Looking Back / Looking Forward with Antalis Creative Papers.
Looking Back / Looking Forward with Antalis Creative Papers.
WithPrint's annual desk calendar is widely recognised in the design community as a functional tool and a showcase of print production. For the company's 25th anniversary, the calendar was rethought from the ground up by Common Curiosity, led by designers Paul Felton and Alex Woolley, to demonstrate a wider range of substrates and finishes, using Antalis Creative Papers at its core.
Project background and objectives
Previous editions used a durable base made from Smile Plastics, with printed calendar inserts supplied each year. After several successful years with this format, the team decided to move away from the base and move to a format that was entirely paper‑based.
Working closely with WithPrint, Common Curiosity set the following objectives:
- Maintain the calendar’s day‑to‑day usability on a desk.
- Demonstrate the breadth of WithPrint’s print and finishing capabilities.
- Showcase the quality and versatility of Antalis creative papers and Kurz foils.
- Mark 25 years of WithPrint through a clear design concept.
This led to the theme “Looking Back / Looking Forward”, expressed through a swatchbook‑style calendar format. The structure allows users to flip, fan and handle individual leaves in the same way they would a paper swatch, while still reading and updating the date.
Format, construction and design decisions
The finished piece is a compact, screw‑bound swatchbook. Each leaf carries a portion of the date system and is treated as an individual sample:
- Multiple formats cut to uniform size for ease of handling.
- Rounded corners and precision trimming for consistent alignment.
- A single fixing point, allowing the calendar to fan out for display or fold away compactly.
Every aspect of the layout is design‑led. Common Curiosity determined the sequence of colours, the mix of type styles and the exact placement of foils and embossing page by page. Each tab balances typography, ink colour, substrate and finish to show a distinct visual and tactile effect.
Use of Antalis Creative Papers
The designer specified the Antalis Creative Papers portfolio to deliver variety in colour, surface and bulk while remaining stable through print and finishing.
Key ranges used include:
- Curious Collection – for intense colour, unusual finishes and visual impact.
- Keaykolour – for a broad palette of tactile, coloured boards.
- Olin – for clean, high‑quality uncoated sheets suited to detailed typography.
Papers were selected on two main criteria:
1. Technical performance – ability to handle different print methods, foiling and finishing without excessive waste or registration issues.
2. Design value – noticeable differences in shade, texture and tactility from leaf to leaf – to emphasise the contrast across the Antalis range.
The choice of which stock to use on which page, and where to introduce foils or embossing, was made by Common Curiosity at the design stage, ensuring that paper is integral to the concept rather than an afterthought.
Print, finishes and visual treatment
Each page is treated as a discrete print experiment while contributing to a coherent overall system. Techniques include:
- Solid and overprinted colours.
- Bold numerical and typographic treatments.
- Foiling using Kurz foils to contrast with both smooth and textured substrates.
- Combinations of opaque and translucent effects to show how different inks and foils sit on each stock.
This approach, driven by the design studio, enables the calendar to act as a working test bed for the interaction between type, colour, foil and substrate.
Outcome
Within the design and print community, the calendar is used as:
- A practical, durable desk calendar.
- A compact reference for Antalis Creative Papers shades, textures and print behaviours.
An example of how everyday formats can be turned into low‑key sample tools.
The project underlines the collaboration between designer and printer: Common Curiosity’s detailed material and layout decisions, combined with WithPrint’s production expertise, are what allow the Antalis papers and finishes to perform at their best. It’s a clear reminder that there is no print without design.
For more information on the papers available, see the Antalis Creative Papers ranges:
https://www.antalis.co.uk/home/what-we-do/print/products/creative-papers.html
