When studio South South West (SSW) was commissioned to design The Case for Export guide for Design Victoria, they were looking for an earthy, natural, recycled and Australian-made stock. One of the handful of papers SSW returns to is ‘Stephen’, says designer Andy Sargent. It was ideal for the guide’s concept of wooden crates featuring Design Victoria’s bright pink and yellow colours. “It has a really good natural texture that worked well with the image to create something warm yet vibrant,” says Sargent. “The stock’s beauty is in its subtlety. It’s a nice uncoated stock with a really good texture that doesn’t beat you around the head saying it’s ‘green’.” Stephen is Australian-made from a mix of FSC® Certified and recycled timbers. “In the past, clients who were wanting to be seen as green would specify a stock that was unbleached and would probably be quite dull,” says Sargent. “And they would be happy to sacrifice the quality of the print job if it was obvious it was on recycled stock. Whereas these days, you can specify a beautiful paper that is sustainable to produce without sacrificing on colour or reproduction.”

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