Mohawk Blog

Your Story, In Keaykolour

Words
Sarah Schwartz
Photography
Artifact Uprising
Artifact Uprising's Color Series books

Telling our personal stories can be a lofty task. Printed photos are an especially powerful way to house our most cherished memories for generations to come.

It’s no surprise that Artifact Uprising sees itself existing to create joy through high-quality, American-made custom photo books, prints and cards. Each offering is created with an underlying maxim that materials matter and design defines – which is why Mohawk Papers can be found across their range of products.

“In a world that lives on an endless scroll, Mohawk has focused their sights on what’s tangible, and we think that’s pretty incredible,” explained Emily Dubin, Artifact Uprising’s Creative Director. “We are grateful for a partner who cares about high-quality materials as much as we do.”

Artifact Uprising’s new Color Series Photo Books use Mohawk’s Keaykolour papers in six shades along with Mohawk Options. Each book cover features a large circular die cut revealing a photo from page one. Foil type, a choice of four seasonal themes, as well as the ability to create a custom title make these an ideal repository for personal story telling in photos. To my surprise, all of this design goodness is super accessible (and available in three sizes) with prices starting at just $20. I caught up with Dubin to learn more about how these books came to be:

book samples in pink, gray and yellow

The guiding philosophy at Artifact Uprising is that your product needs to be as special as the story it tells. How does the presentation of the Color Series Photo Book lend itself to someone’s story?
I’m so glad you mentioned how our products tell a story, as we put a lot of thought and care into creating high-quality goods that do just that. We strive to make useful things that easily allow our customers to bring their photos into their homes. I think the Color Series Photo Books are a great example of an inherently easy-to-use product.

The range of colors makes it fun to create a series of books where each is distinguishable on your shelf by the spine. The die-cut on the cover reveals a photo on the first page which makes it exciting to open and dive into. And the foil stamping elevates a typically more casual softcover book, adding a special touch. We’ve also designed seasonal titles for the books (Hello Spring, Hello Summer, and so on), along with a custom option, which we hope will help customers who are feeling stuck on ideas find an way to organize their digital photos in print.

open book sample with a hand
close-up of book spine

What was the initial vision for this series, and what does it offer that your other offerings don’t?
The initial vision was to bring new life to our signature softcover book, which we love for its approachable price point as well as its more casual quality. We also get a lot of feedback from customers that they don’t often know how to organize their photos or tell a story within a book. By creating a product that’s meant to be built as a series, we hope to make it easy to create books to document any trip, event, person, or season of your life.


“In a world that lives on an endless scroll, Mohawk has focused their sights on what’s tangible, and we think that’s pretty incredible. We are grateful for a partner who cares about high-quality materials as much as we do.”
Emily Dubin
Creative Director, Artifact Uprising

hand holding up a light gray book on a white background

With a choice of three foils, three sizes, four seasonal as well as custom themes, how much can each vary? 
Technically there are 270 different combinations of size, cover color, foil, and theme. But to me, the star of a Color Series Photo Book is really the photo that peeks through the die-cut, which means each book can be truly unique.

Have you designed an album for yourself yet, and if so, can you describe it?
Yes, as soon as the product launched I quickly created a book of photos from a family camping trip over Labor Day weekend. I used the “Hello Summer” theme, in the 6-by-8-inch size with a Moss cover and Copper foil.

hand holding up a stack of multicolored books

What is it about Keaykolour that made you select it for this product?
When the Keaykolour samples first arrived, there were audible “oohs” and “aahs.” We love the vibrant and contemporary array of colors, which really lend themselves to either building off of one color theme or creating your own color palette. Either looks stellar on a bookshelf!

Which Keaykolour shades did you select from the 43 available color choices, and what was behind their selection?
It was tough to narrow down to an initial six colors, but we wanted to present a nice range within our brand aesthetic of warm and cool, and dark and light colors. We chose Cobblestone, Steel, Navy Blue, Meadow, Indian Yellow, and Old Rose.


“When the Keaykolour samples first arrived, there were audible “oohs” and “aahs.” We love the vibrant and contemporary array of colors, which really lend themselves to either building off of one color theme or creating your own color palette.”
Emily Dubin
Creative Director, Artifact Uprising

Was the above decision made because of how they worked as a group, tied to the seasonal title themes, or based on existing customer color choices?
All of the above! We drew from colors that our customers tend to gravitate toward on our other products, as well as what could work for each season, and in the end aimed to narrow to a well-rounded range of colors.

Do you plan on offering more colors moving forward?
Yes, we’re hoping to add additional colors in early 2019. We’re excited to see what colors our customers choose, which will definitely help inform the colors we add.

close-up of pink and blue books

$20 for a custom photo book is an amazing price point! How are you able to offer such quality combined with such affordability?
We are lucky to be able to partner with great print partners across the United States who allow us to creatively produce products that are affordable for our customers, and still deliver the elevated quality that Artifact Uprising is known for.

From ordering to mailbox, what tends to be the turn around time?
The Color Series Photo Books take four business days for production, plus shipping. It’s definitely a product you can create in one sitting, which is perfect for holiday gifting that’s easy and personable.

light gray photo book viewed from above

So, what are you waiting for?

Want to make a lasting memory with Artifact Uprising? Use code MOHAWK18 through December 31st for 20% off your entire purchase.

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Production Notes

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Print Process
Digital Printing
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Foil Stamping
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bindary
Bindery
Perfect Bound
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