HAMILTON, Ohio—October 3, 2005— North American graphics professionals can obtain a free new, 134-page, six-color desktop weekly 2006 Agenda Calendar from SMART Papers and Magnum Photos. The popular, spiral-bound calendar, now in its seventh consecutive year, features recent never-before-published photos of New York City and is the only Magnum agenda calendar available for the coming year. The 10.5 x 7.5-inch calendar is available free while supplies last by registering at www.smartpapers.com/newyork. The calendar will be shipped beginning in November. In addition to serving as a daily-use scheduling and planning tool for graphics pros, the agenda calendar is an exhibit of the best hometown work of Magnum Photos, the venerable New York-based newsphoto cooperative; a design showcase for the work of Emerson, Wajdowicz Studios, New York; and a print demonstration for SMART Papers premium coated and uncoated printing papers. “We wanted to create a sophisticated tribute to the world’s greatest city,” said SMART Papers CEO and President Tim Needham. “This piece depicts the energy, diversity and soul of New York City through compelling photography, design, premium papers and best-practice printing techniques.” “We wanted to make sure this was not just another sappy love letter or clichéd photo tribute to New York, ” added creative director Jurek Wajdowicz. “Magnum’s central role in this project ensured we would be able to showcase fresh, original photos that are often captivating, inspiring, unexpected and thought provoking.” The agenda calendar is the fourth collaborative project between SMART Papers and Magnum Photos. Designed and produced by Emerson, Wajdowicz Studios, New York City, the calendar is a collection of new and distinctive art and news photos—most of which are published for the first time. Rather than selecting photos from the extensive Magnum Photos archives, the calendar showcases almost all new photos of New York, with only a small number of archived photos. The photographs were taken by 18 Magnum photojournalists including Alex Webb, Constantine Manos, Thomas Hoepker, Alex Majoli and Jonas Bendiksen. “We organized, designed and edited the agenda calendar as a cinematographic journey of sorts,” said Wajdowicz. “We wanted to take the users of this calendar on a visual and intellectual tour. The images reflect the diversity of New York City, its elegance, edginess and quirkiness.” The calendar was produced under the creative direction of Jurek Wajdowicz and Lisa LaRochelle and designed by LaRochelle, Wajdowicz and Yoko Yoshida. Blanchette Press of Richmond B.C., Canada, printed the piece on a Heidelberg 6-color press. Five colors and an aqueous coating were used on the cover and photo pages; the agenda pages were printed two-color. The agenda calendar is a print demonstration of five different paper stocks from SMART Papers including Kromekote One-Side Cover/14-pt.; Kromekote Two-Side Cover/6-pt.; Kromekote Brushed Silver Foil/13-pt.; Pegasus Brilliant White Smooth/100-lb. Text and SMART Brights Electric Orange 65-lb. Cover Vellum. Kromekote, long respected by printers and designers for its luxury print quality and ease of printability, augments the impact and aesthetic of high-quality photos. The Pegasus sheets used for the agenda pages are super-smooth, heavy and bright white. "You need all four strong components—incredible design, photography, printing and paper—to make a project like this a complete success," said Peg Meyer, marketing manager for SMART Papers, who supervised the calendar press run with Wajdowicz in Vancouver, B.C. A 4-color printing process on Kromekote Brushed Silver Foil produced a unique look for the calendar’s seasonal dividers. “The colored ink on Kromekote’s brushed silver foil showed the beauty and strength of the artwork—and it really showed what can be done with this paper,” said Wajdowicz. “It was easy to print and had excellent ink holdout.” Wajdowicz also said the piece shows off the artistic capabilities and cost-effectiveness of the papers when the total print budget is taken into account. “Our objective was to do beautiful printing that purposefully wasn’t over the top. We wanted to push the envelope in printing but remain conscious that print budgets today must be realistic.”