THE BRIEF
As an intern at Peace and Cotton, a sustainable printing company, I was tasked with increasing brand awareness. After revamping the company's social media presence and assisting with the launch of a new website, I decided to take a more out-of-the-box approach to promotion for an upcoming trade show.
THE CONCEPT
After talking to everyone in the shop from the owner to the seamstresses, I learned Peace and Cotton had several competitive advantages over the average print shop: they use the most sustainable materials and practices available, and they meet all clients in the workshop to introduce the workers and provide a personalized experience. To communicate their philosophies in a short interaction at a trade show, I knew I had to create a handout that told their story - and it had to be interesting enough to grab someone's attention so they'd actually read it. Behold: the fabric-printed brochure.
THE RESULT
I knew a zine about the company's projects and people, printed in-house on sustainable fabrics, was the perfect way of telling the company's story while also showing off personality and the quality of the end-products. I interviewed product designers and seamstresses that worked on interesting projects, then decided on the top stories to write and photograph. I laid it out and I learned how to use the dye-sublimation printer, then chose the best fabrics for small text and "binding" it all together. My internship was coming to an end, so I put together everything I had so far and an instruction manual on how to reproduce it, then made a prototype to show the owner. He was ecstatic with the prototype and began moving forward to assign production for 1000 copies.
EPILOGUE
As you're likely wondering, "where are the photos of the 1000 final copies being handing out at the trade show?" I feel it's important to explain what happened. The week my internship ended, Peace and Cotton landed a massive production project for a notable company that required the team to immediately move to a larger facility and hire more workers just to be able to fulfill it. The need for brand awareness and attracting new clients was no longer a priority, and so the fabric-printed zine never made it to mass production.
