Every October we send members of our Paperblanks team to the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s largest trade show of its kind. This year was an extra special one for us as we were able to officially introduce our new product line, Paper-Oh, to this international audience.
Here at Paperblanks we’re part of Hartley & Marks, a publishing and design house that began in Vancouver, Canada back in 1973. You may be surprised to know that aside from Paperblanks (and our new line of notebooks and cahiers, Paper-Oh) we are also home to Alusi, an innovative multi-wick candle line!
With the 2014 Frankfurt Book Fair acting as our official Paper-Oh coming-out party, we put a lot of thought into creating a booth design that would honour both brands. To get an idea of what goes into this sort of project, we spoke with members our Marketing Team as well as one of the key designers behind Paper-Oh.
Lish (Marketing Team Leader): “I just wanted to have stronger graphics that utilised all of the wall space provided. I had even wanted to stretch the images to the floor, but unfortunately that didn’t turn out to be possible. The focus was to display the details of our products in a way that celebrated their beauty with pride, rather than being conservative or subdued. This was an opportunity to shine!”
Max (Graphic Designer): “I was inspired by some experiments our Paper-Oh creative team has been doing, along with the torn edges that appear in our Paper-Oh catalogue (and are emulated on www.paper-oh.com). The whole concept behind it was tearing away the surface and revealing the quality of the product underneath. Kind of like when you open a Paper-Oh or Paperblanks book; you don’t see the true essence of it until you flip through the pages and take a good look at the interior.”
Nadine (Paper-Oh Book Designer): “I had a long day at the fair, so I was glad to be a part of such a great-looking stand. It was so cool to see all the books on the shelves and in the display; this project is truly coming to life! I saw some interesting artists’ books and I’m looking forward to starting work in my new workshop soon. Finnland. Cool. was the guest of honour and they had nice presentation of their books and a neat idea on how to make some text visible. All in all it was a very inspiring experience and it’s always great to see what other book designers are up to!”
Learn more about Nadine and Paper-Oh at Paper-Oh.com.
About Paperblanks: At Paperblanks, we believe that art should have a place in all aspects of life. That’s why we follow the artist’s way in everything we do – creating, crafting and releasing designs we believe have the power to touch people. For more about Paperblanks, go to our website at paperblanks.com.
