Pulp Faction

Get Going with Goe - More Colors, More Possibilities

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:55:00 +0000

I've spent this past weekend reviewing PANTONE's newest color matching system called, Goe System. I'm not sure of the origin of the name they've chosen. Maybe I'll get more clarity on that question later. What I do know is that this new color matching system is a big leap forward for the graphics arts community in the quest for accurate color matching and communication.

The least of it is its cool packaging. I expect stylish packaging in most everything these days and certainly in a product aimed at the graphics arts community. Its clean, its organized and it looks cool. OK on to the real benefits.

For starters the Goe System has 2,058 spot colors. That's almost twice the number of spot colors in the previous PANTONE system. What I really like about these colors is how they are chromatically arranged in a much more logical order than the previous system. I was speaking with the folks at PANTONE about Goe and I got an interesting insight into the development of Goe. Going back to the origin of the PANTONE Color Matching System, I was told that the PANTONE color palette was first developed in 1963 to represent "popular colors." Colors that local printers and designers were using at the time and therefore the basis for making the standardized color system. Over time colors were added more or less on a by market request basis.

Now moving forward to Goe. Goe is developed on a broader spectrum based palette. When you view a fan of the old PANTONE Colors and the Goe Colors next to each other you will immediately notice that the Goe colors are more closely chromatically arranged and therefore provide better or more suitable gradations of color within one color family. To the left you see the new Goe colors fanned out.

A significant improvement in number of and arrangement of colors is the basis for the new system. Beyond this PANTONE has built an accompanying Goe Guide and the new Goe Sticks. Goe Sticks are an improved version of PANTONE Color Chips. The Goe Sticks are self-adhesive backed postage stamp sized color chips with a couple of handy tool ad-ons. The myPANTONE palette playground is a plastic sheet built into the Goe Stick binder. With the palette playground the designer can built color palette combinations and see how they look together on one surface. The adhesive backed chips are repositionable so you can go back and forth adding a removing color chips with damaging the chips. They also provide palette cards. The palette cards are a tool to adhere chosen palettes to and share them within the work flow of your project or for client presentations, really during any situation where you want to communicate the palette visually.

Lastly PANTONE has created a great software program to compliment this system. The software is an entire blog post itself so I'm going to leave that for later. I give a resounding two thumbs up to PANTONE's latest efforts at improving color matching. I think every print shop and design studio should have this new system in-house. As of this writing we offer the coated and un-coated versions as a bundle for an eye-poppingly low $765. The folks at PANTONE are quick to say that the Goe System doesn't replace the older PANTONE Color Matching System. That could be true and there is a lot of benefit from the older system. However, Goe is great and do it all. Go out a get one.

Zoom function - A bug's eye view

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:08:00 +0000

We've been working very hard to create a paper buyer experience far superior to anything else you get a chance to try. A part of that experience is doing the best we can to make sure you get the exact paper you want. With the knowledge that all paper is not created equal and that paper surface varies significantly from grade to grade we've created a super zoom function to let you get your eyeballs right down onto the paper to see what it will look like when you're holding it fresh out of the box.

When you visit one of our product pages you will see a standard sized photo as depicted below. These are nice enough photos but at this size they still leave the viewer wondering what the real surface of the paper looks like.

Just one click of the image or on the "See Close-up Paper Surface" hyper link and POW...you are taken right down to the paper's surface.

This image below shows you just how close you can get to not only see the paper's surface but to really get a good understanding of how its looks and perhaps how it feels.
Zoom Image

ColorMates cardstock made with 100% wind power

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:17:00 +0000

Our sister company, WorldWin Papers, has recently begun manufacturing its flagship cardstock line ColorMates using 100% wind power through the purchase of wind power credits certified from Green-e. This is a very positive step forward as this is the only card stock line for the hobby and craft industry that has taken such a positive position using renewable energy sources.

We have now just redesigned the ColorMates page to show off these beautiful 144 colors all on one page making it "Easy" to find the perfect color for your project. ColorMates is the leading mono-chromatic line of smooth card stock used by scrapbookers and paper crafters throughout the world. Renowned for its flawlessly pigment dyed colors, its fabulous folding characteristics and precise clean cutting qualities unmatched by other card stocks.

Royal Linen offers an extraordinary paper with great eco-benefits

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:26:00 +0000

We're happy to have a huge offering of Wausau Paper's Royal Linen line of paper and envelopes. I think this is one of the best values in paper. Royal Linen, as the name implies, has a really beautiful linen pattern on the surface. This is something you normally have to pay a lot for in other premium papers.

Royal Linen is a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper. As if that's not enough the paper also uses 30% post consumer waste. I've written in past blogs about the benefits of recycled paper. Briefly, less land fill used, less energy used, less water used. As well I've talked about the importance of FSC paper. While FSC is important because it sets and monitors standards for FSC forests, ensuring the forests with the FSC certification are responsibily managed to best benefit the environment and the people living in the area of the forest. One of the unspoken benefits is the fact the FSC helps to keep well managed forest profitable. The importance of a profitable forest is that it remains forest and is less likely to fall victim to development. Nothing kills a forest faster than when it becomes a golf course or a huge housing development.

Its important to support manufacturers that make an honest effort to lessen their environmental impact. The offering of Royal Linen does exactly that and uses less natural resources and protects well managed forests through its use of FSC fiber. Not only that, but its a grea paper that looks fantastic and performs well on press and in desktop applications.

Green Office just got easier

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:18:00 +0000

We just it made it that much easier to green up your office and make your perforated paper projects go smoother and faster. You're going to enjoy our newest collection of Free Project Templates for perforated paper projects.

All of our perforated papers offer some type of Green Office eco-advantage. Our perforated papers offer recycled content, Forest Stewardship Council certified paper, wind power paper and carbon neutral papers, As well all of our perforated papers are perforated using 100% wind power and we offset 100% of the carbon produced when shipping from our Neenah Wisconsin warehouse to your door.

New Pantone Store

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:41:00 +0000

We're very happy to welcome our newest supplier Pantone to The Paper Mill Store. Pantone as you may know is the leader in color control and color communication. Given our volume and position in the market we're able to offer Pantone tools at very good prices and combine these prices with the top quality customer service our customers have come to expect from us.

Last day of HOW 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Thu, 22 May 2008 19:37:00 +0000

The final tally of designers attending the HOW Show 2008 was somewhere shy of 4,000. I think I spoke to half of you at our booth, The Paper Mill Store. What a blast we had!

I've been telling folks that HOW is my favorite trade show, period. The group of folks who attend are always interesting to talk with and for the most part in a great mood. The theme we heard again this year was ECO-Design and its growing importance with clients and of course with the design community.

I met up with my good friend Sabine Lenz during the final moments of the show. Sabine always has good insights into design and the design community. You should visit her site, PaperSpecs, where you can get great information on paper and design topics.

I had some great conversations on the topics surrounding paper and the environment. Its clear that most everyone is clamoring for accurate information on the subject. We gave out diskettes packed with good eco logo usage information.

HOW Show Monday 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Tue, 20 May 2008 00:48:00 +0000

One more day at the races. We had a great day meeting a lot of designers and others in the graphics professions. HOW is really doing a great job in providing meaningful seminars and brings designers from around the country and around the globe to the conference.

We just met a couple from Bozeman, MT working for Mercury Design. This is a great opportunity to speak with folks from all around and to get hear what people are finding important. Again this year more than last year ECO issues are the hot button. It seems as though everyone is getting it these days. Not only the need to examine your own eco-practice but also on how to make the case in general for sustainable design and sustainable business practices.
The doors were closed to the exhibit hall just before 8:00 am this morning and the crowd swelled to many hundreds of folks eager to get inside and see what the various vendors had to offer.

HOW Show 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:14:00 +0000

We're here in Boston for the HOW Show 2008. A reported 3,600 attendees had pre-registered making this the best attended HOW show to date.

We arrived into Boston on Friday night to take advantage of the town for a few days prior to the show. We stayed in Cambridge and enjoyed the great restaurants and museums of Harvard Square and Kendall Square areas.

The Sunday arrived and we set up our trade show booth to prepare for the onslaught of graphic designers and others in related graphics fields. Lot's of great companies are here and lot's of free stuff for attendees. To kick off our new Pantone products we are giving away a free ColorMunki tool. ColorMunki is Pantone's newest device. This thing is really cool. You can capture color from any surface and bring this color into your graphics program. As an example you can capture the color of an insects abdomen and the color of a piece of fruit and bring this into your MAC files. These devices retails for $499, we're giving one away free. Stop by and get a chance to win a ColorMunki.

The First and Only FSC certified Self-adhesive labels

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Sun, 18 May 2008 19:28:00 +0000

We have just added the newest innovation from a smart and progressive self-adhesive company, Pinnacle Label. Pinnacle label has created the first and only FSC certified self-adhesive labels. As well the labels are 100% recycled and fully recyclable. This is important in the world of labels because often the types of adhesives, glues, used to make the labels sticky are not recyclable. When the adhesives are not recyclable this can render any project using a non recyclable label to be non recyclable itself and have to added to a landfill after its life cycle is complete. You'll also be please to know the labels have acid free and certified Chlorine Free Process face stocks.

These labels are appropriately named RECYCLABLES. Recyclables are available in a bright white sheet in eight different address, shipping and mailing label formats. We really like these labels and we think you will too. They run in all desktop printers and are suitable for a variety of digital press engines as well. The president of the company, Ches Cochran, will provide a personally signed letter guaranteeing this. You can ask our customer service for a letter of you have any doubts. These labels are a great way to green up your office and your label projects. Please give these labels a try I know you'll like the way the perform in your printer.

Warehouse Sale in Neenah Wisconsin

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Sat, 10 May 2008 13:46:00 +0000

We're having our second annual warehouse sale at our Neenah Wisconsin warehouse. The sale is on May 16 and May 17 at 2323 Venture Court in Neenah, WI 54956. We selling a huge variety of paper and envelopes suitable for printing jobs, marketing projects, paper crafting and scrapbooking. If you love paper and if you love great deals this is the once a year sale you should visit.

May 16th 8 AM to 8 PM
May 17th 8 AM to 4 PM

Here's a Google Map of directions showing the location of our warehouse.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Sustainable Perforated Paper

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Sat, 10 May 2008 13:33:00 +0000

I'm really happy to announce that we are now offering a collection of sustainable perforated papers. What's really exciting about this is that you can now use these forms to help move your office or business towards Green Office practices by using paper made using various environmentally sensitive manufacturing practices.
We not only offer recycled paper, FSC papers, Carbon Neutral Paper and paper made with Wind Power, but all the perforating we do is powered using 100% wind power.

We have 45 different perforated paper formats and a collection of 33 different specialty papers. Some of the papers are really cool for perforating like our Fluorescents Paper as an example. A lot of folks are using perforated paper to create their own raffle tickets, return receipt forms, church donation forms. Today with desk top printing so easy you can make your forms without too much hassle.

I like to hear form you if you have any ideas for uses for perforated paper or would just like to comment.

National Envelope to provide SFI Boxes

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:37:00 +0000

National Envelope takes another step forward in their efforts to use sustainable materials and to lessen their impact on the environment. As the largest privately owned envelope manufacturer National Envelope has repeatedly taken a leadership position on environmental matters.
Using their flagship proprietary envelope brand Williamhouse and its famous envelope box, National is now supplying Williamhouse envelopes in a Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) envelope box. As a proud distributor of Williamhouse envelopes The Paper Mill Store will begin shipping our envelopes within these new boxes in the coming weeks rotating our inventory on a rolling basis which means our faster moving items will be the first to utilize this newly designed envelopes box. While the design elements remain larger unchanged the Gold Tones of the box lid and the Williamhouse Envelopes logo use a gold toned color to distinguish the SFI box.

The Score...on Folding a Scored Paper

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:02:00 +0000

In earlier articles in our newsletters, Grain direction...the long and short of it , Scoring 101 we covered important topics related to folding paper but frankly we never got down to the brass tacks of the acutual folding action and how to do it.

The above image shows how you always fold away from the score channel. The score hinge created during the act of scoring works in the opposite direction that most folks intuitively think of when looking at a flat scored paper.

Early on in my paper career during a call to a Midwest printer I learned this important lesson from an old curmudgeon of a printer who enjoyed seeing me fold the paper in the incorrect direction. A little embarrassing but a good lesson about folding scored paper. This is nothing earth shaking but proper folding direction is extremely important.

WorldWin Papers joins TPMS

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:00:00 +0000

We're very excited that our sister company Worldwin Papers has joined forces with The Paper Mill Store to offer an improved and more diverse distribution system. WorldWin is a leader in the design, production and distribution of crafting and scrap booking papers.

WorldWin brings some truly unique and exciting papers to The Paper Mill Store. The WorldWin papers are visually exciting and fabulous to the touch. We now have what might be the largest in-stock inventory of crafting papers available for immediate shipment.

As a retail store owner or as an individual crafter you can find just what you need on on our site. From translucent vellums to heavy cardstock with textures and more than 200 colors, WorldWin offers a lot.

We offer paper racking systems as well. A retailer can come to us and not only purchase best selling paper items but we can offer same day shipping on a number of in-store paper racking systems that will enhance their product presentation.

Big Beefy Cover Stock ...

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 22:51:00 +0000

Thicker and More Substantial cover stock is what we hear the market is searching for. We're happy to say that we now have what you need and when you need it. We can ship out today. We're stocking four grades of the heaviest cover paper on the market. I was blown away when I first saw this stuff. The 200 lb cover is practically like a building material. I swear this cover stock must have an R value for insulation qualities. You can use this paper for great business cards and other cards, to make really substantial folders or as a weapon for your next client meeting. Your call.

We thought it wasn't just good enough to just have a choice of brand name cover paper from 120 lb to 200 lb cover but we decided to make it available in cut size 8.5 x 11 as well so that you don't have to break the bank to get your hands on this luscious group of covers.

We took four well known brands, Astrolite, Finch Fine, Navajo and Strathmore in order to fully cover the range of cost effective and premium as well as having the most weights offered. As if that's not enought the Astrolite and the Strathmore covers are made carbon neutral. Strathmore even uses wind power to "blow you away" even more. Talk about "mean and green."

We achieved our Sustainable Forestry Initiative Certification

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:17:00 +0000

Just yesterday we received confirmation from the Sustainable Forestry Initiatve (SFI) that The Paper Mill Store has achieved the Chain of Custody certification. We are very happy to announce this newest step in our sustainable business model.

As of February 13, 2008, under our SFI number - NSF-SFICOC-6T721, we will begin building our offering of SFI papers and envelopes. SFI is particlularly interesting to those of us in the USA and Canada in that this initiative focuses on the unique issues facing North American forests. SFI is dedicated to helping to protect forests and to promote well managed forestry practices through certification and tracking of forest products.

More Carbon Reduction...

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:33:00 +0000

I am very proud to announce that our ongoing efforts to reduce energy usage and to reduce the amount of carbon our operations emit continues. During a recent survey of the equipment in our Paper Valley (Neenah Wisconsin) converting and distribution center we realized that we were using outdated and inefficient natural gas heaters in our outbound shipping area.

After some research by our plant Manager, Bruce Peterson, we concluded that we could substantially cut our energy usage and reduce our carbon output by purchasing new more efficient heating equipment. This is especially important this year as we've been having a traditional Wisconsin winter with many days and nights well below zero degrees.

Our full payback for the heating equipment is just about 3 years. Our best estimate is that we will reduce our carbon output by 9,503 lbs per year.

Eco training at The Paper Mill Store

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:02:00 +0000

We have just completed our 2008 sales meeting, bringing in our folks from around the country from our sister company CTI Paper USA. As both companies, CTI Paper USA and The Paper Mill Store have increased our mutual commitments to sustainable design and business practices we had the opportunity to share ideas and communicate some of our newest initiatives over the last two days.

As a group we just completed our Safe Forestry Initiative (SFI) audit this past Friday. So we hope to have our SFI Chain of Custody certificate in the coming weeks. Part of SFI and FSC for that matter require that we educate all of our employees on these processes and that everyone have a good understanding of the benefits and procedures.

The group developed a new paper as an addition to Aspire Petallics, Aspire Petallics Pearl. A stunning sheet which is SFI certified and is manufactured Carbon Neutral through offsetting 100% of the carbon produced in its manufacture. As well, we now have recycled options in Aspire Petallics with 30% Post Consumer Waste (PCW) in our 98 lb cover Beargrass and all our 80 lb text weights except for Beargrass text.

Some of you may know that we have a paper crafting division in the company. Some new big eco initiatives will be announce from these folks during the upcoming CHA show. As the founder of the group I'm really pleased that our team has adopted these important eco initiatives with such enthusiasm and support.

Yellowstone...A Business Case for Sustainability

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:35:00 +0000

I had the great opportunity to spend New Years eve in Yellowstone to watch the passing of 2007. The park in the winter is spectacular, but then again it always is.

While hiking around Old Faithful through the Upper Geyser Basin I was contemplating how wonderful this place is and how the foresight of our government played a great role in preserving this area for future generations.

With a little research I discovered that while the government was ultimately supportive, it was largely the railroad companies that supported and promoted the creation of the world's first national park as an opportunity to haul more than freight and to profit from delivering tourists to the park. Specifically it was the Union Pacific (UP) and Central Pacific (CP) railroads which transported the survey teams, free of charge into to Yellowstone around 1870. The Hayden valley of Yellowstone bears the name of the chief surveyor, Ferdinand V. Hayden. The railroads used this survey to lobby congress to declare this area a national park. In a blinding 1 1/2 year effort congress passed a law designating Yellowstone as a national park in 1872.

Sustainable Eco Tourism was born with the foundation of Yellowstone National Park largely out of the desire to make a profit. Subsequent parks were established with the same motivation. Notably Glacier National Park with its extensive Chalet system and Waterton Park just north of the USA / Canada border linking Americans deprived of whiskey during the prohibition of the 1920's/30's to a source of fun, natural beauty and yes legal whiskey.

Sustainable business practices can relate to all businesses and plays an important role in our moving forward as a "sustainable" society. There is nothing wrong with profit and everything right with profit, especially when profit helps us support ourselves and a cleaner environment.

Carbon Neutral Shipping is Free to Our Customers

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:38:00 +0000

I'm very pleased to announce that as of January 1, 2008 The Paper Mill Store .com has begun shipping all of its outbound shipments in a carbon neutral manner. What this means is that we now calculate the carbon footprint associated with our out bound product shipping and purchase carbon offsets to lessen the impact of the carbon produced through our shipping. We do not charge extra for this service, this is just one more step we are taking to run our company in a more sustainable and responsible manner. We are now purchasing carbon offsets through the Carbon Fund to reduce the impact of our shipping process. Now when you buy paper and envelopes from us you can know that the carbon produced through the delivery of your purchases is being offset by a credible and verifiable organization.

For more than a year now we have been running our company using wind power purchased through Renewable Energy Credits and verified by Green-e. All the electrical power in our offices in Sun Prairie Wisconsin and in our distribution center in Neenah Wisconsin are 100% powered using renewable energy credits.

Wedding Professionals Resources

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 01:06:00 +0000

We have just updated our resources for Wedding Professionals.

We now have Wedding Paper Collection Chip Charts to help with the initial paper selection process. Moving forward we have Wedding Paper Collection Sample Packs to let Wedding Professionals and Brides to be the opportunity to touch and feel select wedding papers before they buy. And finally the Wedding Paper Chip Charts and Wedding Paper Sample Packs lead buyers to our Wedding Paper Collections where buyers get the opportunity to buy these specially selected papers to include within their wedding projects.

As well we offer Design Templates and Color Theory books.

Sunday Morning to air show on Finch Paper land sale

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 01:21:00 +0000

The Sunday morning news show, Sunday Morning, is scheduled to air a show showing the extraordinary terrain within the Adirondacks Park recently purchased by the Nature Conservancy from Finch Paper this Summer.

Sunday Morning is expected to air the show on Sunday December 30th. The show airs 9:00 to 10:30 hosted by Charles Osgood.

The beautiful places captured on video include:

The Boreas Ponds, with spectacular views of the High Peaks Wilderness

The Boreas River, a major tributary of the Hudson River, with ice and snow closing in on a ribbon of open water

The Branch River, also a Hudson River tributary, cascading through a mature floodplain forest.

As per my previous post this is a great example of land preservation. Enjoy.

Envelope Printing with Soy Ink - No Sacrifice

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:22:00 +0000

I'm really pleased to announce that we've made another good step forward in our sustainability project. We are now printing all of our envelopes with soy inks. This is another example of our being able to identify an opportunity and to target a solution.

The advantages of using soy inks are many. Using soy ink offers safe and sustainable alternatives to using conventional oil based inks. We've found that printing with soy inks produces images with the same good quality as conventional inks.

There is no sacrifice in using soy based inks and it has a positive environmental impact. A benefit of using soy ink is that it is lower in Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's), making it safer and less toxic. As well, soy is a renewable resource and is made here in the USA. Another added benefit of using soy ink is that at the end of the product's life when the printed envelope makes its way to the recycling process, soy ink is more easily stripped from the paper during the de-inking process than petroleum based inks.

Printing with soy inks is another incremental step that you can make to improve your overall environmental impact. When you have your envelopes printed with soy inks you are entitled to use the soy ink log and show that you've made the choice to support sustainable printing.

Recycled Packing Materials

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Cowie) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 22:25:00 +0000

Our search for more recycled and lower impact packaging materials to use throughout our company has taken on a life of its own. It's become fun to search out and find the best materials available.

I'm proud to report that all of the packaging materials we use for shipping out customer orders on The Paper Mill Store are now recycled. As previously reported we've had 50% recycled shipping boxes since this summer. As of today our packing materials are as follows.

50% recycled fiber shipping boxes
20% recycled plastic filler
85% recycled printed box tape

I'd like to thank everyone on the team who made this possible. Let's keep up the good work and meet the next sustainable challenge.