2013 National Stationery Show – Colors Part V – Light Neutrals

There seemed to be an overall lightness and brightness at the National Stationery Show. I’m not sure if that’s a sign of happier times on the rise, or not, but I’m going to go with that thought and celebrate the overall upbeat feel the show had, this year—not just in the cards, but in the openness and friendliness of the people who were there.

The products and designs can pin a lot of that bright feeling on the light neutrals I saw as I walked the show, including mellow, comfortable taupes, lots of white space, and subtle glints of gold.

Taupe on a Rope

Okay, so the sub-head makes no sense. I just couldn’t resist it, though, and now have to come up with my own taupe rope design. In the meantime, here are some examples of taupe found at the NSS.

Ilee Papergoods uses taupe wonderfully in this lovely sympathy card.

Ilee Papergoods bird and grasses sympathy card

Ilee Papergoods bird and grasses sympathy card

This handsome Tom from Rifle Paper Co. is strutting his taupe self up and down this card.

Rifle Paper Co. Thanksgiving card

Rifle Paper Co. Thanksgiving card

Moglea uses taupe in a series of beautiful envelopes and liners.

Moglea envelope liners

Moglea envelope liners

Taupe and aqua make a pretty, gender-neutral combo on this new baby card from 9th Letter Press.

9th Letter Press new baby card

9th Letter Press new baby card

A Whiter Shade of Paper

There’s no brighter neutral than white. And, there’s no more effective way to use white than through the strategic employment of eye-catching white space. There was a lot of wide-open, don’t-fence-me-in white space at the show; the following companies and designs all worked with white beautifully.

Ten Four Paper’s hilarious line of cards uses clean, centered design against a background of crisp white to highlight the humor.

Ten Four Paper cards

Ten Four Paper cards

The Mr. Boddington’s Studio booth was awash in white; these four cards capture the “Boddingtonian” use of white space.

Mr. Boddington's Studio cards

Mr. Boddington’s Studio cards

Ink Meets Paper’s designs are playful and bright against crisp white backgrounds.

Ink Meets Paper cards

Ink Meets Paper cards

This adorable wee egg from Maginating takes great advantage of its white-on-white blind deboss.

Maginating good egg card

Maginating good egg card

Paper Boat Studios’ origami line of cards uses white to highlight the line art and small punches of bright color.

Paper Boat Studios cards

Paper Boat Studios cards

The humor is hammered home (get it? get it?) on this fun white-space-based card from South City Press.

http://paperboatstudios.com/

South City Press nailed it card

Pei Design’s booth was bright and crisp and combined whimsy with just a little bit of fun preppiness—and white space was at its wonderful core.

Pei Design products

Pei Design products

I imagine this simple, clean, effective card from Ladyfingers Letterpress resonated with a lot of people.

Ladyfingers Letterpress O.K. card

Ladyfingers Letterpress O.K. card

The Golden Touch

Metallics were gloriously gold, this show. There was a little bit of copper here, a smidge of silver there, and some bronze to be found from time to time. But, hands-down, this was absolutely a gilded event.

Hello!Lucky’s line of holiday cards was gorgeous in gold.

Hello!Lucky holiday cards

Hello!Lucky holiday cards

Studio on Fire’s promotional coasters set and business card were my winner for best marketing pieces, in all their gold-accented, lusciously-letterpressed glory.

Studio on Fire coasters and business card

Studio on Fire coasters and business card

There was a lot of beautiful gold-accented wrapping paper at the show, including these designs from Rifle Paper Co.

Rifle Paper Co. wrapping paper

Rifle Paper Co. wrapping paper

And, the gold wasn’t reserved for the products alone; these business cards and promo pieces were all a-shimmer-glimmer with gold, too. From left to right: Printerette Press business card, Ladyfingers Letterpress business card, Maginating bingo chip, and Wild Ink Press business card.

Miscellaneous gold-accented business cards and promo pieces

Miscellaneous gold-accented business cards and promo pieces

Well, that does it for individual colors. My next (and last) color-themed NSS post will be on how all of these colors were combined into eye-catching palettes and products.

Please note: the image labels I’ve used are not official product names/titles. For more information on any of the products in my posts, please contact the wonderful people who’ve created them.