Cohoes, NY – Mohawk, North America’s largest privately-owned manufacturer of fine papers, envelopes and specialty substrates for commercial and digital printing, introduced the thirteenth issue of its celebrated Mohawk Maker Quarterly at AIGA’s annual Design Conference in Minneapolis. Each issue of the Mohawk Maker Quarterly relies on a single word for its creative framework. In issue thirteen, that word is disruption. Consistent with the ongoing strategy behind the publication, issue thirteen seeks to provide thought-provoking inspiration for graphic designers around the world through engaging content and well-considered design on paper.

Issue thirteen may have been the most challenging issue to date. That’s because the term “disruption” is so commonly used that it’s lost its meaning. Bandied about business culture as the term-du-jour, disruption has earned more than a few eye rolls and for good reason. Despite this troublesome ubiquity, disruption’s essence of exploration, discovery and revolution are successfully recaptured in issue thirteen. To do this, the team at Hybrid Design went looking for thinkers and doers who are upending the world as we know it. These iconoclasts are reframing the way we consider such basic concepts as time, ownership and success. They’re redefining images, spaces and perceptions in radical ways.

“Let’s shed our assumptions about disruption and get back to its fundamental concept: that opportunity often hides in plain sight. Disruption happens when we pay deeper attention to what we think we know,” says Dora Drimalas, Principal of Hybrid Design. “Disruption is sudden and unexpected – that’s what makes it so powerful. And it’s ephemeral – disruptive ideas and products eventually become ordinary, so enmeshed in our culture that we can’t remember life without them.”

Chris Harrold, VP Creative Director at Mohawk adds, “We at Mohawk have never lost sight of this word’s meaning and relevance; disruption is part of our DNA. In an industry that some people consider outdated, we have a history of introducing new technologies and products before the market recognizes their potential.”

For issue thirteen, the team at Hybrid chose a 9.75x13.25” format which is perfect-bound and affixed to a cover/carrier featuring a tear strip which (metaphorically) forces the reader to “disrupt” the cover to gain access to the content. Inside, a pocket holds a one-of-a-kind 9x12” art print along with a small, 5.5x8.5” zine as well as the main book which is tape bound. Each element in this issue could be a stand-alone print and paper demonstration: the cover/carrier features mirror foil and rich, black print along with structural, die cut elements that evoke packaging; the main book is all about conventional offset printing at its finest on Mohawk’s flagship Superfine Eggshell; the zine insert uses three very different types of Mohawk paper along with simple offset printing alongside UV white ink and 4-color printing; and last but not least the 9x12” art print captures printing disruption at its 2017-best using HP Mosaic randomization software to create 20,000 one-of-a-kind, numbered art prints imaged on Superfine Eggshell i-Tone and printed on an HP Indigo 12000 press. 

Feature articles include:

• Future Islands by John Dugan –Repurposing America’s dying malls by bringing urbanist thinking to non-urban environments
• Art & Algorithm by Bryn Mooth –Leveraging design and variable-data technology to produce one-of-a-kind art prints
• Give it Away by Patrick Sisson –Can democratized ideation and production become a designers best friend?
• Course Correction by John Capone –How Lou Preston’s family winery evolved to become Preston Farm and Winery
• Chopped and Screwed by Erin Osmon –How groundbreaking innovation (and creative hacks) democratized music making
• Hacking Time by Caleb Kozlowski –Time is more fluid than we all realize – and we may be thinking about it all wrong
• Perfect Imperfection by Jesse Kuhn –Reframing the way we think about food with California-based Imperfect Produce
• The Movement:  Look Again –Every issue we celebrate makers of all types, in this issue we chose makers whose work challenges our expectations
• Fat Tire Flyer by Charlie Kelly – The introduction of the mountain bike and how it changed the bicycle industry

Mohawk Maker Quarterly issue thirteen features the following makers:

• Emerging Objects, 3D Printing Studio, San Francisco, CA
• Zero Likes, Visuals created by AI, @zero_likes, Sam Hains, Melbourne, Australia
• J Henry Fair, Photographer, NYC and Berlin
• Gordon Matta Clark, Photographer, New York, NY  
• Flavor Paper & UM Project, New York, NY
• KUF studios, Multidisciplinary Design Studio, London, UK
• Kouhei Nakama, Visual Art Director, Tokyo, Japan
• Melissa McCracken, Artist, Kansas City, KS

The Disruption Issue features the following paper + printing techniques:

Main Book

• Cover: Mohawk Options, Navajo Smooth, Brilliant White, 130 Double Thick Cover (352 gsm) Die Cut + Offset + Foil Stamp
• Pages 1-32: Mohawk Superfine, Eggshell, Ultrawhite, 70 Text (104 gsm), Conventional Offset
• Insert: Mohawk Skytone, Vellum Parchment, Pink Ice, 60 Text (89 gsm), Conventional Offset

Fat Tire Flyer

• Cover: Strathmore Enhance, Ultimate White, 80 Cover (216 gsm), Conventional Offset
• Pages 3-10, 23-30: Mohawk Via, Smooth, Natural, 70 Text (104 gsm), Conventional Offset
• Pages 11-22: Mohawk BriteHue, Vellum, Blue, 60 Text (89 gsm), UV Offset

Merijn Hos, Numbered Art Print (1 of 20,000 variable designs)

• Mohawk Superfine, Eggshell Digital with i-Tone, Ultrawhite, 120 Cover (324 gsm), HP Indigo 12000

Established in 2013, the Mohawk Maker Quarterly has been enthusiastically received by makers and creatives worldwide. What began as a celebration of the culture of craft by highlighting the beauty and tactility of fine paper, the Mohawk Maker Quarterly has evolved into an award-winning publication showcasing thoughtful editorial features, compelling design, and benchmark printing techniques on a variety of distinctive colored and textured papers which demonstrate the range of Mohawk’s expansive Fine Paper portfolio. 

The Mohawk Maker Quarterly issue thirteen was skillfully printed by Sandy Alexander, Inc., Clifton, NJ, using four color printing, match blue, match fluorescent pink, match fluorescent purple, white UV inks and spot dull varnish. Foil stamping and bindery were completed by Mid Island Bindery, Inc., Farmingdale, NY.

To learn more about the publication or to sign up to receive future issues of the Mohawk Maker Quarterly, visit www.mohawkconnects.com/cultureofcraft.