Last month, I flew to Vancouver, British Columbia, to monitor the printing of the latest and greatest Catalog of World’s Greatest Nature Journeys for Nat Hab and World Wildlife Fund.
Every spring, I wonder how it’s even possible to improve our catalog. Yet somehow every fall, I find myself standing over a sheet of paper, tweaking the color on press and knowing we pulled it off once again. So much thought, time and effort goes into the every aspect of the catalog. From writing, to image selection, to the whole coordination of the seemingly unending amount of information coming from all corners of the world—it never ceases to amaze me. This year, we basically broke the mold and started the page design from scratch. We challenged ourselves to produce a catalog that presents familiar information in a new and dynamic way, without losing the “momentum” we’ve built in years past.
Creative Director Mark Hickey signs off on the 2017 catalog cover. Approved!
Once again, the catalog is printed on 100-percent post-consumer waste (PCW), Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper. That means 100 percent of the material the catalog is printed on was formerly someone else’s copy paper, direct mail flyer, billing statement or magazine. The catalog material is 100-percent reused, 100-percent repurposed.
Using paper with 100-percent post-consumer recycled content saved the following resources:
For the last nine years, Nat Hab has chosen a 100-percent PCW paper for our catalog. Raising the bar on conservation is one of Natural Habitat’s Core Ideologies, so we have to keep pressing and looking for the most environmentally friendly options available—even if that means added printing costs. We feel we are using the most responsible technologies and materials available to us to produce the 2017 catalog, with the lightest associated impacts on the planet.
Mark Hickey (creative director, Natural Habitat Adventures), Frits Kouwenhoven (managing partner, Hemlock Printers), Sean Harris (senior pressman, Hemlock Printers), Vito Badalamenti (InnerWorkings, Inc.)
The company who printed our last four catalogs, award-winning Hemlock Printers Ltd., has a lengthy record of environmental responsibility and compliance with environmental regulations and best practices. Sustainability is an important consideration in all of Hemlock’s business decisions, and they continue to take many steps to manage environmental issues, often exceeding regulatory standards. The printing of Natural Habitat Adventures’ 2017 catalog was 100-percent carbon-neutral and proudly bears Hemlock’s “Zero” logo on the back cover. The extra cost to print the catalog in this fashion will be invested in recognized renewable and clean energy projects.
The 2017 catalog cover features an African lion pondering the great plains of Kenya’s Maasai Mara (photo © Andy Rouse).
This incredible new catalog features nearly 100 exciting adventures, arrives in a bright, full-colored envelope, and is expected to begin to arrive in travelers’ mailboxes around Labor Day.
Request our catalog by mail or download a digital copy.
This post was written by Natural Habitat Adventures Creative Director Mark Hickey.
All photos © Mark Hickey.
