PaperSpecs collaborates with Un-studio, Neenah Paper, and Full Circle Press to create an interactive gift that had PaperSpecs PRO members coloring outside the lines in celebration of spring.

Palo Alto, California – April 11, 2013 – “After the record-breaking storms and grey skies of winter in so many parts of the nation, I wanted to do something special with my passionate PaperSpecs PRO members,” says Sabine Lenz, founder of PaperSpecs.com, “something that would spark a group celebration of spring.”

Since Lenz’s online community is all about making the world a better place through great design and outstanding paper choices, that “something” would involve a unique printed concept. Dubbed Color & Share, the project became an interactive gift.

Lenz collaborated with the talented design team at Un-studio (San Francisco) to create a series of three letterpress-printed postcards. Each card contains original illustrations of birds, flowers and plants inspired by a corresponding theme (sing, bloom and grow). But there was one thing noticeably (and intentionally) missing: the color so evocative of spring.

“We invited our PaperSpecs PRO members to add their own colorful mark on the cards with whatever medium put them in a playful, happy frame of mind – markers, watercolors, charcoal, pens, crayons, color pencils, pastels ... even nail polish!” laughs Lenz.

Full Circle Press (Nevada City, CA) printed the postcards on tactile Crane’s Lettra Cover – the illustration outlines done in a very subtle shade of blue (PMS 7457). As members individualized each element on the cards with the colors and media of their choice, that light blue outline seemed to vanish.

“Naturally, we wanted to see what our members created so we asked them to take snapshots of their finished postcards and share them with us. The results have been stunning.”

The colorful contributions can be found on the PaperSpecs Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PaperSpecs.

To watch a video of how the postcards were conceived, printed and then colored by the design team, be sure to visit: http://www.paperspecs.com/26629/color-and-share/.

“We’d love to keep the spring celebration going,” says Lenz, “so any new PaperSpecs PRO members will also receive a set of Color & Share cards.”

To become a PaperSpecs PRO member, simply visit: http://www.paperspecs.com.