THE MANY WAYS OF PAPER - A DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT: with Papirlykke, Denmark
T e l l u s a l i t t l e b i t a b o u t y o u r s e l f .
I used to work for 10 years as an art director in advertising in Copenhagen, Denmark creating campaigns, commercials, business identities etc. I loved the versatile creativity and working together with creatives at heart, but always missed creating real things, crafting real things. In many ways I longed to get back to basics.
I taught myself the art of letterpress, spending hundreds and hundreds of hours in my small studio trying to trouble shot, find the right materials, practice again and again achieving the most beautiful result.
Papirlykke literally means ‘paper happiness’ in Danish which is the feeling I have when creating with paper and the feeling I want to give my clients, for them to experience the delight quality, paper pieces with beautiful design can bring.
I love being close to my clients and can’t imagine having more joyful clients, than people in love. I went from all corporate clients in advertising to a large amount of ordinary people as my clients in Papirlykke. Non of them wanting the ordinary, but wanting stationery with a handcrafted luxury feel.
S h o w u s o n e o f y o u r f a v o u r i t e d e s i g n s a n d
t e l l u s a b o u t h o w i t c a m e t o b e .
It’s almost impossible to pick a favourite piece of work, when all of the pieces have my heart in them.
But a wedding I did this summer springs to mind. Looking at the different paper pieces from that wedding makes me happy all over again - the design, materials and the color palette just worked out perfectly.
It was a light pink dream of a wedding for a lovely couple. They wanted handmade, light pink paper, hand drawn illustrations and natural dyed silk ribbons. And every piece of paper from their wedding booklet to the names on the place cards were letterpress printed.
For that projects I also illustrated the church and the beautiful old school hotel they had chosen as their venue.
All elements were very unique and every material and color custom-made especially for this couple - something that as a designer and printer makes me feel so much in love with what I’m doing.
W h a t a r e d e s i g n e l e m e n t s t h a t y o u u s e c o n s i s t e n t l y i n y o u r w o r k ?
Many of my designs have a nordic feel and often in a modern romantic style. I always strive to make the design elements simple, but still with a personal touch that reflects the couple I’m working with. I love handmade materials and invitations in many layers. And I’ll never get tired of hand drawn floral illustrations.
I adore the Eliv Rosenkranz colours, but have been working with the color ‘blush’ in many different layouts. It’s a wonderful light natural color that brings warmth to a lot of different material combinations. My favourite combination with blush paper is gold foil. It gives the look an exclusive vintage feel.
H o w d o y o u s e e h a n d m a d e p a p e r ?
I s i t a m o r e m o d e r n o r a m o r e r e t r o d e s i g n e l e m e n t ?
Handmade paper is like modern design, it is more or less timeless. It adds its own quality as well as complements a variety of styles. I use handmade paper both for the more traditional romantic invites and for projects where the client seeks a more contemporary tone. The handmade paper always delivers a beautiful backdrop to the design, be it the vintage feel or modern.
W h a t i n s p i r e s y o u ?
Nature, for one. The different seasons always inspire various colour combinations and interesting textures.
Watercolour drawings often from old botanical books and also in old children books.
My collaborators also provide me with inspiration. People with a passion are usually a good source for inspiration.
Y o u r d r e a m d e s i g n p r o j e c t ?
My dream project with Papirlykke would definitely be designing and printing something for the Royals.
I f y o u h a d t o u s e o n l y o n e f o n t o n h a n d m a d e p a p e r f o r t h e r e s t o f
y o u r d e s i g n e r ' s l i f e , w h i c h w o u l d i t b e ?
Adobe Garamond Pro
W h i c h t h r e e w o r d s b e s t d e s c r i b e y o u r s t y l e ?
Details, details, details
W h y d o y o u l i k e w o r k i n g w i t h h a n d m a d e p a p e r ?
Handmade paper and letterpress are just meant to be. I love the softness of the paper, how wonderful it prints and the look in my clients eyes when touching the paper for the first time. Handmade paper just make me happy.
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