I had been warned. Get to the exhibit hall early on opening night, it’s crazy. So last month at HOW, I left Simon Sinek’s keynote speech a little early so I could be among the first to see all the paper samples from the mills. It worked – but only for one booth. By the time I looked up it was a frenzy of people clamoring to get at all the swag. It was like Black Friday for designers. There was a line that wound its way around the perimeter and through the center of the exhibit hall. After being knocked around several times by these enormous yellow/orange CSA designed packages, I knew where all the fuss was coming. Not one to miss out on a good thing, I hopped in line. It was definitely worth the wait, not only did I get some awesome print samples, I was among the first to catch a peek at Kraft-Tone, the new grade from French Paper.
Appropriately named, Kraft-Tone is a new line of kraft papers dedicated to those who crave utility and function when specifying paper. My initial reaction was, “hmm, another kraft paper?” Then I opened the swatch book. Let me be clear, Kraft-Tone is not just another kraft paper. This is an entire collection of tactile, colorful kraft papers. Featuring twelve colors in two different weights, Kraft-Tone is not only sensible in its offering but eco-friendly as well. The grade is made with 100% PCW and entirely FSC certified.
What I love about Kraft-Tone is that it’s old-school, “inspired by real-world utility papers like that perfect grocery bag, the crisp index card, and rugged chipboard.” I can think of a lot of print projects well suited for Kraft-Tone. When I asked Brian French at HOW about another kraft paper in the market – he said now is the perfect time. He’s right. With the rise of packaging design and the maker movement, the demand for unprocessed, natural looking papers like kraft is big. In my opinion, French did it right. Kraft can be a tricky shade to nail but they did it, with three “traditional” shades of kraft: Paper Bag Kraft, Brown Box Kraft and Parcel Wrap Kraft anchoring the Kraft-Tone line,(can you guess which one is our fave?), it’s sure to be a go-to grade for designers. But it doesn’t stop there, there are nine other colors ranging from Standard White to Standard Black – check out that Memo Orange Kraft. Oh, and we just landed a fresh batch of Kraft-Tone in the sample studio today – all crisp, and ready to be made into comps for designers looking for that perfect kraft paper.
Want to stay up to date on the latest offerings from the paper mills, join our *free* mailing list – you never know what you might find delivered to your door.