Recycled Print Collateral

Interface is a large company with thousands of sales associates globally. My team supports our associates through the design and creation of “samplebooks”. These complex physical books live in design libraries and include photography, physical product swatches, and a product specification brochure (we call this a viewbook). Design libraries are physical libraries, primarily in architecture & design firms that host a comprehensive range of design resources that easily communicate with brands and manufacturers in order to plan and produce built environments.

DETAILS:
Recycled content for enterprise-wide print collateral

Role:
Art Director

When I first came on board as the Art Director for Interface we were printing on 50% post consumer (PC) recycled paper, however in 2021 the manufacturer discontinued this paper. So I was tasked with finding a new enterprise-wide solution for our printed sales collateral.

Print Process Improvement

After our vendor discontinued their 50% PC paper I was presented a choice between two types of paper – 10% recycled content or 100% recycled content, respectively. The organization had been experiencing a decrease in print quality and color accuracy so the general consensus was to go with the higher quality paper with only 10% recycled content.

However, I was opposed to such a dramatic reduction in sustainability. Ultimately this was my decision and I did not choose the easiest or most popular option. Instead I fought (and am still fighting for) process improvements that enable us to print on 100% post consumer recycled paper.

My process improvements include a complete overhaul of our photography correction process from start to finish, focusing on color accuracy and building in more touchpoints for accuracy review. Our proofing process is being refined through a collaboration between multiple vendors, employees, and stakeholders in leadership and sales as well as a new partnership with a professional color house that supports my team throughout the entire color correction and printing process.

Scale of Impact

Interface launches approximately 20 new products each year, and for each new product launch we print between 5,000-10,000 samplebooks. We also print an extra 4,000 product specification brochures per new launch and replenish somewhere between 50,000-150,000 samplebooks of legacy products annually.

That’s a lot of paper. Through my efforts, Interface saved more than 5 million sheets of virgin paper in 2022 alone.

Credits —

Interface Inc.