The Paperlinx subsidiary recently held seminars in Sydney and Melbourne to give designers a “basic understanding of the types of paper available for commercial print production, how they are created and why this understanding and an early choice in the creative process is vital to achieving the print result demanded by creative professionals”.

Paperlinx marketing manager Edward Stephenson said the Spicers Paper School enjoyed its biggest turnout ever as it celebrated a decade since its launch with a complete brand overhaul.

“Students look at the technical aspects of paper and how it interacts with the press, there is also environmental studies and they get to hear from industry expert speakers,” he said.

“We had more attendees than ever, including representatives from Canon, Konica Minolta and Fuji Xerox.”

Printers lecturing at the forum included Lithocraft’s Nick O’Sullivan, who spoke at the Melbourne leg, and Theo Pettaras from Digitalpress, who spoke in Sydney.

Spicers has also turned its yearly calendar concept on its head and launched an “extreme” cross-media campaign aimed at sensitive young designers.

Through monthly online videos, the blokes from ‘Spicers Guild of Xtreme Printing’ will talk designers through extreme methods of die-cutting, embossing and printing using power tools and brute force.

Stephenson said that the campaign would tie in directly with the printed calendars.

“I wanted a calendar that was interesting as far as design and print were concerned and would inspire someone to put it on the wall and relate it to Spicers,” he said.

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