Monday, February 28, 2011

Get Well Soon...And Thanks For Sharing

Now that's what I am talking about....way to go Boyne Mountain Ski Patrol!

My friend and graphic designer-turned jewelry designer, Robin Smith of DesignSmith in Spring Lake, had a bit of an accident on the slopes of Boyne Mountain a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately when she fell, her bindings did not release, and she heard the dreaded knee "pop".

Yep, she was one of the unlucky few to make the trip the rest of the way down the mountain in a ski patrol sled. Which by the way, according to Robin, was terrifying.

Robin got this card in the mail from the ski patrol director last week.





It's nice to see someone using the power of paper, even if it is following a not-so-great-experience on the slopes. Good use of a paper card, direct mail and the USPS. And props to Boyne Mountain for their awesome follow through.

Robin will having ACL replacement surgery in late March.

The folks at CMP wish you a super speedy recovery.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

All Good Things Must Come To An End

But can lead to exciting new beginnings!

Gail Watts, CMP's resident "mom" baked a cake for Bill Benson. 

Yesterday CMP got together to celebrate the retirement of one of our long time mill representatives, Bill Benson, of  Wausau Coated. How fun! It isn't every day we say farewell to someone who has been an integral part of our coated label paper sales for more than 20 years, so it made for a special occasion.

And yet another reason to eat cake. So much for those New Year's resolutions.

Originally Bill was our rep for another pressure sensitive supplier, and when he switched over to Wausau Coated, so did we. How's that for loyalty? We've had a great working relationship and friendship with him over the years. We asked what he was going to do in his retirement and Bill told us that he and his wife Donna recently renovated their cottage on Washington Island, WI into a year round home. They now plan to live there and spend time sailing, fishing, and hiking. Not one to just sit back and relax, Bill tells us he has also joined the Lions Club on the island and is training to be a Coast Guard volunteer.

We are all hoping he saves a little time to just relax.

L to R:  John Barbour, Bill Benson, Gail & Larry Watts, Chris Cutter, Glenn Bechard

Bill says "Goodbye" to CMP, and we say "Hello" to Glenn

CMP is now looking forward to a new beginning with Glenn Bechard, our newest Wausau Coated rep. Having spent time at Curtis Paper, Cross Pointe and several other mills, Glenn brings with him years of paper industry experience. We look forward to putting that knowledge to use, and to many great years ahead. Welcome, Glenn!

While it is a little bittersweet for us, the CMP team wishes Bill a healthy and happy retirement.  You will be missed, old friend! And oh by the way...we are totally jealous.






Monday, February 21, 2011

Just Passing Along.....Processed Identity


Have you seen the website called Processed Identity yet?

I recently got a tweet about an article Laura Shore, of Mohawk Fine Papers, wrote for Processed Identity.  Having attended several spec seminars given by Laura over the years, I know that she always has something interesting to say. This article makes some good points about design, the future of print and of course, paper. See the full article http://bit.ly/i55zS2.
"While we may be moving toward a paper-less society—I don’t expect we will ever see a paper-free society. But where we do use paper these days, we need it to count." --Laura Shore

After working in print for many years, Laura Shore now oversees social media, branding and e-commerce at Mohawk Fine Papers. She recently developed the design blog and marketplace, Felt and Wire.  If you haven't already checked it out, please do. In my opinion, you can never have too many sources of inspiration.

And maybe I am the last to know about the Processed Identity website, but just in case you haven't seen it either I wanted to share. It was launched in 2010 by Steve Zelle, a visual brand identity designer with over twenty years of experience designing and developing his creative process with clients. He currently operates as idApostle, based in Ottawa, Canada. His personal interest in the creative process and the increase in both availability and popularity of stock logos and “brands” that can be downloaded instantly, inspired him to create Processed Identity.

Processed Identity's Goals:
  • to highlight the benefits a customized and structured process can achieve
  • to become a source of information for clients
  • to provide a source of inspiration for identity designers
  • to impart to young designers starting out, the value of the creative process
The spirit of the site is to share, encourage, and discuss in a thoughtful, mindful manner with respect for all contributors. Most of the content for the site is developed by designers willing to share their experiences and insights.

Got an idea or thought you want to share? If you would like to contribute to Processed Identity, there are a number of ways you can do that through the contribute tab on the website. West Michigan has great talent, and great ideas. I hope to be reading one of your articles on Processed Identity's website soon! 

In fact, send me a tweet @cmpaper when you do. I'll help spread the word.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Color Trends and Local Talent

I thought I'd share a recent blog post I came across from Jude Stewart called RDA Color Trends, From Coast to Coast on Imprint-The Online Community for Graphic Designers. In it she highlights some local award winning work and summarizes the latest nationwide color trends, as seen in Print’s Regional Design Annual 2010.

Her color picks:
  • Strong yellow with hot pink
  • The new browns: cardboard, buff and sepia
  • Sky-blue
  • Honey-bees and tuxedos: yellow with B&W
  • Super-dark purples
  • The new CMYK and alternate rainbows

And she just happens to feature some local West Michigan work, People Design's commemorative Artprize poster. How cool is that?

According to Stewart, "While not exactly a new trend, more than a few projects from this year’s RDA turned to natural-pulp paper and a related palette of soft browns. It’s a durable trend for many reasons, several of which are unusually relevant right now. Browns are warm, rich and tactile –a luxurious feel on the cheap. Their almost living texture (whether actual in print work or suggested in web projects) makes an equally fitting background for crisp, “produced” messages or handmade stamping or other crafty angles. Browns and tans hint at heritage, authenticity, craftmanship, credibility and Americana. They push that right optimistic button, suggesting a blank slate to be filled with fresh, even noble ideas, whether that expresses itself as corkboard, parchment, wood, concrete or butcher drawing paper."  Check out the full article: http://bit.ly/fmg0Yj

Be sure to check out French 's Speckletone & Dur-O-Tone lines, Mohawk 's new Loop Antique Vellum and Wausau's Royal Fiber for papers that CMP offers in that natural, rich brown palette.

And a big thumbs up to People Design from your CMP fans!

P.S. Here is the link to Print's Regional Design Annual 2010. Kind of exciting that RDA is online for the first time in its thirty year history. http://bit.ly/gHQD7L

Monday, February 14, 2011

Playing With Paper for Valentine's Day....


A sample of handmade paper fun.
Thank you Grace, for the example.

You are probably aware it is Valentine's Day today, right? I mean how could you not know when it's been weeks of red hearts, boxed candy and Valentine's day decorations displayed at every store.

But did you know the day is named after an early Christian martyr, Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD? Wikipedia calls it a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards known as valentines.

Originally valentines were personal and were handmade and handcrafted with love. Unfortunately most handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

That's why last week CMP brought the fine art of Playing With Paper to the members of Gilda's Club. Several ladies made handmade valentines out of the beautiful colors of French, Mohawk & Wausau Papers. My friend, and local designer, Gayle Raymer came along to offer up some creative support.

I'm pretty sure she will agree it is so cool to watch how "Playing With Paper" brings out the creativity in everyone, even those who believe they don't have a creative side. Paper is fun!

If your office would like to "Play With Paper" for any upcoming holiday, like Easter, Mother's Day, spring birthdays or even just to make personalized thank you notes, let us know. We'd be more than happy to share our paper love.

Oh yeah, and Happy Valentine's Day!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

60-second Super-Cool Fold of the Week #86

Check out this fold. What a great way to get all your information in one handy package. I'm thinking hospitals, universities....the possibilities are endless.



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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Did You Know...Our Standard Paper Size Was Made Official By Reagan?

Why is the standard paper size in the U.S. 8 ½" x 11"?


Back in the late 1600's, the Dutch invented the two-sheet mold. The average maximum stretch of an experienced vatman's arms was 44". Many molds at that time were around 17" front to back because the laid lines and watermarks had to run from left to right. Sounds big?...well to maximize the efficiency of paper making, a sheet this big was made, and then quartered, forming four 8.5" x 11" pieces.

This was well before paper machines dominated hand made paper labor. A couple centuries later when machines dominated the trade (although many hand made paper makers still existed), and the United States decided on a standard paper size, they stuck with the same size so as to keep the hand made paper makers in business.

Oddly enough, the United States used two different sizes - the 8" x 10.5" and the 8.5" x 11". Separate committees came up with separate standards, the 8" x 10.5" for the government and the 8.5" x 11" for the rest of us. Once these committees found out about each other a couple years later, they agreed to disagree until the early 1980's when Reagan finally proclaimed that the 8.5" x 11" was the official standard sized paper.

Read full article here: http://www.afandpa.org/paper.aspx?id=511

Monday, February 7, 2011

Maybe, Just Maybe....

...Wishes do come true!

Remember my post from last Monday about bringing back the lost art of sending Thank You notes? http://bit.ly/e49dJE

Well, I just happened to be scheduled for some outpatient surgery last week, and it was quite a surprise when two days later I got a thank you note in the mail from the Spectrum Health Surgical Team. It was hand signed and included personal notes from my nurses and some of the other staff.

How cool is that?

This notecard is actually printed on white paper.
Not so sure about my camera skills.

Even though the surgery itself was a bust, the notecard left a great lasting impression. Oh, the power of paper and personalization!
Awesome.

Have you sent one lately?

Friday, February 4, 2011

A Look Back...

Terri Spaulding, CMP
...And a leap forward!


I have recently become a certified social media strategist for CMP. And while some people might think that is a bit of an oxymoron (since I am a paper rep and social media does not use much paper), I disagree. There are several solid concepts that social media marketing and paper specification are founded on.... relationships, partnering, and earning trust.

For 23 years, I have worked to build and maintain relationships with designers, partnered with printing sales reps, mill reps and printers, and earned trust by working to ensure the right paper always gets selected for the job. I believe that print is definitely not dead, and that direct mail marketing is a relevant and effective choice in combination with social media marketing. So the way I see it, the combination of paper specification rep and social media strategist, is kinda perfect.

What inspires me about using social media for CMP is the opportunity to connect with designers in a new way. I can take my knowledge of paper, my desire to grow valuable relationships, and my interest in the right brained creative world, to another dimension. Maybe one that includes less "face time" with designers and specifiers, but still a way to work together in this ever-growing digital world. There are many tips, tools, and links that I run across that the “nowness" of social media allows me to share more quickly, and perhaps even more effectively, than doing it in person.

Years ago there was always something new to share about paper. New colors, new textures and new grades of paper came out regularly, and everyone wanted to see them. There were endless mill promotions, annual reports and identity samples to share. But things are different now. Instead of new grades, I talk of mill consolidations and grade reductions, recycled paper and sustainability, environmental concerns and certifications, and every now and then, something new.

Social media is my chance to stay connected with you and to continue to grow our relationship. I really do want CMP to be your first stop for all things paper!

Change is inevitable. Some changes are good, some are not so good,  and some are just different. I’m not even going to pretend I don't miss the "face time" I used to have with designers.

But, this social media gig has me working on some really cool possibilities/ ideas/ partnerships. I cannot wait to share them with you. I pledge to continue to make paper fun and to promote print.

I hope you will stay tuned.

Follow Terri on twitter @cmpaper and “ like” CMP (Central Michigan Paper ) on FB for additional  updates and information.