Discussion

By Alvaro Mantilla on Sep 20, 2024

And talking about paper... one of the most impressive industries I ever visited were some paper mills in Canada and in Chile. To see the whole process of paper making, from the trees, to the roll was incredible!

By Diane Dragoff on Sep 21, 2024

When I retired, no one wanted my sample books. I took a walk down memory lane and had to recycle them. Strathmore papers were my favorites.

I kept 2 versions of Pocket Pal. Just in case I need the info.

Thanks for your work.

By Bryan Gordon on Sep 26, 2024

Frank:
Loved the discussion of the mill paper swatch books. I retired after fifty-five years in the industry, but I still have over three dozen of those paper mill books. My office would not be the same without them. You did a great job on the editing of the Paper Pal book over the years. I would buy the Pocket Pal books off paper distributors in Detroit and Toledo at reduced prices and give them to my students at the community college in Ann Arbor. I did not make the students buy any other books for my classes. I still have several copies of the Pocket Pal, different editions, here in my office. I look forward to your next history lesson this coming Friday. Peace be with you Frank.

By Joe Treacy on Sep 26, 2024

Fantastic paper discussion, Frank.

I visited the Strathmore plant in Mass., in the ‘80s and thoroughly enjoyed both the sheer scale of it, and the marketing lessons.

Leading our tour group, Strathmore’s director of marketing provided some very interesting, surprisingly transparent perspectives on how they decided on which shades of white, eggshell, light grey and ‘vibrant’ pastel shades to manufacture.

Due to its Wove surfaces’ authenticity, Strathmore had already become my go-to textured, uncoated papers brand since its amazing advertising and exemplary swatchbooks and design brochures going back to the late ‘60s.

And, Crane!

Who could ever forget Crane’s truly magnificent ‘Crane’s Emporium 2’ deluxe box of sample sheets? Jaw-droppingly wonderful to behold, browse through and specify from. It has a permanent place of honor in my graphic arts reference library.

Also Weyerhauser, of course. And the specialty mills who produced velour stocks, foil and (gasp!) translucent sheets like UV Ultra II when that hit the market.

I looked forward to every visit by the paper rep, and loved exploring what was new and intriguing. Couldn’t get enough! I still have quite a lot of them, and love browsing them.

No matter the ever-present deadlines, we always made time for the paper reps.

Does anyone here know the specific printing companies who the mills like Strathmore and Crane hired to print and assemble their swatchbooks and specialty samples?

A swatchbook is such a detailed job and with the stepped interior pages, I’d think that not just any printer could (or want to) handle it.

And a mill like Strathmore maintained 9 or 10 different swatchbooks. Plus those great and always very helpful 12” x 18” sample sheets boxes!

Luxurious for a caring graphic designer.

I would think that a story or brief documentary about those printers who took on that fine printing and finishing would be great to see.

I’ve designed a lot of fonts, but I’ve always believed in the paramount importance of the worthiness of “the paper it’s printed on”, paraphrasing a longtime Strathmore tagline.

Thanks, Frank, and everyone.

Joe Treacy
Director of Typography
Treacyfaces.com

By Alvaro Mantilla on Sep 26, 2024

I had the honor of visiting CRANE in Albany NY a couple of years ago... it was like walking into the past, walking into the true "craftsmanship" of printing...