Block Branding Teams Up With Spicers for 'Harden the Flourish Up!' Promotion

28th October, 2011

AGDA Members Block Branding have teamed up with Spicers Papers to pass on a message to designers telling them to 'Harden the Flourish up!' Aiming to have fun with design whilst giving the industry an extreme makeover. Acknowledging that the majority of promo pieces sent out by paper merchants are a pretty way to show off a range of finishes, Spicers wondered what would happen if ordinary print and finishing techniques were taken to the extreme.

Block developed the Spicers Guild of Xtreme Printing and Finishing which has been enlisted to drive tanks, shoot guns, brandish chainsaws and ignite explosive devices over stacks of paper. They’ll take popular techniques like embossing and foiling and ramp up the voltage tenfold, and the paper will be used to collate more than 3,000 Spicers 2012 calendars.

“We decided to break with convention by creating a calendar which celebrates – and satirises – the passion that designers hold for their craft. The designs we’re producing are very tongue-in-cheek, but we hope they’ll engage designers and make them chuckle,” says Edward Stephenson, Marketing Manager at Spicers.

The Guild consists of Joe the ‘Brawn Identity’, Paulie ‘The Gun’ and Dave the ‘Number Cruncher’ – three burly blokes with a knack for blowing things up. Spoofing reality TV shows such as American Chopper and Monster Garage, the Spicers Guild pokes fun at an industry that is vulnerable to foppish hairdos, noiseless loafers and manscaping.

According to Block, “We can’t deny that a sensitivity for aesthetics is mandatory to working as a designer. But, there’s a general concern brewing that a growing epidemic of wussy designers is taking over.”

The Spicers Guild has already begun to experiment with gunpowder, drills and naked flames. Each month a new episode documenting their antics will be uploaded onto Spicers Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/SpicersXtreme

The 2012 calendar follows the success of Spicers 2011 calendar, which was also designed by Block. Titled ‘What’s Old is New Again’, it consisted of images borrowed from old calendars sourced on eBay, and was highly awarded internationally at The One Show and ADFEST.

Watch the teaser campaign here: http://www.youtube.com/SpicersXtreme

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