Cohoes, NY – Mohawk, North America’s largest privately-owned manufacturer of fine papers, envelopes and specialty substrates for commercial and digital printing, announces the publication of the eleventh issue of the Mohawk Maker Quarterly series, featuring content focused on the topic of process. 

Since the Mohawk Maker Quarterly’s debut in 2013, and with each subsequent issue, Mohawk and partner, Hybrid Design have explored the landscape of creative expression in print. In this latest issue we focus on process as our topic. The five chapters that make up issue eleven look at the process of making and the often circuitous journey involved. Each chapter maps the paths makers take to get from start to finish and how process can influence, shape and define the end product.

“The process of making something – method, materials, ingredients, artistry, experience – is the squiggly line between idea and object,” says Chris Harrold, VP and Creative Director at Mohawk. “We hope the Process Issue reveals how the journey itself can be the destination through the story of makers and creatives whose process defines their product.”

Dora Drimalas, Principal of Hybrid Design adds, “On the path from Point A to Point B, it’s the ‘to’ that makes all the difference. We spend a lot of time in the steps between concept and completion: sketching possibilities, refining the strongest ideas, crafting the details and executing the finished products. In this issue we’re mapping those paths in order to better understand how different techniques, tools, even workspaces, yield transformative work.”

Early in the design process, the team at Hybrid chose an 8.25 x 10.75” sketchbook size format to echo the theme of the issue. The 80 pages of issue eleven are made up of five signatures, showing five different Mohawk papers whose unique characteristics are a direct result of the papermaking process. Open, smyth sewn bindery and a tactile, rough edge trim all suggest an “in-process” feel for this issue. Throughout, the design team has incorporated expansive footnotes to bring the reader inside the process of making this special issue; from notes about paper, the creation of illustrations and even the volume of coffee consumed by the design team from start to finish.   

The Process Issue is divided into five chapters:

Chapter 1: Beginnings – Printed on Mohawk Via Felt, Light Gray 80 text/118gsm

Chapter 2: Participation – Printed on Mohawk Loop Antique Vellum, Husk 80 text/118gsm

Chapter 3: Place – Printed on Mohawk Options Smooth, 100% PC Cream White, 80 text/118gsm

Chapter 4: Practice – Printed on Mohawk Via Laid, Natural, 70 text/104gsm

Chapter 5: Product – Printed on Mohawk Loop Linen, Restful Blue, 70 text/104gsm 

Feature articles include:

• Out of Line: The Incredible Creative Impact of Sketching by Patrick Sisson –A closer look at how putting pen to paper in search of something new is a powerful creative catalyst.
• DIWHY? by Jordan Kushins –When our digital lives claim too much territory from our physical ones, do we as people become less defined?
• Process Defines Product by Bryn Moooth, Kirstin Jackson, Erin Osmon –From cheese to music to paper, the method of making is fundamental to that which is made.
• Inside the Mill a photo essay by Jeff Dey –Step inside the Mohawk Mills and see where four generations have built an American legacy of fine papermaking.
• Working to Code by John Dugan –For artist Tom Sachs, there is the right way, the wrong way, and his way.
• Creative Islands by Caleb Kozlowski –In a world of constant sharing isolation can be an unlikely catalyst for creative development.
• Design Thinking is Dead. Long Live Design by Dora Drimalas –Design is a whole brain exercise. And exercise that young designers may be missing in today’s factory system of design.
• The Movement: The Process is the Product – Sometimes process is core to the story of a product’s identity. The featured makers and their products elevate their process to art.

Mohawk Maker Quarterly issue eleven features the following makers:

• Speedvagen, Bike Builders, Portland, OR
• Vince Contarino, Artist, New York, NY
• Oblique Strategies,  Creative Redirection
• Ruffmercy,  Artist, Animator, Producer, Bristol, UK 
• Jack Vanzet, Artist, Designer, Melbourne, Australia
• Bureo Skateboards, Sustainable Skateboards, Los Angeles, CA
• Jay Nelson, Artist, San Francisco, CA
• Gregory Thielker, Painter, New York, NY
• Draw Down, Publishing House, New England

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 Text & Cover portfolio. 

The Mohawk Maker Quarterly issue eleven was skillfully printed by Sandy Alexander, Inc., Clifton, NJ, using four color printing, match green, match pink, match blue, match light blue and spot dull varnish. Bindery was artfully executed by Bassil Book Binding and Finishing, Hackensack, NJ. 

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