http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/article en kwarren@greatamericanpublish.com Copyright 2012 Thu, 03 May 2012 12:18:24 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/fall-winter-show-wrap-up-positive-reports-from-around-the-globe/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/fall-winter-show-wrap-up-positive-reports-from-around-the-globe/#id:17047#date:12:18 Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings MarketThe Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market at AmericasMart Jan. 11-18 experienced soaring registrations, nonstop order writing and exclusive product introductions, setting the pace for projected double-digit growth, according to Jeffrey L. Portman, Sr., president and chief operating officer. Packed hallways, showrooms, booths and elevators, and standing-room-only seminars, events and demonstrations across AmericasMart's more than seven million square feet of space characterized the market. "This market will go on record as defining the renewal and recovery of global retailing as buyers and sellers vote with their feet, and… Thu, 03 May 2012 12:18 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/virtual-reality/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/virtual-reality/#id:17019#date:15:16 Creativity, a desire for self-expression and a truly personal touch are ideal attributes for establishing not just a letterpress studio, but also a retail space. When the driving force behind it all is creative visionary designer Suann Song, dreams take flight and ideas transform into reality. For as long as Song can remember, she's had a love affair with all things paper. For years, her hobby was creating thank-you notes and birth announcements for grateful friends and herself. What began as a leisurely pastime evolved into a design blog - http://simplesong.typepad.com - in 2006 when… Tue, 01 May 2012 15:16 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/rebecca-schmidt-rubensaal/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/rebecca-schmidt-rubensaal/#id:17018#date:15:09 Invitations and paper ephemera from Mr. Boddington's Studio don't look like those from any other company, and the firm is like none other, too, in that no one has actually met its mysterious namesake. If you call and request to speak to him, you might be told he is revisiting the hillside in Udaipur, India, where he first applied silk to the back of a postcard ... but most likely you will be met with silence. That is because he is an imaginary friend born during the childhood of Proprietor Rebecca Schmidt Rubensaal. With the… Tue, 01 May 2012 15:09 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/ink-onto-paper/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/ink-onto-paper/#id:17017#date:14:59 Envelopments carved a distinctive niche and continuously stays relevant as the originator of the mix-and-match system and trademark owner of Pocket Folds and Envelofolds. With more than 250 stocks, they offer the widest selection of card stocks, papers and envelopes, explained Ramon Gomez, design manager. "Our goal has always been to enable the design of custom communiqués," he described. "We strive to be as diverse as possible to stay relevant to the different types of brides. Trends are cyclical - what's old is new again - so we design for the spectrum of modern to… Tue, 01 May 2012 14:59 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/skirting-the-issue/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/skirting-the-issue/#id:17016#date:14:40 You need never look far for bad economic news, especially during an election year. But the news is not necessarily all bad. One economic indicator concerns skirt hems. The Hemline Indicator, reportedly introduced by University of Pennsylvania Wharton School professor George Taylor, hypothesizes that women's hemlines can indicate macroeconomic performance. The more revealing, the better the economy. Business Insider analyzed skirt and dress hemlines at New York's Fall/Winter fashion week, measuring 2,092 images from 25 designers and comparing year-on-year changes. The BI Hemline index measures hem length as a percentage of length from floor to… Tue, 01 May 2012 14:40 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/from-monologue-to-conversation/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/from-monologue-to-conversation/#id:17015#date:14:37 Something very interesting is happening with trends. Once they were dictated to consumers, and no one knew whether they would be embraced or ignored was a matter of time. In terms of fantastic flops, remember the brief 1985 existence of New Coke? And in terms of successes, recall how Titanic dominated our culture for months in the wake of the 1997 film release? (It may even experience a second wave when it's re-released in 3-D and IMAX this month.) Those sink-or-swim days may soon be relics of the past, however, as consumers now play an… Tue, 01 May 2012 14:37 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/marketing-in-a-fan-like-follow-world/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/marketing-in-a-fan-like-follow-world/#id:17014#date:14:33 Meeting and interacting with people in your industry provides you with connections you need to move your business forward. Networking skills even provide you with connections you didn't think you would need - until you did. Luckily, there's an app for that. Several, actually. Never have there been more opportunities to engage your buyers. Social media, it seems, has overtaken the Internet. While some may bemoan its presence as taking away from that "personal" connection, social networking has created myriad opportunities for marketers to reach out to consumers and engage them on a whole new… Tue, 01 May 2012 14:33 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/10-designers-to-watch-in-2012/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/10-designers-to-watch-in-2012/#id:15540#date:20:56 There are so many talented stationery designers out there, what garners one admission to ST's exclusive 10? I thought a lot about this as I compiled this year's list, since although I knew whom I wanted to include, I wasn't sure exactly why. I finally came up with these criteria: Do their designs feel completely of our time, yet still one-of-a-kind? Is there a surprising quality to their work? These are difficult, subjective qualities to distinguish, true. But hopefully learning more about the engaging personalities behind some of most distinctive lines out there will give… Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:56 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/designer-profile-amy-graham-stigler/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/designer-profile-amy-graham-stigler/#id:15532#date:20:44 Like many working mothers, Amy Graham Stigler, Smock's creative director and designer, has devised her own method to juggle a fruitful career with family. Unlike many working mothers, her method involves an interesting form of telecommuting - she designs for Smock, based in Syracuse, N.Y., from her native Wisconsin. Her studio is housed in the back of her boutique, monograham, which purveys a carefully curated selection of paper and gifts. These objects and designs inspire her letterpressed work - as does family history. This is, after all, an individual whose wedding took place in the… Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:44 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/keeping-tradition/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/keeping-tradition/#id:15531#date:20:39 Although we live in an era dominated by email, social networking and online chats, many people still yearn for more personal connections. The Elegant Setting's owner Stephanie Finkelstein cherishes a time when entertaining was truly an art form. Formerly a social worker, Finkelstein was inspired to change careers when she found herself lured by the elegance, fine taste and formality of event planning while planning her own wedding. In September 2002, she founded a business in New York City - a by-appointment showroom and consulting service for gift giving, home décor and tabletop design. In… Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:39 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/you-be-the-judge/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/you-be-the-judge/#id:15530#date:20:17 In past issues, Stationery Trends has taken readers behind the scenes to show how a line or product is brought to life. When it came to doing so with MikWright however, it was quickly realized that only a more personal approach would suffice for this outlandish outfit, which turns 20 this year. The company is the brainchild of Tim Mikkelsen (the "Mik") and Phyllis Wright-Herman ("the Wright"), who became friends in 1985 while working as ticket agents at the Tri Cities airport in Tennessee. "It's probably better that we're gone," Tim laughed, recalling how they… Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:17 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/the-ultimate-luxury/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/the-ultimate-luxury/#id:15522#date:19:40 As the economy plummets, so too do our lifestyles. The birth rate is shrinking, vacations often become stay-cations and new home builds are still looking great, but often lack great rooms. But as Americans, we are consumers born and bred, and still need to exercise that urge to splurge. Interestingly, the definition of what makes a luxury, even among the super-wealthy, has changed with the financial climate. Blue Carreon, a contributor to Forbes.com, recently dissected this topic. "No longer is luxury defined by excess and conspicuous consumption. Now luxury means products with higher perceived value… Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:40 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/email-etiquette/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/email-etiquette/#id:14396#date:15:23 Between managing our Twitter accounts, Facebook pages and email inboxes, there is a lot to juggle. That doesn't even include following up with our clients so projects go off without a hitch. In today's digital world, how we choose to communicate on a professional level is key, and each interaction can make or break our personal and professional brand. As we depend more and more on technology, let's be honest: It's easy to become sloppy with so much on our plates. Regardless, statistics show that people still value the art of a professional, well-written email.… Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:23 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/belle-of-the-ball/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/belle-of-the-ball/#id:14395#date:15:13 Much like a union between groom and bride, a perfect partnership was born in April 2010 when entrepreneurs Jane Bensel, owner of The Stationer, a paper and gift store, and Amy Casbarian, owner of the bridal boutique Wedding Belles, united. Together, these dynamic women created Wedding Belles & The Stationer - a cozy stationery shop and bridal boutique located on bustling Magazine Street in New Orleans. Just as a couple may meet serendipitously, the shop also got its start rather unexpectedly. Casbarian first went to The Stationer in search of wedding invitations for her own… Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:13 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/designer-profile-kseniya-thomas/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/designer-profile-kseniya-thomas/#id:14393#date:14:51 Like many letterpressers, Kseniya Thomas runs a shop, Thomas-Printers, in Carlyle, Pa., where she prints both her own work as well as that of other designers. She also recently launched Thomas-Printers Invitations, which licenses designs from select designers, then prints and sells them. "A lot of people don't understand that you can design and have someone else do it, not that I am the Kinko's of letterpress," she laughed. Unlike many letterpressers, Thomas teamed up with Jessica White, of Heroes & Criminals Press in Asheville, N.C., to found Ladies of Letterpress (LOLP), a trade organization… Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:51 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/the-four-bs/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/the-four-bs/#id:14392#date:14:24 "Another bride, another June, another sunny honeymoon ..." goes the standard that always remains true. In addition to the brides each season offers, there are babies born, birthdays celebrated and Bar and Bat Mitzvahs commemorated. While the numbers hopefully grow in tandem with our population, what changes are the trends related to these four B's. Stationery Trends queried several industry insiders on the most recent looks in each market. Jilly Jack Designs B#1: BridesFancy Finishes: Brides still swoon over letterpress, but marry it to elements like "blind hits or printing with varnish, poster style typography,… Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:24 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/stationery-not-so-stationary/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/stationery-not-so-stationary/#id:14391#date:14:00 No, this is not a rant about the hazards of spelling "stationery" incorrectly - although many might argue it's warranted. Rather, it's a rant about those who are quick to deem this industry dead. Honestly, it's come to be as predictable as the seasons: Every time the economy nosedives, the stationery eulogies begin. Obviously as an editor of a thriving trade publication focusing on stationery, I'm going to disagree. But even on a personal level, I always recall some excellent advice I received years ago: Never listen to naysayers. As a result I've tuned out… Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:00 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/spreading-gratitude/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/spreading-gratitude/#id:13376#date:13:37 If I had a dollar for every time I heard reasons for why people don't write notes, I'd be sipping a cocktail under a palm tree, on a private island ... that I bought in cash! Typically, the reasons for steering clear of thank-you's have to do with "time," "stamps" and a five letter word: "G-U-I-L-T." Unfortunately, our friend the thank-you has lost his luster and has become a "have to" rather than a "want to." However, with a little positive energy, the stationery world can revive the reputation of one of our most noted… Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:37 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/the-inside-track/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/the-inside-track/#id:13375#date:13:01 I've had the amazing opportunity to give a seminar on trends at National Stationery Show for several years now. It's evolved into what I refer to as a "reader's guide" to accompany both our last several and next few issues of the magazine. It is a treat to have the opportunity to interact with readers in a way I'm unable to the rest of the year, and also expand on certain ideas that I don't necessarily have the space to do in the actual magazine. I really enjoy talking about macro lifestyle and color trends… Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:01 GMT http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/celebrating-success/ http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/celebrating-success/#id:13373#date:12:45 It's not really a surprise to discover that the Stillwater, Minn., paper and gift store Mara-Mi, which engages the shopper with a sea of eye-popping colors and unexpected features like a cozy cafe, actually reflects several stationery businesses that were created by a fusion of entrepreneurs, each with a distinctive vision. The oldest of the businesses is Mara-Mi, which was founded in 1979 by Marilyn Rothschild and Mimi Fisher. The two launched a collection of social stationery marketed to independent boutiques and specialty chain stores. Mara-Mi's team realized the company had growth opportunities, so they… Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:45 GMT