RESOURCES
MOHAWK
CRAFT COOPERATIVE
Q U I C K R E FE R E N C E G U I D E
TALK I N G C R AF T
AD D ITI O NAL CO NTE NT
A
Frank Romano
Sean Adams
Professor Emeritus Rochester Institute of Technology “ Print is a community where creativity, craft, and manufacturing intersect. We rely on the expertise of partners to move from an idea to a printed piece. We work with, share our knowledge and learn from each other. Print takes a village.”
Partner at AdamsMorioka AdamsMorioka.com “ You can either jump from one project to the next, or you can buckle in for the long haul and create a long term relationship. That requires compromise, communication, and commitment. Not as instantly exciting, but much more fulfilling.”
Mohawk Inside Sales Team
Mohawk Via As the best-selling uncoated paper in America, Via offers Mohawk quality at affordable price points. With 8 distinct finishes and 34 shades Via is designed to meet the most diverse range of end use applications of any product line we make at Mohawk. With this rich variety of materials, you are uniquely well-equipped to meet the needs of virtually any paperbased print needs your clients may have. Try using the power of paper as a connector with a community of creative makers
You currently know your favorite Mohawk contacts as Customer Service Representatives—the team you rely on for information and assistance. These contacts are taking on a new title that ref lects and encourages our entrepreneurial, hard working culture at Mohawk. Our Inside Sales Representatives are industry experts with a deep knowledge of our entire portfolio of fine papers, envelopes and digital substrates.
who increasingly value the tactile impact of printing. Mastering the richness of the entire Via offering can help you be seen as an invaluable support and resource to your clients. From post consumer fiber content, to rich colors, lush textures and digitally optimized sheets, Mohawk Via is built to support the entire graphic arts community.
You can expect our community of Inside Sa les Representatives to proactively connect with you, combining expert product knowledge with a focus on operational excellence. You’re an essential part of the Mohawk community. And our new Inside Sales Team stands at the ready to deliver the outstanding customer service you need to build your business. Let us know how we can help.
BUSINESS COMMUNITY THE
OF
PAPER GRADES
MOHAWK PAPER SELECTOR To make our product line simpler, easier to specify and to reduce our environmental footprint, we have streamlined our product portfolio, merging brands and eliminating redundant colors.
Loop
TH E R ES P O N S I B LE PAPE R Mohawk Loop is a complete PCW recycled paper for environmentally responsible design, with a range of print surfaces and palette of whites, pastels, jewel tones and earthy fibered shades.
Q U I C K R E FE R E N C E
Superfine
Options
TH E U LTI MATE PAPE R
TH E I NX W E LL PAPE R
Mohawk Superfine is the finest printing paper made today, with unmatched quality, consistency and uniformity. Inspiring great design with its superb formation, lush tactility, and archival, timeless appeal.
Options features Mohawk’s exclusive Inxwell surface technology, combining the tactile feel of uncoated paper with the ink density and sharp detail of coated. Now including ultra-smooth Navajo, Options features six premium white shades to complement a range of styles.
Via
Strathmore
Via is the best-selling uncoated paper in America, offering Mohawk quality at an affordable price. Featuring popular textures, colors, and highly printable white shades, Via is the everyday paper.
Setting the standard for design and innovation since 1892, the Strathmore Collection is a diverse assortment of cotton papers, colors and finishes that honor tradition while utilizing contemporary colors and surface technologies.
TH E ECO N O M I CAL PAPE R
Carnival
Digital
TH E COVE R PAPE R
TH E I MAG I N G PAPE RS
Mohawk Carnival sets the standard for intense saturated color, especially for pocket folders and other converted items, and offers primary hues in distinctive textures with complementary whites and text weights.
Mohawk features a comprehensive collection of digital substrates including a family of reliable and economical coated and uncoated papers specially made for digital presses that help place you and your customers on the cutting edge.
TH E LUXE PAPE R
LEARN MORE AT MOHAWKCONNECTS.COM
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C O N TA C T 465 Saratoga Street Cohoes, NY 12047 +1 (518) 237-1740 insidesales@mohawkpaper.com mohawkconnects.com
D ES I G N Hybrid Design Hybrid-design.com T Y PE FAC ES Chalet New York Nineteen Sixty, Sentinel
PAPE R Mohawk Via Linen, Bright White, 65 cover (176 gsm)
I N KS 4cp, 2nd black (duotones), 3 match reds and overall dull varnish
PR I NTE R Sandy Alexander Clifton, NJ Sandyinc.com
ITE M N U M B E R 76-702620014 May 2014
PHOTO CREDITS ( T H I S PA G E ) A. Sean Adams Blake Little
VIA:
WHAT WILL YOU MAKE TODAY?
THE
POWER
A
PAPER
OF
COMMUNITY
FOR THE
PEOPLE
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COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS CO M M U N IT Y I S K E Y TO A H E ALTH Y I N D U STRY
A
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Cooperation is the new competition. BY
THOMAS D. O’CONNOR , JR .
During the 1900s, there was the Industrial Age, when people worked side by side (sometimes under less than ideal conditions, to be sure) to produce well-designed goods for everyday use. Then came the Information Age, when people worked alone in their cubicles, using computers to communicate virtually with colleagues and to remotely serve customers. At Mohawk, we’re inspired by what we call the new Maker Age, where modern creators are harnessing the best of those two previous eras: a communal approach to the work, enhanced by technology and tools. This idea of community plays out in different ways across our business: Within our industry. Yes, you compete with other print service providers for customers and projects. But there’s a tremendous amount we can learn from each other: best practices, management advice, shared opportunities. I recently witnessed this idea of competitionwith-cooperation in action at the Dscoop conference, where digital-focused printers met to discuss business strategies and industry trends. In fact, cooperation is at the heart of this trade group’s name. With our customers. Creative-minded clients, whether they work in agencies or in corporations, want more from us than the quickest turnaround or the cheapest price. They expect us to be their partners in the work, to offer new thinking and unexpected solutions. Within our Mohawk network. The Craft Cooperative is but one of the tools Mohawk makes available to help you better serve your customers, deliver innovative print solutions and grow your business. We’re committed to supporting you with MakeReady, our online library of articles and downloads that help you sell inkon-paper in an increasingly digital world. We reach out to the creative community to help them understand the power of print and become better customers for you. In this issue of the Craft Cooperative, we’ll share new ways you can reach out to and engage with your community of customers and prospects. We’re here not just as your supplier, but as your partner. And with the idea of cooperation in mind, why not reach out to local businesses and find a way to work together?
A
RISING TIDE LIFTS ALL SHIPS Empowering the print community. BY
BART ROBINSON
For most of the 20th century, the printing industry was a diverse, dynamic community. Printers enjoyed a thriving business climate, shared resources, and had little to fear from the shop down the street. As the number of printers has decreased in a market facing constant pressure, that sense of community has dissipated. Competition has caused many printers to crawl in a foxhole and fight the battle to stay relevant alone. As James Cash (JC) Penney once said, “A merchant who approaches business with the idea of serving the public well has nothing to fear from the competition.” How does that translate to our business today? Be confident in what you have to offer, celebrate your wellhoned craftsmanship and embrace the reality that your trade is far from dead. As a community, we’ll be more successful if we share knowledge, resources and information
“A merchant who approaches business with the idea of serving the public well has nothing to fear from the competition.”
BY
POWER OF COMMUNITY Business is all about connections. BY
BRYN MOOTH
1
If you’ve ever attended a gathering of graphic designers, whether it’s a local meeting or a national conference like HOW or AIGA, you’ve witnessed the design community in action. Designers thrive on connecting with peers— to share their enthusiasm for their craft, to commiserate about lousy clients, to learn from each other. There’s a lesson here for printers and businesses like ours that serve the design community: If we want to engage with this key audience, we have to join them.
Becoming active in these groups of customers is about more than making the next sale. It’s about building relationships—so that designers see printers as co-creators in their projects, as craftspeople as committed to the work as they are, as resources for new ideas and innovative techniques. How can printers harness the power of the design community? A few strategies:
Use these tips to harness the power of community.
2
CONNECT
SEEK
YOUR PEERS
COLLABORATIONS
OUT
WITH
JAM ES CAS H PE N N Y
than we will by going it alone. Yes, times are tough, but there is a resurgence of print happening. As an industry, we need to rebuild our sense of community, demonstrate the power of print and show a new generation what beauty really looks like with ink on paper. Don’t skip that next local trade meeting or print show. Reach out to your community and build partnerships and collaborate on projects that benefit all of you.
VIA: A PAPER FOR THE PEOPLE
The equal opportunity paper for all projects and budgets.
THE
Developing these creative communities takes effort, and there’s no reason you have to do it alone. • • •
BE AN
Engage your local print community to work together on these initiatives Seek opportunities for cooperation instead of competition Take a competitor to lunch
4 PARTICIPATE IN
VIA CALE N DAR MOH AW K
3
EXISTING COMMUNITIES
ACTIVE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE
Every project you undertake with a design firm introduces you further into the creative community. • •
Designers desire collaborative partnerships; position yourself as a company of craftspeople who care about quality work, not simply as a vendor. • •
Partner with creative agencies to produce print promotions that demonstrate design and print excellence Offer to print a design studio’s promo in exchange for creative credit
5 CREATE A NEW
Consult with customers at the beginning of their projects to offer innovative ideas Host a “Print 101” tutorial for design students
COMMUNITY
BRYN MOOTH
If diversity defines healthy, sustainable communities, then Via is the perfect paper to showcase in this edition of the Craft Cooperative. We think of Via as the Paper for the People. Hardworking, versatile and budget-friendly, Via offers equal opportunity for all projects. Via has its roots in the craft of American papermaking, and it’s become the best-selling fine paper in the US. With 9 surfaces (including a digital line), more than 24 shade/color combinations, environmentally savvy options
including 100% PC sheets, and on-demand envelope availability, there’s a Via product for practically any application. Via’s on-press performance and its affordable price point make it an easy sell to your customers who demand a quality surface for their designs and desire a great value they can deliver to their clients. We think Via shares the key characteristics of the Maker Community at large: creative, dedicated, the perfect marriage of art and craftsmanship.
Become highly engaged with local chapters of AIGA, AdFed, AAF, AMA. • Print chapter event materials • Sponsor design/ad award shows • Guest lecture at local meetings
If there isn’t an active group of designers, advertisers or marketers in your area, seek ways to bring these prospects together. • •
Host a networking happy hour at your facility Partner with local agencies on a studio tour
L ET ’ S B A N I S H
‘SELF’
F ROM S E L F-PU B L I S H I NG .
NO ONE BY ONESELF. SHOULD DO THIS ALL
GET A L I T T L E
HELP
F ROM YOU R
FRIENDS. (E V E RYONE N E E D S A N E D I TO R). —EILEEN GITTINS, CEO OF BLURB
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