Social Design Project 'The Feedback Loop' Launches Today to Benefit Underserved Youth; Designers and Letterpress Printers Unite for Cause

COHOES, N.Y., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Jason McDaniel is used to printing killer letterpress invitations and cards. And it's not that he doesn't love his work at Dallas' trendy Missing Q Press, but when McDaniel was invited to participate in The Feedback Loop project, he thought it would be fun to challenge himself to do something outside of his normal routine.

So he letterpress-printed a journal, something he'd never before tried, the sales of which will benefit kids all over the country.

Mohawk Fine Papers and Design Ignites Change teamed up recently to create The Feedback Loop (#feedbackloop), a project using the new Mohawk Loop grade as a catalyst for change. In exchange for free Loop paper from Mohawk, twenty-five leading letterpress printers, including Missing Q, were each asked to create fifty unique notebooks. These limited-edition books are now being sold in a special storefront in Felt & Wire Shop. 100% of the proceeds will go to DIC to support their youth mentorship program, School: by Design.

McDaniel says the printing part of the project was easy (he printed the covers by hand on his Vandercook #4). It was the bindery that was new for him. His journal was inspired by a vintage French botanical fieldbook he stumbled upon at an antique shop this summer. "I was really inspired by the fact that someone carried this little journal around studying plants, and so the fieldbook became the inspiration for my notebooks. Plus, the word 'letterpress' looks really awesome in French (Impression Typographique!). I have never done any bookbinding professionally, so I wasn't sure how to go about this in terms of a finished notebook," he says. But you'd never know it from the finished result.

Project leader Laura Shore, Senior Vice President, Communications and Innovation Strategies, Mohawk Fine Papers, is impressed by the work of all of the participants, which is now on sale at Felt & Wire Shop. "Some of the best letterpress printers in the country are involved in the project, so I knew they'd be good. But I didn't imagine they'd be this good. It all started with the simple idea that Mohawk wanted to be a positive catalyst for social change, and we wanted to get printers to try our new paper, Loop."

She says she thinks they'll sell out quickly. "We set a low fixed price on all the notebooks: $15, which includes shipping and handling. Our goal was to raise money quickly and test this as a model for future social ventures."

That would make Design Ignites Change principals Mark Randall and Andrea Pellegrino happy. All proceeds for The Feedback Loop go directly to School: by Design - a Design Ignites Change and Designers Accord youth mentoring initiative. "We're challenging high school students – in collaboration with their college or professional design mentors – to 'redesign their school.' A $10,000 award will be granted to the high school with the most innovative project to implement their idea," says Pellegrino.

McDaniel adds, "I hope every single notebook sells so there is a generous donation made."

About Design Ignites Change

Design Ignites Change, a collaboration between the Adobe Foundation and Worldstudio, engages high school and college students in multidisciplinary design and architecture projects that address pressing social issues. Participants are encouraged to apply design thinking - the combination of unleashed creativity and executable actions - to problems that exist in their own communities.

http://www.designigniteschange.com

About School: By Design

School: by Design is a Design Ignites Change and Designers Accord youth mentoring initiative that asks high school students – in collaboration with their college or professional design mentors – to "redesign your school." A $10,000 award will be granted to the high school with the most innovative project to implement their idea.

http://www.designigniteschange.org/pages/36-mentoring-school-by-design

About Mohawk

The largest privately owned manufacturer of premium printing, writing, and digital papers in North America, Mohawk Fine Papers Inc. provides innovative products and services to professional designers and commercial printers. Signature paper lines include Strathmore®, Mohawk Superfine, Mohawk Loop®, Mohawk Color Copy®, Mohawk Options®, and proprietary i-Tone® and Inxwell® technologies. Products and samples are available through mohawkpaperstore.com.

Mohawk now offers software solutions for professional photographers and labs through LabPrints, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mohawk.  The company also operates an on-line marketplace for designer stationery, posters, and prints: feltandwireshop.com.

Mohawk is a third-generation family-owned business and certified Women-Owned Business Enterprise that constantly renews its commitment to environmental stewardship. As the first U.S. manufacturer of commercial printing papers to match 100% of its electricity with windpower renewable energy credits and the first U.S. premium paper mill to shift toward carbon neutral production, its portfolio of recycled papers certified by Green Seal and the Forest Stewardship Council's (FSC) standards, continues to grow along with the rest of the company.  For more information, visit mohawkpaper.com.

Photos available here: http://s969.photobucket.com/albums/ae173/williamsandhouse/Feedback%20Loop%20Notebooks/

Links:

Design Ignites Change: http://www.designigniteschange.org/

School: By Design: http://www.designigniteschange.org/pages/36-mentoring-school-by-design

Felt & Wire Shop: http://feltandwireshop.com/

Felt & Wire (blog): http://feltandwire.com

Mohawk Fine Papers: http://www.mohawkpaper.com/

Mohawk Loop: http://www.dexigner.com/graphic/news-g20327.html

SOURCE Mohawk Fine Papers Inc.