Our new address will be: thomas.matthews, First Floor, Morley House, 320 Regent Street, London W1B 3BB

Tel: 020 7307 9292 (This number will be in operation from the 25th February).

PLEASE NOTE: We are moving on the 24th February, so our server will be offline for the day. It should be online and working again for the 25th February but please be patient incase there are any unforseen technical issues. Thanks!

The studio will be closed from Wednesday 22 December – Tuesday 4 January.

As far back as 1975 it was thought that the introduction of email would reduce the amount of paper usage in offices but a recent study from Fujitsu Siemens Computers, found that the the average UK worker prints off 22 pages every working day, accounting to an equivalent paper mountain over 8,000 miles annually. 

When we find our interaction with paper influencing technology, from the web ‘page’ to through to the iPhone we are reminded about the simple power and possibility that a piece of paper represents.

The Pulp Paper book is featured on the Design Museum website as one of their “best books”: www.designmuseumshop.com/whats-new/pulp-paper

Kentlyons blog: www.blog.kentlyons.com/

The inaugural list has been established to profile the incredible achievements of 50 talented women leaders, including Sophie who will have a huge impact on the cultural life of the UK in years to come.

These women are already making a significant contribution to industries including design, libraries, literature, museums, heritage, music, performing and visual arts, the historic environment and creative businesses and have the potential to become influential and established senior leaders in the sector within the next few years.

“Sophie will continue to be a leading figure in design, in particularly in the critical area of sustainability, helping designers to understand their role and responsibility in developing products and services that are more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable”

“For me, building a successful design business has never been focused on creating enough profit to be able to buy myself a yacht,” says Sophie. “Like many female headed practices we are powered by passion and drive to build up benefit for all. It is therefore great to be recognised for this and I am enormously proud of all our achievements”.

As well as celebrating talented women within the sector, the list has also been established to address the lack of women in positions of senior leadership by inspiring and encouraging more women to aim for the top.

CLP received almost 200 high-quality nominations, from across the UK. After much deliberation these were whittled down by the high-profile judging panel - made up of figures from the cultural and creative industries, the media and popular culture and chaired by Jenni Murray OBE, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour – to the final list of 50.

Jenni Murray, said: “I speak for the whole judging panel when I say that arriving at a final list from such a high quality and quantity of nominations was both a delight and a challenge. While we are obviously celebrating the achievements of outstanding individuals, it is also important to see these women as a collective force and as representative of women’s potential to reach the top of their game within this, and any other, sector. Congratulations and watch this space!”

More information on Women to Watch can be found at: www.culturalleadership.org.uk/w2w

Here’s the story of how we did it:

Let’s start with the paper... We know that by switching to a post-consumer recycled stock we can save up to 70% of the embodied energy of a piece of print. But then we thought, what if we use paper that is already sitting in our printer’s warehouse because of an over order? We riffled through their surplus stock and chose some suitable weights and finishes. We didn’t stop there. We asked our printer to use it as ‘make-ready’ (paper that preps the press on a number of jobs). Once it had finished this useful task, we saved it from being discarded.

Now onto the inks... Even with vegetable-based ones there’s a story. They may be low in VOCs (Volatile Organic Chemicals) and less polluting, but there are some serious questions around soy crops causing rainforest deforestation to contend with. Every time a designer asks for a particular spot colour (even for the smallest job) the printer mixes up a tin. That’s a whole litre of ink when you may only require a spoonful. So instead of contributing to this global impact, we spent an afternoon peering into leftover pots (checking them for low barium and copper along the way) to arrive at our new brand palette. But what about the metallics... Aren’t they a big no-no? Well we checked the supplier’s specification and asked some experts about the silver ink and the effect of using big floods of colour on the de-inking process. They responded by telling us that our approach was great and would not detract from the overall recyclability of the finished article. Hurrah!

So, we had our paper and our inks. Now we could take these back to the studio and get designing. It may seem a backwards process starting with the restriction of leftover materials, then thinking about what items would make best use of space on the press sheet - but it made perfect sense to us!

We love print, we love design challenges and most of all we love our new identity.

...as does Creative Review who have today published a story about it all:

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog

We have therefore decided to return three of these packs to you for re-use (though even as I write this letter there has been no success in obtaining a postal address). As a lobby group for the National Association of Paper Merchants who claim compliance with PAS 2020 I would suggest that your direct mail should follow two simple rules in order that it does not undermine its message:

Firstly – make sure your mailing list is up to date. This will stop you sending out multitudes of mail to people who no longer exist, or overload the mailbox of a studio unnecessarily. Secondly – if your piece is delivered to the wrong destination it has the chance to be re-used (remember the age old mantra of re-use before recycle) by including a return address on the outside, halting its painful and wasteful journey straight into the recycling bin (if its lucky).

Whilst we at thomas.matthews believe in the power and impact of great print, we fundamentally believe in sustainable thinking and efficiency in every decision from concept to delivery.

Yours sincerely,
Sophie Thomas

We created a series of limited edition prints based around the usefulness of a simple orange bowl. Members of the studio were invited to contribute by either illustrating, screenprinting or letterpressing on top of the bowl image to create something amazing.
 

Useful Simple is a trail-blazing endeavour. It operates through pioneering design projects, as innovators in design education, and through real-world activities in sustainability and communication. It offers an alternative to profit focused, socially unaware business models and opens the door to the new and the good.

The Useful Simple Trust is an employee benefit trust. So far it comprises 45 beneficiaries, 7 trustees and 3 companies: thomas.matthews, Expedition Engineering and Think Up.

Find out more at usefulsimple.co.uk

Find out more and register at: http://greengaged.com