Design That Inspires: Environmentally Friendly Press Pack

What do you do when you need an environmentally-friendly press pack but you want to do it without using metal or plastic binding? You do what Icones (Lorient, France) did for its client Bio Nutrisante — and it won an award for it.

Did I mention that the run length was an ultra-short 55 packs? Without breaking the bank?

To create the press pack, Icones started with a 100% recycled paper (Cyclus Print 170g). To eliminate adhesive, it speced 100% environmentally friendly Raffia binding. The result was printed on the HP 5500 digital press and hand bound. This allowed the company to combine the product’s environmental message with environmentally friendly design, printing, and binding.

The packs were turned around in five days.

I was on the judging panel for this particular contest. I loved this campaign. I loved it because the client’s product is eco-friendly, so it went the extra mile to make its branding reflect a consistent eco-friendly message, too. But it didn’t do it the way most companies would by specing recycled paper, FSI- or FSC-certified paper, or adding a recycling logo with the words, “Please recycle!” It did something dramatic. It did something different. It speced environmentally friendly paper — 100% recycled content — and eliminated adhesive and staples in its binding.

That’s real commitment, and it’s a strong marketing message. Bravo to Icones and bravo to Bio Nutrisante.

The press packs won second place, direct mail and transpromotional printing, in HP’s Digital Printing Contest. Winners were announced at IPEX, an international print show held in Birmingham, UK, on May 19.

Read about the first-place entry here.