[Cohoes, NY] – He created it in 1920 — the first spiked sport shoe, fashioned with hand forged nails. The original construction might have been somewhat crude but ultimately his ideas and ingenuity catapulted Adi Dassler, and his company, Adidas, to legendary status. For more than 55 years, Adidas has exemplified performance, outfitting some of the world’s best athletes including Jesse Owens for his 1936 Olympic gold medals and world records, Muhammad Ali in the “Fight of the Century”, David Beckham, and Steffi Graf, while also becoming iconic in the world of hip hop fashion, due in large part to Run DMC’s 1985 hit “My Adidas.” Creating a product that enhances the potential of its customer and a brand that has crossed boundaries, from function to fashion, is what makes Adidas the perfect subject to round out the “three characteristics” promotion series from Mohawk Options. This three-part series was developed to demonstrate how designers outside the graphic design community formulate their thinking, explore options and arrive at decisions that lead to incredible work. The subjects for each book were chosen because of their parallels to the qualities of Mohawk Options. Barbara Barry on Options, the first in the series, depicted beauty. The second piece, Rural Studio on Options, focused on sustainability. This finale, Adidas on Options, is a story of legendary performance. Among the world’s companies, none represents performance with more innovation and authenticity than Adidas, and Mohawk Options with Inxwell clearly parallels those qualities in this oversized perfect bound book designed by Chicago-based, VSA Partners. The book contains powerful, vibrant imagery. Showcasing the product from concept to completion, in the form of sketches, shoe parts, and energetic mid-action shots of famous athletes, this book visually tells the history of Adidas while revealing the creativity and technology pushing the product towards further superiority. “You would expect this level of color and detail to be printed on coated, but Options with Inxwell proves that you don’t have to sacrifice warmth, or that comfortable, well-made feel of uncoated, to get this kind of image quality,” says Jamie Koval, principal and president, VSA Partners. Steve Woods Printing Company, Phoenix, AZ, printed Adidas on Options, on a conventional press with conventional inks. The entire book was printed using 4/color process plus a second black, to reinforce the rich solid black backgrounds, and a series of overall and spot varnishes for rub protection. The book used a variety of Mohawk Options papers: dust jacket is Mohawk Options, Crystal White, Vellum, 80 text; cover is Mohawk Options, Crystal White, Smooth, 100 dtc; the text pages are Mohawk Options, Marble White and Crystal White, Smooth, 100 text. “Mohawk and Adidas are perfect parallels, both have a long history with an exemplary reputation for high quality and technological advances. Printing this book on Options was ideal. The paper performed perfectly, holding every detail – it lets you focus on the design of the product and the book rather than dot gain, ” says Koval. To receive a copy of this piece, contact your local merchant, specification representative or call 1-800-the-mill or visit www.mohawkpaper.com. Mohawk Options swatchbooks are also available upon request.