chemical products—a citrus scent wafting from a photo of a...

His collection spans 200 years of artistic interpretation and innovation from patriotic banners and folk-art curiosities, to modern artistic masterworks. Many of the items in his collection are one-of-a-kind objects created over the past centuries by...

Luckily, for all of us, Wolman said yes and became Rolling Stone magazine’s first Chief Photographer from 1967 through late 1970. He not only witnessed what can be described as the most important period of change and upheaval in popular music and c...

It turns out we are more likely to remember something we read on paper than something we read on the screen. And it’s not just me telling you this, scientists have pinpointed three reasons for this:Paper makes content more intuitively navigable. Fr...

You may know that I love the printed word. I read as many as 60 print publications per month. While  this number is tightly correlated with the time I spend in airports, I’d venture to guess that my consumption level is pretty high. I usually have...

It’s part of the reason we collect back issues of magazines, books, great paper and print samples, as well as educational references. Like you, I use them for inspiration and to see how others solved design, layout, font and color problems.  Wheth...

Why is that? A key reason is that wood fiber is one of the most expensive components of paper, and uncoated papers require a higher ratio of fiber per pound than coated sheets. Specialty uncoated paper machines must also run slower and produce smalle...

The ripple effects of our Ideas that Matter program have hit the shore here at Sappi, just as they continue to spread to external programs and people. If you’ve read or heard about Ideas that Matter, or if you’ve ever entered or won a grant, you ...

Featuring an image of a solar eclipse taken by astrophysicist Fred Espenak, aka Mr. Eclipse, of Portal, AZ, the stamp shows an image of a solar eclipse seen from Jalu, Libya, on March 29, 2006. The stamp is certainly designed beautifully. But, what m...

Here’s a sample of what we’ve uncovered in this category— According to a 2015 multi-country study, an overwhelming 92% of college students surveyed said they prefer reading in print over any form of electronic media. Respondents explained that ...

When it comes to making the most of readily available print technologies, Sappi has a strong and long history of helping printers and creatives make smart decisions. Our go-to resources, vetted by experience, have created a leading space for Sappi as...

Here at Sappi we know that designers care deeply about giving back. We’ve been proud to support that focus through our corporate giving grant program, Ideas that Matter. And, as the field of social innovation has expanded and evolved, we’ve been ...

Paper, tape, string and staples are the only materials Bea Szenfeld utilized to create the incredibly intricate costumes in her spring/summer 2014 Haute Papier collection. Inspired by origami and Arte Povera – an Italian art movement during the lat...

We heard many unique stories from the presenters, but two of our favorites were from Nashville hometown heroes: Goo-Goo Clusters and the Tennessee Titans. Goo-Goo Clusters’ story is one of re-invention. The company took a regional, old-school brand...

When it comes to commercial printing, coated papers are used on the majority of projects. It’s considered the workhorse of the print industry. When used thoughtfully, it can be an amazing conduit for beautiful design and production. Printers love r...

Recent data collected by Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization (PRIMIR), the premier market research association of the graphic communications industry, valued the global print market in 2007 at $557 billion dollars and they a...

At the opening reception, Harris Diamond, CEO of McCann Worldgroup (McCann), compared the latest studies of online behavior showing that the average person spends over 50 minutes a day on Facebook to a recent study by McCann showing that the average ...

But are ‘print is dead’ perceptions based on reality? Well, as they say on the Marketplace® program widely distributed on public radio, let’s go to the numbers…According to a recent article in the market intelligence blog, WhatTheyThink?, me...

I think I would have liked Herr Riepl. In our publication, Print &, Sappi provided insight from a number of research studies on media convergence by exploring consumer behavior, push/pull marketing, augmented reality and the importance of tactile...

According to the American Booksellers Association (ABA), from 2009 to 2015, the number of independent ABA member bookstores has increased by 27%. Sales at independent bookstores are outpacing the growth of book sales in general. In January 2016, the ...

Not only does our sense of touch tell us about the physical world, it’s also the interface through which we talk back. The action of touch is reciprocal—you can’t touch without being touched. We use it constantly to communicate, and interperson...

The results of Harlow’s study suggested that touch is not only the basis for a healthy emotional life, but also for a healthy physical life and that there is a lot more to the Mother-Child relationship than food. Dr. David Eagleman shares the very...

So why have our hands taken so much of our brain’s real estate? Scientists, philosophers and other students of the human experience say that the hand is an extension of the mind. Or more succinctly, as Immanuel Kant posited, “the hand is the vis...

As many of you may know, the Didot family was to printing, publishing and typography as the Bach family was to music: successive generations of artistic geniuses who dominated their field for more than 200 years. Jules Didot's father, Pierre Didot, e...

Haptic Brain, Haptic Brand: A Communicator’s Guide to the Neuroscience of Touch, launched by Sappi North America in 2015, features images adapted from these classics. To create the images for the publication, the Houston-based design firm, Rigsby H...

Gulp! 500 million. That was a shock to me. I immediately thought it would all go to digital. But as the commentator continued, it turns out that it will mostly go to Television--another surprise. The commentator asked if that was happening because th...

Gulp. Forever. You can imagine how thrilled I was to hear a group of millennials back a position on paper. It made my heart sing. Their thoughts, as shared, were: what you see and experience on the internet is of the moment. You see it, you consume i...

As you most likely know, many of the fonts Zapf drew are considered classics today—Palatino, Optima and, of course, the Zapf dingbats which formed the basis for Unicode’s symbols. He started designing type in a completely different era when he di...

Recently, I wrapped up a speaking tour with Canada Post. We hit four big cities—Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto. All in, my colleague and frequent speaking partner, Trish Witkowski of FoldFactory.com, and I spoke to well over 800 creative ...

I started to think about the value of paper and the documents printed on it. In the United States, one of our most valued pieces of paper is the Declaration of Independence. And, just for fun, I thought I’d share a couple of facts about the documen...

Sappi’s connection to Robert was that he was a recipient of two Ideas that Matter grants—one in 2012 and the other in 2014. Working with teams that include Pellegrino Collaborative, students at the University of Notre Dame and the Kgosi Neighborh...

Two companies that have launched publications as an extension of their brand are the online fashion site Net-a-Porter and the travel site Airbnb. Communicating to their audience and building a community of like-minded followers appears to be the goal...

One format that is resurfacing in the fragmented music industry that I find particularly interesting is the FLEXI RECORD. Pressed on thin plastic or coated paper (which is, of course, my preference) FLEXI RECORDS started appearing commercially in the...

While some say a picture is worth a thousand words, sometimes a video may be the shortest story-telling route for your marketing message. A benefit of this new technology is that everyone gets mail while all other communication channels require the r...

As I’m sure you've all heard, the call for entries for the 2015 Ideas that Matter grant program is now open! This is our 15 year anniversary and, over the course of that time, Sappi’s Ideas that Matter program has supported over 500 charitable pr...

The New York Times recently reported that 2013 experienced a 1% increase in mailed catalogs—bringing the total number of catalogs for the year to 11.9 billion. This is still down 60% from the peak in 2007. But, economists and experts are paying clo...

In the U.S., live event attendance is on the rise. From the first half of 2012 to the first half of 2014, concert revenue was up 29%(1); queries on Google for sports tickets increased 32%(2), and Broadway attendance was up 5.5% year over year(3). For...

Wine began selling rare books more than a decade ago. Several years later, he was asked to put together a custom collection for a friend’s beach house in South Carolina. But, more than just building a collection based on interests, themes and topic...

The Pantone Hotel™, located in Brussels, Belgium, was designed by Michel Penneman and Olivier Hannaert. Using an all-white backdrop, the hotel has strategically placed saturated color palettes in each room, and on each floor, to put color at center...

Over this past year, as I’ve incorporated information from different neuroscientific research into my presentations and this blog, I’ve begun to realize that I’m not only a ‘print evangelist’ but a champion of reading. You can learn more ab...

As a public speaker I've always had the platform I need to educate, train and consult with—and for—clients. And yet, over the past years, I've found that it’s equally important to communicate through all of the channels that are available to me...

At year’s end I like to think about the future and typically review JWT: The Future 100. JWTIntelligence, the group that puts out the report annually, is a center for thinking that focuses on identifying shifts in the global zeitgeist. This year’...

I’ve spent a great deal of time this year focusing on direct mail. Direct mail campaigns can display some of the most creative and successful uses of paper and print. And, even more importantly, they are proven to perform better than online activit...

Print has tangible properties that make it part of the culture and the times. Print has shape, weight and texture. A magazine can rest on a coffee table, a book can fit on a shelf and a brochure can be held in your hands. For marketers, paper and pri...

Millward Brown used fMRI brain scans to “see” the different effects of two types of marketing approaches on the recipient’s brain. They researched the impact of physical marketing materials compared to that of online digital assets. The physica...

Evolution “Evolution” is the term that accurately describes both the show and the industry. While many printers report that they are doing well and are busy, it’s definitely a smaller industry. Insiders and outsiders agree that those printers t...

Let me remind you of some successful marriages as the debate over print versus digital works its way to becoming moot. Many of you may know that I often talk about how print and digital can deliver amazing results when they join forces with Augmented...

A dangling modifier here, a typo there, a misspelled word every now and then can mean the difference between work that resonates with clients and work that seems unprofessionally produced. Bad grammar can also get in the way of how well you communica...

I have been obsessed with paper--and books--since childhood. My obsession began in grade school where I worked on paper-craft projects. It was fueled at my father’s ad agency where I fooled around with paper swatch books. And, it peaked even furthe...

- Isaac Newton originally and popularized by Albert Einstein When I began my career—you know, back in the dark ages—people often started their careers in supporting roles. Sometimes that meant getting coffee, arranging schedules and running erran...

In today’s marketing model the two most important components are relevancy and timing. How does one best determine what is relevant to their clients, and, how often should contact be made to keep your brand top of mind without being a pest? The eas...

Recently a colleague asked me about my favorite marketing promotion—which one do I go back to and think about over, and over, again. It’s a really hard call for me. I like aspects of many of our promotions, particularly The Standard series which ...

What if you could find a way to communicate effectively with content contained in a short, concise, well produced format that your clients could consume at their convenience? What if they could get more information should they choose, or send valuabl...

Apart from making connections, I also find that social media allows me to “connect back” with colleagues, friends and acquaintances. How? By personally endorsing their skills on LinkedIn. This raises the question--who's really looking at these en...

What’s trending now? What’s the next step in the marriage of entertainment and technology? Wearables. Full disclosure: recently I became a Google Glassware™ Developer. My first “wearable” was an inexpensive and portable way to listen to mus...

265 million people play soccer across the globe. In the US, we have the largest number of youth soccer participants in the world with 20 million young people playing the sport. It’s easy to understand why soccer is such an appealing team sport, esp...

Mass-produced paper fashion was invented by the American Scott Paper Company in 1966 as a marketing stunt. Customers could send in a coupon and $1.25 to receive a dress made of "Dura-Weve", a cellulose material patented in 1958.[1] Dresses made out o...

“The whole world, as we experience it visually, comes to us through the mystic realm of color.” --Hans Hoffman, Artist Photoreceptors—the rods and cones, in our eyes—assist us in seeing the color. The most common color blindness, Red-Green co...

As a humanist, I find this topic fascinating and enjoy occasionally sharing some of my own thoughts about the subject matter. My goal is not to denigrate tablets, smartphones or online communication in any way. There are far too many benefits and adv...

With quality ingredients, side-to-side consistency, fade resistance and an amazing environmental pedigree, I’m proud to say that McCoy is—well—the real McCoy. Sappi McCoy is the real thing, the genuine article. At the HOW Design Live Conference...

In my travels and speaking engagements, it’s great to be able to share knowledge about techniques and tactics, but the best part of my job is when I hear real stories from real people that reflect real experiences. I’m lucky to meet many people w...

One thing that seems to be hard coded for an analog world is sketchbooks and notebooks. I use one and most creatives I know do too. Moleskine® notebooks have proliferated the market in the last five years—and now include traditional notebooks as w...

Over many years the academic and scientific color communities have made extraordinary progress in the technology of color accuracy, profiling, calibration and multi-device color management. Significant advances have been made in ISO standards, guidel...

Not only would this new program help bring attention to the power of design and communication on paper, but it would also reinforce Sappi’s commitment to designers by supporting their choice of causes in their own communities. And, ultimately, the ...

Henceforth, my opinion… Over the past decades I’ve watched art evolve into science in many areas of the printing process. Advanced input and output specifications, as well as guidelines and standards, have refined the workflow process to ensure a...

AIGA has very heady beginnings; started at a New York meeting in 1914 with graphic arts luminaries including lettering cartoonist, F. G. Cooper and prolific type designer, Frederick W. Goudy*. Some of the early guests were printers, of course – fin...

One subject that we discuss with optimism throughout our organization is “The Flight to Quality.” Originally, a term coined in the financial market, its application in the Graphic Arts is the observation that quality makes a difference. Printing ...

I look forward to this being a meeting place for us to get together to talk about all sorts of graphic arts topics. Sometimes design, sometimes print, sometimes marketing, sometimes new technology. There is so much for us to talk about. One of the th...

Recently, I have been spending a lot of time researching the difference between a fad, a trend, and disruptive innovation/technology. I think it is very important, in this day and age of overwhelming technological outpourings, to be able to recognize...