Neenah Rethink Everything salutes six creative pioneers

Neenah (Alpharetta, Georgia) has released Rethink Everything, an editorial promotion that tells the stories of six creative pioneers who “dream big, think futuristically, focus on sustainability, and inspire creatives to shift the design’s perception business.” With this new Neenah Classic Papers promotion, the paper and substrate supplier “aims to uplift the design community and celebrate designing for tomorrow, while rethinking everything along the way,” the company added. “With Rethink Everything, we shine a light on innovators, artists, designers and printers who are reshaping the future,” said Ellen Bliske, Director of Marketing, Commercial Print, for Neenah. “The world is moving quickly, but the time is now for creatives to push design boundaries. At Neenah, our desire is to provide you with both the inspiration and the backdrop to bring your creative vision to life on beautiful, sustainable paper.”

Meet the featured artists and some of their creations from Neenah’s Rethink Everything campaign:
A long-lasting luxury solution: Mio Gallery. Mira and Valerii Tsybukovska of Mio Gallery showed true entrepreneurial spirit when they imagined creating a business solely out of handcrafting bespoke paper flowers. Mio Gallery shows big-name brands such as Guerlaine, Gucci and The St. Regis Hotel how to rethink interior design needs to maximize budgets without compromising opulence. Fresh flowers don’t last, but mega-sized paper flower installations and displays, like the ones they created, endure and offer a sustainable solution that is both practical and awe-inspiring.

Reuse and rethink recycled materials: Zero Waste Daniel. Filled with frustration for the lack of environmental design education available, and the copious amounts of textile waste stemming from the fashion industry, designer and entrepreneur Zero Waste Daniel was born. As the first company to make 100% zero waste clothing, Zero Waste Daniel puts textile reuse first in creating one-of-a-kind, stylish, wearable and affordable unisex apparel. He continually inspires change and makes headlines by growing the mission of ending waste culture and redefining the meaning of “sustainable design” as a call to action for all who wish to participate.

Women helping women: Lucy Grymes Designs. Lucy Grymes Designs is reinvigorating home furnishings by empowering women. As Lucy Dean’s low-impact, paper-based lifestyle brand grew and earned its way into over 250 retailers, she knew she’d need help to continue making her quality home decor products by hand. Partnering with N Street Village in her DC community, she employs a group of women currently experiencing homelessness. Together, they create a path forward, improving lives, and fulfilling her vision for uplifting through design.

Paper strata, it’s not child’s play: Hazel Sebastian Glass. A self-professed workaholic, Hazel Sebastian Glass often works extraordinarily long days balancing a busy workload with building on a successful business strategy. Her aim? To break down access barriers to fine art by creating affordable reproductions of her work, and to change the general misconception surrounding paper artistry. She creates exquisite paper strata pieces by layering precision-cut paper swatches together in stunning colour palettes and designs. Her work has evolved over the years, but her mission and work ethic remain the same.

Visionary partners: Studio on Fire and Design Army. From humble beginnings printing letterpress invitations for friends and family, Studio on Fire has strategically scaled to a full-service, print solutions provider known for impeccable quality, craftsmanship, and pushing the boundaries of what paper can do. Owner Ben Levitz’s studio currently combines expertise in letterpress printing with CAD technology to reshape the future of packaging. Design Army is an award-winning creative firm, known for its colourful art direction, editorial fashion shoots, and global advertising campaigns for the likes of Karl Lagerfeld in Paris and the Hong Kong Ballet. As 2020 has presented new hurdles for this globetrotting team, they found inspiration by returning to their design roots. For Rethink Everything, Neenah challenged Studio On Fire and Design Army to pair up and put their respective specialties to the test in creating packaging for the promotion using Neenah Classic Papers that draws the eye and encourages touch. Working virtually, the two studios created a ‘maximalist’ design using minimal colours, using a custom typography, textures, fine lines, and different levels of foil and embossing.

“From the colourfully multi-dimensional cover to the oversized coffee table layout, Rethink Everything is designed to push people out of their comfort zones and think further about using paper,” said Pum Lefebure, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer at Design Army. “We want people to touch it, flip through it over and over again, learn from these inspiring stories, and as a result, experiment with new ideas. This piece is meant to reignite the creative flame within.”