James Cropper: The Paper Portal

In a competitive landscape where speed and convenience of paper choice are demanded, we took a step back. Through discovery workshops with the James Cropper teams (sales, marketing and R&D), we mapped out the customer journey: how does someone currently buy paper from the mill? Is this the most effective way? What are the barriers stopping that final conversion? Printers want jargon-free information. So do designers, but they need to be inspired too. Brands need to see the vision and the possibilities ahead by working with James Cropper.

Both practical and designed to wow – the Paper Portal is an artefact to adorn agency shelves worldwide that can still withstand daily use. A demonstrator that is uniquely from the mill, of the mill. It pulls together multiple paper ranges, in-house capabilities and partnerships in one swatch tool built to inspire, inform and convert. The portal shape has been woven into James Cropper Campaigns for the last two years in preparation for this moment.

Working closely with marketing and sales, every decision was considered. The sample sheets needed to be big enough for practical use, but every mm difference would result in bigger inner boxes, resulting in a bigger portal. Size matters – and nobody is taking home a swatch that couldn’t fit in a bag.

The British paper maker is in an exciting period of growth and innovation, which means the demonstrator needs to adapt at a moment’s notice. Keeping the samples loose instead of bound was a win-win: it gives users the ability to move and compare samples easily, and it means a paper range refresh doesn’t result in a full reprint.