Awareness on Print
Published in A New Type of Imprint magazine, Volume Six
Only two years after its launch, Paper Collective have grown to become a significant platform for modern poster design and art prints, as well as an inspiration regarding their approach to sustainable and responsible production. The company brings together their favourite graphic designers, agencies, artists and illustrators to create graphic print while promoting good causes and charities.
—We wanted to create a business that could work economically, but at the same time have a great focus on sustainability and responsibility, says founder Morten Kaaber. -When starting Paper Collective, I remember we found a lot of good individual designers and artists, but we felt that something was missing. We wanted to create a place where costumers could find the work of the very best graphic designers and artists.
Poster by Vera&Kyte.
The poster brand now works with a number of graphic and product designers, who are each invited to select a charity to receive a percentage of profit from sales of the prints. The posters are sold at papercollective.com, as well as in selected stores around the world.
—It’s a great thing to be able to do something good, while working with something you love, Kaaber says. - Our contribution to charity is in many ways the most important part of the story about Paper Collective, and definitely something we have great pleasure of mentioning when looking for new partners and contributors.
Morten hope to inspire others and perhaps bigger companies in the creative industry to incorporate sustainability and responsibility into the core of their business. In addition to charity, Paper Collective have great focus on sustainability also when it comes to materials. Every poster is FSC-certified, Swan marked and produced in Denmark, where the company is based. The posters are printed on quality paper for maximum image fidelity, color quality and durability. When it comes to the contributors, Paper Collective don’t have any guidelines. Morten says they’re looking for good design and the right motives, rather than an impression design background and/or education.
—We love creatives who understands how to tell a story with their work, he says. – Be that photographers, graphic designers, architects or something else entirely—as long as their visual expressions suits us and feels right, then it’s not important what background they have. We want the visuals to provoke some kind of feelings.
Poster by Vera&Kyte.
In the group of acclaimed designers we find Vera Kleppe and Åshild Kyte, the duo behind Vera & Kyte. Usually working in three dimensions with furniture and objects, the challenge of creating something graphic on canvas was compelling. They wanted to give this static format some movement, and decided to create visuals based on wild animals gathering in large numbers. Each poster presents one of the most numerous animal migrations across land, through the air and in the ocean. A school of herring beneath the ocean surface, a herd of wildebeest running across the planes and a flock of finches taking off into the sky. The duo loves the fact that ten percent of the sales goes to charity and felt privilege of being able to choose which organization they wanted to support.
—We chose the Red Cross, the largest humanitarian network in the world, because of the fenomenal work they do. They are always present when disaster strikes, but they are also an important part of the local community, doing things like helping children with their homework. Red Cross’ mission is to alleviate human suffering, protect life and health, and uphold human dignity especially during armed conflicts and other emergencies. It is present in every country an supported by millions of volunteers.
Photographer Julie Pikes also chose to become a part of Paper Collective. She was drawn to the idea of reaching out to more people—those who aren’t necessarily only looking for photography, but have an overall interest in design and creativity—everything from illustrations to architecture. Even though Julie hadn’t heard of the company when they invite her to join their group of talents, she got an immediate good impression.
—It’s great to feel like I’m a part of something. I get to expand my network and meet new people. Not to mention the ability to support a good cause, Julie says.
Both the photographer and Vera&Kyte thinks it’s great that the creative industry is starting to take care of its piece of the pie, when it comes to social responsibility.
—We think Paper Collective has developed an admirable business model with how they’re combining design and charity, Vera&Kyte says. - This way of using design and creativity, isn’t something we see very often. We would love to do more of this. Let’s just hope that the positive attention Paper Collective is getting, will be an inspiration for others.
