If the the Royal Wedding was the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics for the wedding industry, then the National Stationery Show is the equivalent of the Masters’ golf tournament. It’s certainly interesting if you are into the sport, but it’s definitely more of a niche event. Yesterday was the “kick off” and so I broke from my usual Sunday routine of running the park and then eating back all the calories I burned to hit up the Javitz Center. I love to go because I love paper, and also because I get a “Press Pass”, which makes me feel for a brief moment like I have a second, sexy sounding career as a “journalist”.
Trees and Bamboo Shoots around the world shed a little tear for the mass gathering of gorgeous paper products assembled under one roof. Because the National Stationery Show isn’t JUST for wedding invitations, its a great place to spy trends in paper products in general, not just for the wedding world… Because, as we know, trends trickle down. So what’s hot for 2011/2012?
1. Everything will be laser cut. The idea of laser cut items as wedding accessories isn’t new, but it is about to dominate the scene in 2011. I found this interesting, because we’re in the midst of working on a project involving some laser cut designs, but here to fore, with the exception of a stock escort card design, it’s been something solely in the realm of couture designers such as Ceci New York. Yesterday, laser cut details were EVERYWHERE. From a delicate envelopement from the affordable mass-market Emily Post stationery line to more luxe/ custom feeling details such as wooden wedding cake tops from Fig and Ginger.
2. At this point, if you aren’t producing green stationery and products, you should just put on a hairshirt and hang your corporate head in shame. I jest, but, in honesty, this year was the first year that the “green” stationery didn’t seem like a significant marketing ploy, just because it’s so ubiquitous that it’s not at all a way of standing out in a crowd. That said, what I did notice was a lot of printing on NON-paper materials. On the high end of things, the awesoem people at Twig & Fig showed an invitation with a vanity license plate component. Joie Studios showed lots of items printed on “wood” papers, while Plum Blossom Press offered up a suite that was printed on Cork! I loved that. Very clever for a vineyard.
3. Less Letterpress. The most shocking thing was the number of lines that were only offering p Off-set printing or options to be printed in offset or letterpress. I can only imagine this is in response to the economic times we’ve endured in the last few years, but what I can say is that without thick cotton paper and the luxurious feel of letterpress in your hand, the actual DESIGN of the suite certainly stands out more (for better or for worse). For the consumer, though, this means that you can keep your eyes open for more modern design at, quite literally, a fraction of the cost of letterpress suites (think $400 vs. $2,000).
4. More Details. From gold foil embellishments to edge painting everywhere, a lot of lines (especially more “familiar” lines such as Dauphine and Bella Figura) have offered more and more opportunities to add on luxurious details to enhance the look of your stationery suite. My personal favorite? These fantastic stitching details from Gilah Press. Actually, fabric and sewing details was almost a sub-trend at the show on a whole… Lots of fabric gift wraps and quilted adornments on greeting cards and such, which is a logical evolution of the influence that crafting and DIYing has been having. 
Later this week, my “Best Of” NSS (according to me) and my absolute, FAVORITE FIND of the whole shebang that I can’t wait to share with you all. If you are a paper person, you may want to head over to the Javitz center for the rest of the show, which goes on until May 18th.
I’ve been dying to see some NSS posts start rolling in – thanks!
Thanks. Unable to attend the show, I was hoping to catch some views and reviews. I suspected from the buzz that the show would include fabric items, as your sub-category indicates. Thanks for sharing.
I missed that show..!!
Bummed that we missed it this year- thanks for sharing your findings though!! Hope to see you there next year? We’re already counting down :) Have fun!