Every Paperblanks® book is inspired by world art and culture, by traditional craft and practice, and by visionaries, rebels and artists across the ages. Behind the Cover is a blog series about the origins of our designs.
You never know where and when inspiration will strike. While out for a walk in Japan many years ago, we happened upon a store with interesting paper lamps in the window. Intrigued, we browsed through these brown, antique-looking pieces of décor and found that they were early Katagami reproductions made into lampshades.
Katagami, the Japanese craft of creating paper stencils for the dyeing of textiles, has been designated as one of the Important Intangible Cultural Properties of Japan. Imagine our gratitude and surprise when we found these early precursors of this technique in an antique shop! We bought some of the originals and brought them back to Vancouver from Japan, setting to work reproducing the designs as journal covers. Finding a way to illuminate the perforated patterns in a way that allowed the light to shine through was our main focus. Die cuts, based on the original Japanese lampshades, against foil backing lend a hint of sparkle to the covers of these books.
In a cultural landscape obsessed with optical wizardry, we celebrate the simple beauty of the hologram with our Simply Holographic series.
Click here to find Simply Holographic in a store near you
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.
