BOSTON – Sappi North America today announced the grant recipients of its 16th annual Ideas that Matter program, aimed at helping designers create and implement print projects for charitable causes. Since 1999, as an integral part of Sappi's corporate social responsibility program, Ideas that Matter has funded over 500 nonprofit projects, contributing more than $12.5 million to causes that use design as a positive force in society. The program is open to North American designers who are partnered with a nonprofit organization and have created a solution that is ready for implementation. This year's eight winning projects highlight how designers can use the power of paper as a catalyst for social change and innovation.
"Nearly two decades ago, Sappi saw a need to invest in a platform that combined design excellence with charity, hence Ideas that Matter was born," said Patti Groh, Marketing Communications Director, Sappi North America. "We could not be more proud of the work that has come out of the program because our grant recipients are truly making a positive, measurable impact around the world."
For the first time, this year Sappi is offering a chance for the design community to participate directly in the grant program by voting for their favorite projects. The grant that receives the most Facebook "LIKES" by September 30 will receive a $5,000 bonus to escalate the reach, impact and influence of their project. The People's Voice winner will be announced on October 1, 2015. All participants can vote for their favorite project here.
The 2015 Ideas that Matter Recipients:
| Designer, firm | project title | project description | nonprofit to benefit from the grant |
|---|---|---|---|
Savage Good | Epidermolysis Bullosa (The worst disease you've never heard of) | Brochure and microsite to raise awareness and support the fundraising efforts of EB Research Partnership in search of a cure for Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a painful, genetic skin condition often referred to as "the worst disease you've never heard of." | EB Research Partnership |
Tarallo Design | Visual Nourishment: Cultivating Greater Engagement in Worcester's Environmental Community | This project seeks to inform, engage, and to spread the spirit of environmental and food justice to the Worcester community. Toward this intention we will design a visual identity and campaign consisting of vegetable twist ties, posters for farmer's market stands, and an online plant guide. | Regional Environmental Council, Inc. |
University of Notre Dame | Enza | A series of instructional booklets and kits aimed at enhancing job opportunities for women in South Africa by developing marketable skills, such as sewing and ceramics, through simple projects that serve a deep community need. | University of Notre Dame |
Jennifer Cheng, Catherine Lim and Tyler Monteferrante | Archivo: Toolkit of Self-Documentation | Branded booklet, filing system, and document case to guide undocumented immigrants through the process of collecting and preparing applications for deferred action, so that working families can stay together. | Latino Advocacy / Community to Community Development |
Becky Slogeris | My Baltimore Book | Book, Teacher's Guide (print and digital) and website to empower all 3rd grade students in Baltimore to learn more about their city's history as well as promote civic engagement. | Fund for Educational Excellence |
| 826LA | Who is Your Imaginary Friend? Holiday Campaign | Mailer, digital banners and video design elements for the annual holiday giving campaign to support children's creative and expository writing skills in the Los Angeles area. | 826LA |
50,000 Feet | The Peace Care Communications Toolkit | Development and fundraising toolkit for global-health nonprofit Peace Care that supports the mission of bringing quality health care to communities in need. Materials share inspirational success stories through video, direct mail campaigns, branded collateral and event signage. | Peace Care |
MASS Design Group | Purpose Built: A Guide for Building in Low-Resource Settings | A field guide and reference catalogue capturing MASS Design Group's best practices for engaging communities in the architectural design process, aimed at empowering project stakeholders and cultivating an understanding not of what buildings are, but what they can do. | MASS Design Group |
For more information about Sappi's 2015 Ideas that Matter grant recipients in North America, please visit our website or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. The Call for Entries for next year's Ideas that Matter program will be announced in the spring of 2016.
Selection Criteria
Ideas that Matter proposals are evaluated on creativity, potential effectiveness and practicality by an independent panel of judges, selected annually, who are recognized for their commitment to design for social good. They are: Joan Barlow, Creative Services Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Debbie Millman, President, Chief Marketing Officer, Sterling Brands and Co-Founder and Chair, Masters in Branding Program, School of Visual Arts; Naomi Usher, Creative Director and Owner, Studio Usher; Ellen Lupton, Curator of Contemporary Design, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and Director, Graphic Design MFA Program, Maryland Institute College of Art; and Nancy Essex, Creative Director and Design Strategist.
About Sappi North America
Sappi North America, headquartered in Boston and a subsidiary of global pulp and paper group Sappi Limited, is a market leader in converting wood fiber into superior products that customers demand worldwide. The success of our four diversified businesses – high quality Coated Graphic Papers, Specialised Cellulose, Release Papers and Specialty Packaging – is driven by strong customer relationships, best-in-class people and advantaged assets, products and services. Our high quality Coated Graphic Papers, including McCoy, Opus, Somerset and Flo, are the key platform for premium magazines, catalogs, books and high-end print advertising. We are a leading manufacturer of Specialised Cellulose used in a wide range of products, including textile fibers and household goods, and one of the world's leading suppliers of Release Papers with our Ultracast and Classics lines for the automotive, fashion and engineered films industries. Our Specialty Packaging products, such as LusterPrint and LusterCote, represent an important asset in the food packaging and labeling industries. Customers rely on Sappi for high technical, operational and market expertise; products and services delivered with consistently high quality and reliability; and, state-of-the-art and cost-competitive assets and innovative spirit.
Sappi North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Limited (JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with more than 13,000 employees and manufacturing operations on three continents in seven countries and customers in over 100 countries around the world. Learn more about Sappi at: www.sappi.com/na.
Contact a Sappi Representative
Olga Karagiannis
+1 617 423 5049
