Not too long ago, print was the pariah of the green movement. Piles of catalogues and reams of newspapers destined for landfill seemed fated to be replaced by the electronic word. The paperless office of the future beckoned.

Well, print’s place has certainly changed. That you are reading this on your digital device is proof of that. But ink on paper has also come a long way.

Hemlock Printers recently asked Unicycle Creative for a simple brochure to remind people of the more sustainable side of printing. As one of North America’s most environmentally conscientious printers, they have some good backup for this claim, including carbon-neutral certification and a program that even lets you buy carbon offsets for you print project. And new digital technology means more precise quantities and much less waste.

The symbol we chose to deliver this message was the humble beaver. Hard-working and rooted in nature, yet certainly a consumer of fiber. In the most sustainable way.

Choose the right technology, the right paper and the right printer, and using print in your communications mix need not be a blemish on your sustainability report.

If you want to find out more about where, when and how to use print strategically, drop me a line. For more on the sustainability of print, recycled stocks and digital technology, talk to Hemlock.

If you have a tree you need taken down on your property, we have a connection for that, too.

Make a visit to Honest Ed’s Bargain store on Toronto’s Bloor Street and you are instantly transported back to an almost impossibly innocent era of extra buttered popcorn, cars without seatbelts and genuine retail optimism. This magical feeling, in large part, is due to the proliferation of hand-painted signs on everything in the store. From a basket of 99¢ ‘leather’ wallets to a 10-foot high cuckoo clock, literally every piece of in-store communication is lettered by a (very talented) human being with a brush.

So why wouldn’t they just use a digital printer like everyone else? Honest Ed Mirvish was one of the original rags-to-riches entrepreneurs – perhaps he just never wanted to spend money on a computer. But perhaps he knew that a real bargain has to feel like a bargain, not a cheap rip-off. And perhaps he had an intuitive sense that hand-lettered signs would someday play a part in differentiating his store from the big-box retail annihilators that would eventually sweep most of his kind from almost every town and city on the planet.

When is the last time you saw a real hand-painted sign? Looking closely you can actually see the imperfections and brush strokes on each individual letter, yet the fonts are remarkably consistent, and each stroke is confident and clean. If you have every tried to paint your own ‘Garage Sale’ sign, you will know just how difficult this is.

I am a self-admitted non-big-box shopper. Yet in Ed’s Honest environment I found myself happily buying souvenirs for my family back in Vancouver, while marveling at the unique range of items offered. (Purple tuxedo vests anyone?) I chalk this feeling up to a sense of escapism, from the supply-chain-paranoid world of globalization back to a simpler era. The fact that Ed’s itself is an independent brand has much to do with it, but I think there’s more.

What these signs add is a sense of humanity that no number of ghoulish, price-dropping WalMart happy faces can ever hope to emulate. People are employed. A sense of beautiful handmade imperfection is brought to the retail environment. Maybe it’s OK to get a bargain once in a while, and enjoy shopping again.

On second thought, I hope WalMart never reads this.

——-

For graphic designers, sign geeks or anyone who doesn’t believe humans could possibly paint this many signs, this excellent blog from the Torontonian takes you inside the world of Honest Ed’s in-store signwriters: http://torontoist.com/2009/04/boards_of_ed.php

There’s fair trade, there’s direct trade, then there’s coffee bought straight from the farmer at a single family plantation in Atenas, Costa Rica. With such a singular product and such a genuine story to tell, Unicycle Creative was stoked to have the opportunity to name this unique blend and design its packaging.

I wanted to communicate the intimacy of this supply-chain in a way that was both fresh and human. When I found out that the name of the matriarch of the farm was ‘Sole’ and that the word has the same meaning in Costa Rican Spanish as in English, I knew I had to look no further for the perfect branding.

Using images from a Juanita, a photographer and friend of the family farm, and working remotely with my client, I designed labels for medium and dark roast varieties using portraits of ‘mama’ Sole and ‘papa’ Gerardo.

My client, Primal Echo, is based out of Fort Collins Colorado. Ana Arias, the Primal Echo ‘Chief Monkey’, actually grew up in Costa Rica and is using her local roots to design a whole line of artisan products from the ground up. Because of the limited initial quantities, Ana elected to use adhesive labels printed locally and applied to the bags. So it was that I ended up sending press-ready PDF’s all the way to San Jose Costa Rica where they were printed by Duenografica.

When Ana sent pictures of our label subjects actually holding the packages at the farm, I was incredibly pleased with both the graphic outcome and the miracle of Internet technology.

To have designed a package in Vancouver Canada for a client from Fort Collins Colorado which was printed and produced in Central America brings the whole world closer together.

But now I really think it’s time for a trip to the farm…

Find out more about Primal Echo, Sole Coffee, and the family farm on Ana’s blog here. To order online, visit PrimalEcho.com To talk more about supply-chain-conscious branding, drop me a line.

If you have ever visited Vancouver’s famous Kits beach, you may have stared at this time-warped woodie road trip machine and wondered if it even runs. Not only does it run, it runs far. From Vancouver to Ottawa to Mexico City in fact – and that’s just one of its many long-distance accomplishments. So when the opportunity arose for me to do a brochure for this Vancouver classic, how could I resist?

It’s called Tevie’s Termite Taxi, and it’s a 1947 Chrysler Town & Country wood-paneled sedan, still running on its original motor and transmission. Tevie Smith is the car’s owner and pilot, and even with 300,000+ miles on the dial he still drives the car almost daily.

I first met Tevie when he agreed to let us photograph the car for the CD package I was designing for the Bent Nails Band. Vancouver shooter extraordinaire Clinton Hussey captured the quirky essence of the group and the car perfectly, and on a couple of extra frames shot the Termite Taxi with its real owner as well.

A few months later, Tevie called me with the idea of updating his brochure with some of Clinton’s shots. We secured the rights to use them again (Thanks, Clinton!) and I also got to go through a lifetime of scrapbook shots with Tevie to help fill out the story of this remarkable car.

I decided to approach the piece as if I was designing a brochure for a whole new car brand, photoshopping the original Chrysler hood emblem as our marque. Then, armed with fonts, textures and stats from the past, I created a retro brochure that might still somehow look at home in a showroom today.

Hemlock Printers ran it on their Indigo Digital Press – it wasn’t a large run – and now Tevie has a piece to hand out the crowds of tire-kickers that invariably stop every time he attends a car show. Or even just takes his dogs for a ride to the corner store.

Sometimes I think I spend too much time worrying about every little sustainable thing. This was a project that I did purely for the love of design, for the sheer audacity of the vehicle and out of respect for an individual that lives life on his own terms.

It’s a message of pure joy and life on the road. And that’s worth a bit of time, energy and paper to share with the world.

On the evening of Friday December 3rd, over 400 guests filled the pressroom at Hemlock Printers for hParty1.0 – a gala open house and technology launch event. Besides toasting over 40 years of leadership in the printing industry, the crowd was on hand to witness the launch of a ‘new communications platform’, which promised to bridge the print/digital divide. The room was aglow, the atmosphere electric. Like something out of an alternate Steve Jobs universe, the hPad burst into life on the video screen to applause, astonishment and… laughter?

Under all that hype, Hemlock launched…. a note pad.

The irony of the event was not lost on the crowd of designers, clients, businesspeople and agency types. Invitations had come via a combination of customized postcards, personalized Nametag™ RSVP web pages and email follow-up. Visitors were toured through Hemlock’s sophisticated digital printing, offset printing and web response facilities. And the hPad video itself is now racking up hits on YouTube.

So how and why would Hemlock use old-school technology to tell the world about their integrated digital offering?

Full disclosure: Unicycle Creative was the agency who partnered with Hemlock on the development of the hPad and hParty theme. The idea began as a beer-lunch quip by Vice President of Client Services Richard Kouwenhoven that rapidly scope-crept into a full-fledged invitation campaign, notebook brochure design, and launch video.

The strength of using such a classic platform is two-fold. First, the Hemlock brand is rooted in fine printing tradition. We felt it was important to affirm print’s place in the marketing mix by showing just how flexible, affordable, reliable and sustainable it really is when compared with digital alternatives. Secondly, we wanted to get attention for Hemlock’s digital strengths with a bit of wit, humour and impact. We felt taking a few lighthearted shots at the latest gadgetry would appeal to the purist tech geeks as much as the traditionalists.

So if you have a brand with a traditional background, don’t be too quick to abandon it. Even if your message itself is highly technical. A thoughtful blend of the old and the new can have even more impact than the latest bright shiny object.

To find out more about their digital print vision and printing services, visit Hemlock.com.

To get your own hPad, go deeper on the hParty1.0 branding, or talk marketing strategy, send me (Lorne Craig) an email here at Green Briefs.

Thanks to Don Barnard for his stellar shooting and editing on the hPad video; and to James Spooner, Peter Clarke and Gord Lord at GGRP for their magnificent sound design.

Hemlock Printers is one of North America’s most advanced print shops, having won numerous awards and being named The most Environmentally Progressive Printer in Canada. Yet when they launched  NameTag™ Print Response Marketing, we decided to make the message as simple as a whiteboard sketch.

Nametag™ combines the power of customized direct-mail with the sophistication and tracking of online response, working with mailing lists, customizing messaging and printing digital direct-mail with variable data almost anywhere on the material. A Nametag URL and password is then personalized for each recipient. When customers enter these online, they are welcomed with their own web page, branded with custom graphics. They can RSVP, order on-line, answer a survey… the possibilities are endless. (See what we mean about complex? Just watch the video…!)

If you use direct-mail, you should have a look at this service. Better response means less waste, and that’s always a good thing. Find out more at Hemlock.com.

Unicycle Creative came up with the NameTag™ handle and branding, and the video concept. Then shot the piece in-house with Lorne Craig’s steady marker hand at the controls. Sound design was provided by GGRP.

When I bought my new MacBook Pro, I knew there would be a few necessary accessories, such as cable adapters. I needed two – one to help the new firewire 800 port talk to my old Firewire devices, the other to ensure my screen output could speak VGA.
The Firewire adapter is made by a company called Moshi, while the monitor adapter is made by Apple. Now, I love Apple, and I appreciate that they are, among other things, working to eliminate toxic substances from their manufacturing. But when it comes to simple packaging, they have a long way to go.
At the store level, the packaging did a good job of expressing the simplicity and elegance of the Apple brand. A white-backed plastic bag presented the adapter like a minimalist piece of sculpture, all anchored by a formal black card which introduced it with appropriate gravitas. Ooooh. Aaaah.
But when I got it home I had to wrestle the card apart as it was held fast by some NASA-strength adhesive, which made even the thick, black-coated cardboard impossible to recycle. The plastic bag was likewise unmarked as blue-box worthy. The only piece of the packaging that was recyclable was the paper spec sheet – information which could have easily been printed inside the cardboard top piece, thus eliminating the need for it in the first place. Bad Apple.
By contrast, the Moshi Firewire adapter came in a tidy, compact, uncoated cardboard box. Which, as noted on the package itself, was made from recycled post-consumer waste. There was one piece of plastic which acted as the ‘window’, but this came apart easily for recycling. Nary a drop of glue to be fought. This package also featured a web address for Moshi, where I was able to learn more about their environmental initiatives.  Score one for the little guy.
Apple takes so many things to the next level. Why not environmental packaging? If anyone can make green beautiful and functional, it should be Apple.
Call me, Steve.

Apple packaging very trashy. Moshi not so much.

I recently completed a very fun project, the CD and package design for The Bent Nails, a band I have been involved with off and on for more years than I care to admit. I have always rather detested the classic ‘jewel case’, so I was eager to find a solution that was more compact and environmentally-friendly, but still provided room to feature the unique character of the band. In the age of downloads, the CD format itself may well be destined for the tar-pits (see comparison below) but it’s hard to sell downloads at a gig.

Working with Hemlock Printers, I found a cardboard sleeve that could be digitally printed on FSC-Certified 100% post-consumer-waste recycled stock and sealed with a small perforated transparent tab to avoid plastic shrink-wrapping (and the inevitable search for a machete to cut it open after five minutes of futile fingernail-fraying frustration)

Further discussions with the printer revealed that there was ample room on the press sheet for a few more items to be printed. In a fit of design efficiency I wedged in a postcard, a coaster and two business cards, all printed in full colour on both sides. I’m sure some cutter operator at Hemlock is still cursing my name.

The result is a coordinated package of material which, thanks to the photographic mastery of Clinton Hussey, captures the eclectic, rootsy blues feel of the band without toasting too many trees.

What about the carbon footprint of the whole CD and DVD process?

A recent whitepaper on the Environmental Leader website, sponsored by Microsoft and Intel, examined the carbon footprint of music delivery methods, all the way down to the final trip home in your car. They found that purchasing music digitally reduced CO2 emissions associated with delivering music to consumers by 40-80 percent, as compared to buying a CD at retail. Of course, as a study funded by two giants of the digital delivery industry, they probably measured against a Hummer driver cruising to a cross-town mall at rush hour, buying a double-plastic-wrapped anniversary edition of Devo’s Greatest Hits complete with commemorative plastic hat.

I like to think if you took the bus to the Bent Nails Gig at the Cottage Bistro (4468 Main Street, Vancouver) on October 17th and bought one of our 100% recycled-packaging  CD’s straight from the band, the carbon footprint would be almost equal.

Production Notes:

Design: Lorne Craig, Unicycle Creative
Producer: Shelley Stevens
Photography: Clinton Hussey
Printing: Hemlock Printers – Digital 4 Colour Process both sides.
Stock: 130lb Mohawk Options Cover PC White 100%PC FSC RECYCLED
Car: The Termite Taxi – Original 1947 Chrysler Town & Country, courtesy Tevie Smith

In 1995, a young diver named Chad Pregracke decided to clean up the Mississippi River – armed with just one boat and a boatload of nerve.
His organization, Living Lands and Waters, has since grown into a national crusade, with thousands of volunteers picking up millions of pounds of garbage from America’s waterways.
Vancouver-based Hemlock Printers, with presenting sponsor Sappi Papers, is bringing Chad to Vancouver and Victoria March 3rd and 4th. It’s the latest in Hemlock’s popular Paper’n'Eggs breakfast series, and they asked Unicycle Creative to develop the branding and invitation for the event.
It was a delightful opportunity to combine the sunny-side-up brand of the breakfast series format with the genuine grit, personality and humour of Chad Pregracke’s presentation.
Once the idea was approved, I had a weekend to find a photographer and a bunch of trash. Hans Sipma agreed to make his studio my temporary dumping ground. Arno Apeldoorn rolled up his sleeves for the high-res photoshop work. Robert Pascal at MB Superior Recycling started me out with the barrel and metal bacon strips. The rest of the trash, including tires, was somewhat depressingly easy to come by just driving around some of Vancouver’s industrial neighbourhoods, and the prop search turned into a uni-cleanup effort all its own.
That’s nothing compared to what Chad and his team goes through, however. 80 bicycles. 830 chairs, 1,019 propane tanks, 55,195 tires, 11 bowling balls… the list goes on.
Sappi Fine Paper North America has partnered with Chad to launch LOE Lustro Offset Environmental, their new premium recycled paper line. It’s a partnership that makes a lot of sense. Sappi gets a real environmental hero, with an engaging story to tell, and Chad gets to spread the Living Lands and Waters word further than would otherwise have been possible. Green marketers take note.
Chad has inspired people worldwide and shows us all how much difference one person can make. We hope you can join us for an inspirational breakfast that will leave you wanting more.

Contact Jamie Slade at Hemlock Printers to see if there are any eggs left. 604 439-5004.

You copy on both sides of the paper. You don’t print your e-mails. You pour reclaimed rainwater water through old coffee grounds. BUT YOU CAN STILL DO MORE!! Yes, until you consider how many grains of toner you waste on each and every letter you print, you are not worthy.
Meet ECO-Font, by Spranq, which claims to reduce ink, toner, cartridge usage and presumably, designer guilt.
“Appealing ideas are often simple,” says their web site. “How much of a letter can be removed while maintaining readability? After extensive testing with all kinds of shapes, the best results were achieved using small circles. After lots of late hours (and coffee) this resulted in a font that uses up to 20% less ink.”
Some bloggers who are much more technical than I, have calculated that at sizes below 8.5pt  the small holes may just fill with ink or toner, and not save anything. Furthermore, the more complex design of each letter could result in longer ‘time-to-RIP’, (the print plate preparation process) which might add costs at prepress time.
But hey, the font is free, and as the first of its kind, I’d have to say it’s worth a try. Even if it does look a bit like a bad Hollywood movie marquee at larger sizes.

Download it from their website. And let me know how the little holes work for you.

Coming Soon: The  Dotskipper™ Ballpoint Pen – Writes a microscopically-dashed line that saves 50% on ink. At least until you leave it in the glove box of your car for 4 years and it dries into a useless plastic stick.