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Leave it to a designer to come up with a tool with the right mix of convenience and functionality. Sabine Lenz, founder of PaperSpecs (http://creativepro.paperspecs.com), has worked as a graphic designer in Germany, Australia, and the United States. She says that at one time she might have spent hours looking through file drawers full of swatchbooks and samples for just the right paper for a particular project. When the samples finally turned up, she would often discover that the mill had discontinued that paper line. Then it was back to square one, starting the search all over again or even altering the design.
"The problem overall is the same everywhere and especially over the last two years," Ms. Lenz says. "It's very hard for any designer anywhere to stay up-to-date on what's happening with paper. No design school teaches you about paper. They focus on design principles and software programs, but most of a graphic designer's jobs are going to be printed on paper."
Part of the challenge of finding just the right paper for a job is the general realignment of the paper industry during recent years, including increasing globalization, which has made many new and even unique types of paper available in North America for the first time.
In addition, with consolidation comes rationalization, the process of combining some paper lines, eliminating others, and developing new types of paper for use on digital presses and in other applications.
Solving the Problem
What if somebody put together a search engine for paper? What if they tracked exactly what was available, from which manufacturer, and listed it all by weight, color, recycled content, and other features? That is exactly what Ms. Lenz did with PaperSpecs.
"I saw the need for one source for designers and print buyers, printers, and even merchants to come to one place to find that they need," she explains.
PaperSpecs constantly gathers information on paper from mills all over the world that offer paper in North America. The database currently contains about 4,200 different papers from 65 mills, and it is not just a list of names, colors, weights, and finishes.
The database also offers articles on paper, press releases from the mills about new products, current promotions, and related information. PaperSpecs also publishes a newsletter, free to some 10,000 subscribers, that offers updates on paper, new distribution deals, promotions, contests, and so on.
For a nominal fee, approximately 700 paying subscribers have access to PaperSpecs' Paper Guide, which lets the user enter in a paper type, such as coated two-side, or gloss, or uncoated bond, along with a color, finish, weight, and other factors. The search engine checks the extensive database and then lists the paper stocks that fit the description. Each paper listing is accompanied by a small color sample and its nearest Pantone color number.
A Printer's Tool
Though developed specifically for graphic designers, printers also have found PaperSpecs a useful tool. "Printers ask for articles to reprint and send them on to their clients, because they have realized that it's easier to work with an educated designer than with someone who has no clue about paper," Ms. Lenz notes. "They also have a paper resource for themselves."
Ms. Lenz mentions the case of a printer whose client gave him a sample of paper, specifying that that should be used for a print job. Turning to the Paper Guide, the printer was able to find the name and manufacturer of stocks that were at least comparable to the sample. Printers also can order samples through PaperSpecs for consultative sales and/or client approvals.
Additionally, not all print buyers are well-versed in paper grades, products, and their availability, and many look to printers for this kind of advice and information.
"You can ask for dark blue, recycled, for example," Ms. Lenz explains. "We're kind of like a Google for paper. Paper at the moment changes faster than it has ever before. We keep the site as up-to-date as humanly possibly. With every paper, we show as much as possible, as much as the mills allow us to show."
Though Ms. Lenz states that she often speaks to designers who tell her they use only six different papers over and over, she herself has a deep appreciation for paper and for how it works as part of an overall design. For example, she noted the increasing use of uncoated papers for some corporate identity items, including annual reports, which traditionally have been printed on coated stocks. Uncoated paper has a less formal, more personal appeal, ideal for conveying high-touch in a high-tech world.
However, whether a designer or a printer is searching for that one special paper to make the piece work for the client, likely they can find ideas and something suitable—and available—at the PaperSpecs Web site.
Jeanette Clinkunbroomer, a freelance writer, can be reached at jclink@aol.com.
author: By Jeanette Clinkunbroomer