Blogpost by Gordon Kaye, Editor, Graphic Design USA
The story starts four centuries ago, when a mill in Northern Italy set out to produce the finest paper on earth. In the later 1800’s, a paper mill with the same mission was born on the shores of Wisconsin’s Lake Winnebago. Two hundred years later, Neenah and Cordenons brought these two worlds together to create one, all-encompassing line of unique, luxury papers known as The Design Collection. And now it can all be seen in a newly refreshed swatchbook.
Today, The Design Collection is an international portfolio of over 100 specialty papers with inspired color palettes, high-touch textures, and stunning finishes. And now, the highly sought after ASTROKING® Papers has just been added to the collection.
To be honest, we see lots of paper promotions, product samplers and swatchbooks. This new swatchbook for The Design Collection stands out as a must-have for every designer who’s looking to help clients create powerful brands and form loyal bonds with their customers.
If you had a sample in your hand, you’d see just how much the plush, satin finish of ASTROKING shimmers in the light.
These exquisite papers just beg to be touched, and admired.
There isn’t a texture that you’d want for a project that you can’t find in this portfolio: From the toothy hand of WILD® made for letterpress and embossing, and the smoothness of MONNALISA® and STARWHITE®, to the distinctive painters canvas feel of EAMES™ Papers … just to name a few.
And let’s talk innovation. This printed sample found in the swatchbook shows how MOONDREAM® Papers become translucent with heat, making the paper part of the production technique — perfect for tone-on-tone subtly and multilevel embossing.
Then of course there’s the one-of-a-kind plastic-like surface of PLIKE® Papers, which you can do just about anything with — including foil stamping perfect, tiny gold type on an animal-skin patterned blind emboss, if you want.
Then there’s the soft, natural elegance of the NATURAL EVOLUTION Papers. The brilliant ink hold out on these papers makes skin tones illuminate off the sheet.
This is just a peek inside the new swatchbook that holds the complete portfolio of The Design Collection. You’ll want to get your hands on a copy to appreciate the impressiveness of this collection and these papers. Oh, and in case you missed it earlier this year, there is an accompanying print sampler, The Design Collection Sampler 2.0, with 22 pages of idea-generating designs and production techniques available.
Both are free, and available through your Neenah rep or Neenah distributor.
