What is your favorite paper and why?
Munken Polar, Munken Polar Rough.

Could you give an example of a design you created where paper played a special or particularly functional role?
My personal portfolio where the paper gave the risograph print techniek a special and a more intense and tactile feeling.

Dal Bello’s personal portfolio

Dal Bello’s personal portfolio

How important is the choice of paper in your designs? Do you spend a lot of time choosing the paper?
Not drastically important since for a visual identities we have to think of a paper that can cross over from high grammages for brochures, business card and really thin grammages for letterhead etc. Also the cost for the companies are crucial in this matter which limits us a lot.

OVG – Annual Report designed at Studio Dumbar

OVG – Visual Identity, designed at Studio Dumbar

Could you mention a designer whose paper choice appeals to you?
I think Antoine & Manuel and Irma Boom.

Is there something missing in the current range of available paper?
More special colors and gradients experimentation papers.

What is your biggest frustration in the field of paper?
A way to find the right paper… Sometimes it is hard to see if the paper is best for the product you are making. We can love a certain paper but it is not availble in the range you need. I think it is quite easy to get lost into possibilities and varieties. Also we never know the prices. Would be nice to have an overview in the market of the most expensive to the cheapest and a list of usability.

TNT Stamps, designed at Studio Dumbar

TNT Stamps, designed at Studio Dumbar

Is it difficult or easy for designers in your country to find information on paper, paper samples and/or paper collections?
Easy to find the emails but not so easy to get access if you are not a company.

How do you see the future of paper?
More specialized and more refined and special. Since we are going towards digital more and more when a book is being produced it has to be special so people feel the need to have it at their home. Nowadays it’s not like “anything goes” and I think paper plays a crucial role there.

By Rejane Dal Bello