Field Guides

A Maker's Field Guide to Texture and Color

Words
Mohawk
Field Guide cover and contents

Introducing A Maker’s Field Guide to Texture and Color, an ambitious and comprehensive new printed tool from Mohawk, designed to serve as a hands-on resource for the creative community.

The competition for your audiences’ attention has risen to a fever pitch. They are overwhelmed, bombarded with more-more-more, with less and less impact. What we create needs to make a powerful impression to elevate itself from the endless churn of communication. But, how?

The Maker’s Field Guide will engage, inspire and educate designers and brand owners, while demonstrating how high quality materials, such as textured and colored papers, can transform printed communications from good to great.

An open Makers Field Guide to Color and Texture
“Paper is a powerful tool, on par with copy and design in its ability to deliver, enhance and create memorable impact. Just as food delivers more than simply nutrition, the flavor and presentation of a meal plays a role in how we enjoy and remember the experience.”
Chris Harrold
Vice President of Business Development and Creative Director, Mohawk.
An open page of the Makers Field Guide

Created by Hybrid Design of San Francisco, CA, this comprehensive resource will be the definitive guide to using texture and color to amplify printed projects, underscoring the importance of using materials as a powerful communication tool.

In the spirit of the Mohawk Maker Quarterly (also designed by Hybrid), the Maker’s Field Guide contains thoughtful content and compelling design and showcasing everyday printing techniques on a variety of distinctive colored and textured papers to demonstrate the beauty and printability of Mohawk’s expansive Text & Cover portfolio.

The Makers Field Guide, open to a page that says "Iceland"
Close-up of the page that says "Iceland" with a landscape image

Featuring stunning photography by Kennett Mohrman and David Prince; extraordinary illustrations by Lab Partners and Olimpia Zagnoli; and printed examples featuring a variety of makers and creatives that have been featured in past issues of the Mohawk Maker Quarterly, A Maker’s Field Guide to Texture and Color will truly become a must-have for anyone who loves working with paper and print.

Version 1 of Makers Field Guide cover - salmon colored jacket
Version 2 of Makers Field Guide cover - lime colored jacket

Designed to appeal to distinct audiences – printers and designers/communicators – the Maker’s Field Guide features customized wraps providing specific information to help each audience maximize its contents.

the makers field guide open to an inner page with a print demonstration
Another view of the field guide open to a page with an envelope demonstration

Content was developed to entice readers to consider new ways to select and use materials to maximize the power of print, focusing on three primary strategies:

  • Materials- The power of materials as a key component of communication
  • Texture- Time-tested strategies to get the most out of textured paper
  • Color- Strategies to heighten the impact of printed projects by using colored paper
“Equal parts inspiration, education, and conversation, the Maker’s Field Guide aims to equip printers, communicators and designers with practical strategies and powerful demonstrations of how persuasive uncoated textured and colored papers can be when fully understood and utilized.”
Chris Harrold
Vice President of Business Development and Creative Director, Mohawk
A colorful demonstration inside the Makers Field Guide
A close-up of a sample bound inside the Makers Field Guide

The design of the Maker’s Field Guide rivals the inspirational content contained within. The tool features a wide array of printing techniques including offset printing, foil stamping, and embossing processes on 32 distinctive colored and textured papers drawn from nearly every Mohawk paper grade, including: Carnival +Via (Expressive Collection), Loop (Sustainable Collection), Options (Beautiful Collection), Superfine (Beautiful Collection), and Strathmore (Elevated Collection) as well as papers from The Curious Collection (Expressive Collection).

An open Makers Field Guide with two flaps open to reveal additional information

The Maker’s Field Guide was skillfully printed by Sandy Alexander, Clifton, NJ, using four color printing, 2nd black, 4th white, match blue, match red, match brown, match purple, match pink, match orange and match gold.

Production Notes

PN-print-process
Print Process
materials_techniques
Materials + Techniques
bindary
Bindery
PN-printer
Printer
Sandy Alexander
PN-designer
Designer
Hybrid Design

Materials Used

Suggested Articles

Cover of Envelope Field Guide
Field Guides

A Maker's Field Guide to Envelopes

An envelope is a simple and familiar form. It requires no power source or special reader to be held, read and understood. Equal parts function and first impression, an envelope has all the right elements to make any project exceptional.

image of Mohawk Options with Scodix clear
Mohawk Blog

The Art of Digital Paper

As digital printing evolves from compromise to sophisticated tool—advances in color, texture, and fiber papers push the boundaries of what's possible.