One of our exciting new additions is this blog.   We came to realize that it is a great way for us to share relevant and helpful information, beyond just packaging products.  Having said that, we want this blog to be fun too, so don’t be surprised when we throw something playful in here from time to time.  You’ll hear from our Art Director and Trendspotter, Christine (our very own “Design Diva”), our Retail Advisor, Mike, who keeps up on all the latest economic news, and our guest bloggers and Retail experts that we find credible and trustworthy (the ones that can help smaller retailers vs. the “Big Box” stores).  You’ll also hear from me and others on our Product and Marketing team, and hope on occasion that you’ll respond to surveys to help us deliver the right products and services for your business.  If you’re interested in being on a Bags & Bows customer panel to assist with ongoing product insights and design feedback, just send a message to the above e-mail address.

Speaking of feedback . . . we just recently completed a survey to our Retail customers and found that many of you are simply trying to survive this economy, manage your cash flow and find new customers.  You are not alone.  Industry results for August were not that great, but better than analysts predicted.  Let’s hope we’ve hit the bottom and things start turning around.  To help, one our Retail experts has offered some great suggestions to help you make the most out of the Fall season and stimulate business.  As we’ve seen time and again, small things can make a big difference.  Check out our white paper, “Falling Into A Fall Promotion Mode”.  And Bags & Bows has some great Fall colors and designs to complement the season.  A packaging presentation printed with your company name and logo can make a powerful impression at very low cost (and we happen to have a great team of hotstampers that can get you quality printing faster than anyone else).  Consumers are likely to be very selective this year about their purchases so be sure they leave happy and impressed, and recommend your store to others.   And for low-cost packaging items, don’t forget to check out our sale room for some great deals.

Finally, you may or may not have noticed from our logo that Bags & Bows is part of Deluxe for Business, a provider of products and services that help small businesses run and grow their business.  Deluxe has partnered with other providers to bring you a “makeover” sweepstakes, an opportunity to win $15,000 worth of free products and services to help boost your business!  The makeover includes web services, full color mail materials, promotional products, packaging products and much more.  Click and See!

Laura Walker

Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Retail Packaging Products, & Retailer Advocate

Bags & Bows looks to the fashion and home furnishings/home décor industry for color cues and design trends. These areas are very reactive to their markets. Color selections come from a combination of elements: color reports, trade publications, information provided by vendors and just getting out there to shop. By actively LOOKING at what retailers, both large and small, are doing, we can put together a palette that will appeal to our customers.

Color Trends in the Fashion Industry

Twice a year, the fashion industry seizes the opportunity to introduce new fabrics, styles and colors at New York Fashion Week, one of the biggest fashion shows in the world. This event is a big part of “setting the stage” for what the fashion trends are going to be for the season and a lot of people are watching.

When it comes to the designs, the fashion designers are clearly running the show, but how do they choose their colors? Some in the industry might say their color inspiration comes from “within,” but it could be argued that there are other influencing factors that assist them when choosing their color palettes.

One influential organization is the Color Association. The Color Association has been forecasting, researching, and archiving color since 1915 and plays an integral role in consulting with industry professionals who look to leverage color in products, brands and environments.

Each season, the Association issues color reports in elegant, fabric-swatched booklet form and is the only forecasting service that selects its colors through a committee panel of eight to twelve industry professionals. The combined expertise of its committee members assures a thoughtful and innovative forecast, season after season.

The fashion world also collaborates with PANTONE, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, Incorporated. PANTONE is the world-renowned authority on color and for more than 45 years they have been inspiring design professionals with their products and services.

Each season, PANTONE publishes the PANTONE Fashion Color Report featuring the top 10 colors for women’s fashions along with designer sketches, quotes and headshots. The availability of the PANTONE Fashion Color Report coincides with the beginning of New York Fashion Week. The report is free and can be downloaded from PANTONE’s Web site at www.pantone.com.

Here are the top ten colors from the Fall 2009 Fashion Color Report.

American Beauty – A true red that speaks volumes. It will leave you feeling both Patriotic and proud.

Purple Heart – Creative, exciting, captivating…these are just a few words people will be saying when they see you wearing this color.

Honey Yellow – A warm, subdued color that has a calming affect. Spice it up with a pop of Purple Heart or Burnt Sienna.

Iron – They are calling it the “new black” because it is a color that can be the foundation for any wardrobe and mixes well with any other color.

Nomad – A combination of beige and light gray. Neutral but fresh.

Crème Brulee – Grayed down beige that adds softness to any wardrobe.

Majolica Blue – Feeling deep and mysterious? Then you’ll enjoy putting on this vibrant shade of teal blue that will keep people wondering.

Burnt Sienna – What says fall better than burnt sienna…and a cup of hot cider, of course? Dress it up with a shade of Nomad or Rapture Rose.

Rapture Rose – A melding of fuchsia and pink into a color that will not only rapture, but also capture your intended audience.

Warm Olive – A rich yellow-green that matches the changing leaves of autumn.

Color Trends in the Manufacturing World

For manufactured products and services, many businesses turn to the Color Marketing Group (CMG) located in Alexandria, Virginia for ideas. CMG is a leading international non-profit association of color design professionals that have been predicting color trends for more than 45 years. They forecast Color Directions® nineteen months or more in advance for manufactured products and services.

CMG’s major focus is to identify the direction of color and design trends and interpret that information into salable colors for manufactured products across all industries.

According to CMG, the top color choices are being influenced by both the concern for the economy and optimism for the future.

Here’s a look at what CMG has named the “hot” colors for 2009…

Purple – Whether it’s a grayed-out violet or a poppy plum, purple is a color that’s here to stay. It works as both an accent color and a neutral.

Blue – It’s easy being green, but it’s better to be blue…as in blue sky and ocean. These colors remind us of our natural surroundings and how we need to protect them to save Mother Earth.

Grayed-out Browns & Grays – These are classic colors that keep us grounded, but aren’t as “harsh” as black or deep brown.

White – It’s not just a color…it’s a mindset. White represents clarity. But consider texture too. Contrast a glossy, grainy, or reflective white surface with a smooth matte color surface for a crisp, refreshing look.

Bright Accents – “Orange, turquoise, and teal, Oh my.” Or how about some reds and yellows? Add any of these colors as an accent color and watch your product “pop.”

Mauve – Sounds like a flashback to the eighties, right? Wrong! Mauve is back better than ever as both an accent and a neutral color.

Yellow – Let’s get real. With this economy, we could all use a boost and what better way to do it then to add a bright shade of yellow. Just saying the color makes you want to smile.

Color is everywhere…make every color count!

Christine Landry-Briggs
Art Director & Trendspotter.

Over the past several years, the word “recycling” has become more of a household name, but there is definitely still some confusion about the topic.

Some common questions people have are…

What is a recycled product?
What is a recyclable product?
What is a biodegradable product?

Below is some basic information answering these questions that will hopefully encourage consumers to recycle and minimize their contribution to our already overflowing landfills.

What is a “recycled” product?

Recycling programs are increasing across the nation and around the world as a means of reducing the amount of landfill space needed for waste, but collecting papers and bottles is only half of the process. Consumers need to purchase products made of recycled materials to complete the cycle.

In the world of manufacturing consumer products, a “recycled” product is…
A new product made from materials that would otherwise have been waste,  broken down (melted or pulped) into a basic substance from which a new product can be formed.

Even though the word “recycled” is commonly used to mean reusing something in any way, legal definitions require the old product to be broken down into its basic material and a new product formed for it to be called “recycled.”

There are three general levels of recycled products that can all be called “recycled”.

Primary Recycling – Reprocessing or remanufacturing of discarded materials into the same product, which can then be recycled again, such as a glass container into a glass container or a steel product into a steel product.

Secondary Recycling – Reprocessing or remanufacturing of discarded materials into a different, but similar, product. For example, recycling corrugated cardboard boxes into cereal boxes.

Tertiary Recycling – Reprocessing or remanufacturing of discarded materials into a product, which is not likely to be recycled, such as recycling mixed office paper into bathroom tissue.

There is much controversy among manufacturers, distributors, regulators, and consumers over what constitutes a “real” recycled product. There are those who believe that only products made from post-consumer waste should be called “recycled.” Considering that for every pound of consumer waste there is twenty-five pounds of manufacturing waste, pre-consumer waste has its place in products called “recycled,” too. Products just need to be labeled correctly so consumers can make their own choices.

What is a “recyclable” product?

A “recyclable” product is…
A product that can be collected and made into a new recycled product.

But when considering the recyclability of a product there are two separate and distinct issues: 1) Can a product or material technically be recycled? 2) In real life, can a product or material practically be recycled?

The difference between these two definitions of “recyclable” is the subject of hot controversy in the product/packaging-labeling world. Some say that any product or material that can technically be recycled should be labeled “recyclable.” Others say that the attribute “recyclable” should only be used on a label if, in fact, it can really be recycled in the community where the product or package is sold. While recyclables such as glass or newspapers can be recycled almost everywhere, other recyclables like plastics or motor oil can only be recycled in the limited number of areas where programs have been set up.

The primary markets for recycled materials right now are aluminum and other scrap metals, glass, paper and plastic. These are easily recognizable even without the word “recyclable” on the label.

A very large portion of our waste is recyclable or otherwise reusable. If we recycled all of our paper and paperboard (40%), all of our metals (9%), all of our plastic (8%), and all our glass (7%), we would reduce our total garbage by 64 percent! If, in addition, we reclaimed our wood (4%), rubber (3%), and textiles (2%) for other uses, we would be down to only 27 percent of our current garbage. By composting yard wastes (18%) and food wastes (7%), we’re left with only two percent of our current solid waste to place in a landfill or otherwise dispose of. Recycling takes work, but it can be done.

What is a “biodegradable” product?

Of all the environmental buzzwords, “biodegradable” has perhaps been the most misused and is perhaps the most difficult to understand.

A “biodegradable” product is…
A product that has the ability to break down, safely and relatively quickly,
by biological means, into the raw materials of nature and disappears into the environment.

These products can be solids biodegrading into the soil (which we also refer to as compostable), or liquids biodegrading into water. Biodegradable plastic is intended to break up when exposed to microorganisms (a natural ingredient such as cornstarch or vegetable oil is added to achieve this result).

By the time many resources are turned into products, however, they have been altered by industry in such a way that they are unrecognizable to the microorganisms and enzymes that return natural materials to their basic building blocks. Crude oil, for example, will biodegrade in its natural state, but once it is turned into plastic; it becomes an unsustainable pollution problem. Instead of returning to the cycle of life, these products simply pollute and litter our land, air, and water.

The confusion about this issue will probably continue for some time, but as consumers, we should be vigilant about using biodegradable products to protect our environment.

Here’s how long it takes for some commonly used products to biodegrade, when they are scattered about as litter:

• Cotton rags (1-5 months)
• Paper (2-5 months)
• Rope (3-14 months)
• Orange peels (6 months)
• Wool socks (1-5 years)
• Cigarette butts (1-12 years)
• Plastic coated paper milk cartons (5 years)
• Leather shoes (25 – 40 years)
• Nylon fabric (30 – 40 years)
• Tin cans (50 – 100 years)
• Aluminum cans (80 – 100 years)
• Plastic 6-pack holder rings (450 years)
• Glass bottles (1 million years)
• Plastic bottles (forever)

For more information on choosing environmentally friendly products, please visit www.worldwise.com