Print Roundup: September 2020

Every month, we put together a roundup to showcase all the different ways our creative customers use newspapers. Below, see 9 inspiring print projects — from a catalogue for the world’s biggest collection of vintage football shirts to “visual experiments” from a designer who collaborates with Frank Ocean and Robyn.

Finding Print-spiration

Sometimes you make a newspaper just for fun. For graphic designer Braulio Amado — who’s collaborated with artists including Robyn, Frank Ocean and Beck — newsprint provides a flexible canvas for his “visual experiments.”

In March, Braulio discovered an old hard drive with posters he’d made in 2015 — he collected them in a newspaper and got a great response. Since then, he’s made 6 more newspapers (printed on our tabloids and broadsheets) to share his abstract digital illustrations in print. “People love it!” he says.

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Drawing Out the Vote

NYC-based illustrator Ben Kopp has filled this zine with quirky drawings pulled from his sketchbooks. He’s selling copies of the 24-page mini newspaper to raise money for the Brennan Center for Justice, an organisation "putting in the work to ensure that everyone here in the US has the right to vote," says Ben.

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Jersey Boys

University friends Matt and Doug launched their company Classic Football Shirts from a bedroom in Manchester in 2006. Today they have an inventory of over half a million jerseys — the world’s biggest collection of original, vintage football shirts — and hundreds of thousands of fans follow the brand on Instagram.

They share their story in this tabloid newspaper and showcase highlights from their collection of jerseys from the 1980s to the present day. “We take great pride that we’re giving jerseys a second lease of life,” they say. Fittingly, they chose to use our recycled newsprint for the catalogue.

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Mighty Music Mini

Offering a fresh perspective on music, Ventoline is a music zine written and illustrated entirely by women. Featuring contributions by women across the music industry — from musicians to promoters to label owners — the mini newspaper aims to “promote women's insights, experience and activism,” says editor and designer Félicité Landrivon.

Ventoline is published in French, but non-speakers can still enjoy the punk-inspired, monochrome design. The first run of 500 copies quickly sold out and they’re already into their second printing!

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Snail Mail Showcase

With so much day-to-day clicking and scrolling, graphic designer Nick Bamptom prefers to share his work in a format with “more permanence than a vacuous social media post.” When the pandemic put his in-person meetings on hold, he decided to promote his design services through a tabloid newspaper.

This tabloid showcases his recent work for a brewery, kombucha brand, festival and coffee roaster. Nick says clients have been “delighted” to receive the newspaper and it’s even launched an “ad-hoc postal social network” with his clients sending back hand-written responses!

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Scottish Suffragettes

How many Scottish suffragettes can you name? These histories are often left out of education but Protests and Suffragettes wants to change that. The project aims to highlight the gallus women behind Scotland's radical history by creating engaging resources for young people across Scotland. Rewards for the crowdfunding campaign include this Rent Strikers & Suffragettes zine, printed on our mini newspapers.

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Snooze-paper (in a good way)

Luxury bedding brand Secret Linen Store always wants "to go above and beyond to surprise our customers." Their tabloid newspaper The Bed Spread, which they send out with all orders, does just that: "Our customers love it. It is totally unexpected for them and we often get comments on social media, in reviews or even phone calls appreciating the little touches."

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Voter Voices and Power Posters

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment – which gave women the right to vote in the United States – designers Kelly Salchow MacArthur and Nancy Skolos invited a group of women designers to contribute to AIGA’s Get Out the Vote: Empowering the Women’s Vote poster campaign, in partnership with the League of Women Voters.

The project supports voter participation and examines the history of voting rights and women’s fight for equality. This tabloid newspaper serves as the catalogue for the collection, as exhibitions across the country happen in the lead-up to the US election in November.

“People are excited to see an exhibition catalogue in a humble form,” says Kelly. “The ubiquitous quality of the newspaper fits with the traditional communication media for the public. Plus, the size is perfect for showcasing posters at large scale.”

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Planting New Ideas

Sydney-based Landsberg Garden Design launched their Bloomin' Verges initiative “to help people green the earth, one verge at a time!” They used our tabloid newspapers to create a series of six fold-out planting plans for different types of soil and sunlight conditions. Available with our without plants, the stand-alone planting plans have become the top seller in their online shop.

“We love the natural feel of newsprint and thought this would be the most suitable format to arrive with a bunch of plants!” says designer Nena Salobir.

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