On November 15 and 16, a new edition of Selected, the design and creativity event, will be held in Bilbao and once again a unique book will be created for the occasion. As in previous editions, Guarro Casas is providing the material required to produce the book, teaming up with the Otzarreta Think & Make creative agency, which has been commissioned with the design. However, unlike previous events, this time an exclusive range of colours and finishes will be manufactured, created from scratch together with the designers in a process running from material selection through to the generation of hues.
It is an example of 360-degree work by the creative professionals and of the total personalisation that can be achieved when materials are processed carefully. However, how was this unique paper manufactured?
Long-fibre and exclusive finish
Guarro Casas’ Geltex was used to create the 2019 paper. This material is strong enough to withstand the stress placed on a book without it breaking or tearing, thanks to the long fibre, particularly as it is a large-format book. Nevertheless, in turn, a totally unique range was generated through the application of finishes that hitherto did not even exist. The result: an exclusive special long-fibre paper for binding with a metallic matt finish
A painstaking creative and manufacturing process
A painstaking creative and manufacturing process
The creation process of this new paper began at the beginning of 2019, when the paper-manufacturing company and the advertising agency put their heads together. First of all they selected the base material based on its mechanical properties, and the decision regarding the intended finish was taken according to the design devised by Otzarreta. On the basis of these premises, Guarro Casas established the production limitations and, on the strength of both criteria, began to establish the colours based on prevailing trends and fashions.
Once the range had been selected and the formulas for each colour established, the relevant laboratory tests were performed to verify the feasibility of all the hues. To this end, a small manual sample of each one of the varieties was produced in order to see the approximate effect resulting from the industrial manufacture. Once the samples had been approved by Guarro Casas and Otzarreta, the paper entered the industrial phase.
The paper production process was also special: being an exclusive paper for Selected 2019, small amounts were produced, solely for the manufacture of the books for the event. Following the fine-tuning of the production process to achieve the best result, nine colours that had never been manufactured before were obtained for the exclusive première in November.
To complete the process, the paper was cut to the sizes required for the covers and was sent to Otzarreta’s designers so that they could apply the chosen design and bind the copies.
Outer space: unique colours
Parallel to the manufacture of the paper, an equally unique name had to be selected for the new creation, one that recalled the material’s effect as well as its connotations in people’s minds. To this end, after a brainstorming session, Guarro Casas and Otzarreta came up with the name SIDERAL (outer space) for this new range. Therefore, the name of the different colours in the range correspond to different planets in the universe depending on the memory brought to mind by their surface. The range’s nine hues will be showcased in November at Selected Bilbao 2019.
In addition, the company will get the event attendees involved in the selection of new colours with a view to extending the range in the future and also on the basis of the tastes of creative professionals and the recipients of these papers.
