Category: enterpreneurs

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Fresh Cut Paper? popup cards with no so fresh interpretation

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FreshCut Paper Dear Dahlia comes with its very own festive pink vase that allows it to sit on any flat surface. Our paper flower bouquets never wilt, never fade and never lose thier color. More than a greeting card, it's a keepsake for years to come for any recipient. There is a new website on the paper horizon. “FreshcutPaper”
On the first sigh, impressive, nice graphics and designs.
But after 3 seconds, there is also a reflection.
Looking at the subject of the designs, the viewer starts thinking.
I saw it already somewhere.
Of course, it’s the new trend of paper flowers we call among us the “Mee too movement.”
It has nothing to do with the well-known social movement against sexual abuse and sexual harassment.
It is about designers impressed by others who start the same subject.
This time I dare say they follow our Paperbee.net pop-up flowers.
ME too, I too, screams their web pages suddenly featuring a bunch of paper flowers.
I like the subject, and I can do it too.- screams the page.
Can you?
1) The designs are SO BIG. At least 24″(60cm) high. The size alone physically prevents any attempts to have them on display Longer. Small is beautiful. Not BIG.
Who is going to keep it on display, requiring so much space?
There is no certain intimacy we develop with small and beautiful.
2) Stylized Designs are well done, but… It is quite clear that the artist cannot bring his own interpretation of the subject, and that’s why he sticks to realistic renderings.
Lack of creativity and, in my opinion, understanding of the medium shows up when we look at the string of the designs. He is changing flowers but they look all the same. BORING in effect.
God-given spark is not present.

On the positive side. I can congratulate the designer that he is trying to bring his own voice to the growing paper flowers Field.

With so many web site pushing China/Vietnam-made and design pop-ups, his work is a welcomed addition.
Frankly, I am afraid after the initial push; he may not last very long. Small sizes and an interesting variety of interpretations are needed.

The cultural background (US raised) emphasizing repetition (not developing interesting variety) works against the designer. Of course, looking at his website, he totally disagrees with our assessment.

The image has the link to their website.

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Printed Matter Art Book Fair

PP ANIMATION 05.15.19

Over a year ago (2019) Prompted by my family’s desire to see the newest indie-independent art we went to Chicago’s “Printed Matter Book Fair”. After finding parking on Wabash Ave short stroll brought us to the Michigan location of this glorious event. Old buildings on Michigan Ave destinations by themselves showing to the visitor quite an interesting 19-century approach to architectural design. There is a certain charm preserved in the old interior decoration. A crowd of mostly young people filled the stairs and walkways on 3floors of the building.
Crowded Floors filled with exhibitors and viewers with little space in between on the first sight offered plenty of interesting things to see. But after a while searching for the new, beautiful, and unexpected there was a sort of disappointment. Clearly, we expected more. The first thing which struck my practical mind was a discovery that no independent bookseller present on these 3 floors was offering something I would purchase, read and cherish for at least for a while.

Books exist not only in their physical form but at least to me as the frame for an interesting message. The message was the ingredients missing. The main message emerging from seeing the fair was a message of the author’s loss and confusion. Focusing on form, printed pages without a clear intellectual path produced nothing memorable. Even a few pop-ups I saw, did not bring to me this kind of satisfaction or curiosity to prompt me to purchase one since they are bound to sit on the shelves forgotten because of the sin of not carrying a message.
Message It is the ingredient missing from contemporary US American art. That’s why Manga Books and similar foreign inventions dominate the U.S. market. They bring the message – excitement.
In a culture focused on the financial aspect, simple seeds of imagination and creativity have no chance to flourish. The young generation of makers is trying but since there were born and raised in this environment there are trying, but falling short.
Coming back to my family we came to the conclusion that our time could be better spent.
Unfortunately.
But I think we should keep watching. true art comes unexpectedly and in small portions.
This February 2021 Printed Matter will launch its first Virtual Art Book Fair (PMVABF)
https://pmvabf.org/

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Patent Office invalidate issued patents to satisfy the Big Tech drive to stiff competition.

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Can you imagine a situation where you invested your money and time, developed in a few years new product or technology? Applied for and received (after five years wait) USPTO patent. Started a company or licensed the idea. Then the PATENT issued by USPTO is invalidated by the same USPTO as “low quality,” “unenforceable,” or because of “Ineligible subject” or other similar sounding BS.

The same institution that Issued the PATENT, worked with you, collected from you patent fees, examination fees, renewal fees, and other FEES now decided to CANCEL your patent.

What did you do wrong? Were tricked into believing that the US constitution elevating patents as this Nation opportunity is enforced?

And there is a whole 84% chance that they will cancel your patent in every instance when your competition decides to raise their voice and pay the FEES to USPTO to invalidate your rights.

IF THE ISSUED PATENT IS “LOW QUALITY,” WHY DID YOU ISSUED THE LOW QUALITY IN FIRST PLACE!!!!

You feel betrayed. There is nowhere to turn since the courts play lengthy and costly games that very few people can afford. It comes to situations where you are barred from recovering your legal expenses (To discourage you from trying)
If you are looking for justice in higher places, Supreme Court only adds fuel to the fire damaging your livelihood by issuing consistently antipatent decisions further damaging private property rights (Patent Rights)
No wonder that Courts interpret garage Door opener as “Abstract IDEA” ineligible for a PATENT in the United States (eligible anywhere abroad)

Besides, Supreme Court issued a series of confusing guidelines rendering most patentable inventions as “PATENT INEGLELIBLE.” In doing so, they broke the laws encroaching the Statues making duties of US Congress.
New patent attorney learns the law, and there is the part he/she has to learn, which is not in the US laws but still. It is forced illegally on us by Supreme Court.
WHY the USPTO ISSUED YOUR PATENT to invalidate it few years and thousands in Fees later as “LOW QUALITY”?
Isn’t it a fraud?
Can we TRUST public Institutions?
The idea is simple. Passing the 2011 America invents act Congress of the United States decided to lower the patent protection to “SPURR INVENTIONS.
.”Under unrelenting pressure and a falsehood campaign, a story created by BIG TECH about “Patent Trolls.” described as a “Nonpracticing entity” demanding unjust licensing fees from Hardworking “Big tech” companies.

Big tech snake
Big tech snake

Of course, If it comes to that, I would like not to pay any fees or taxes, etc. myself.
The only difference I do not have the means to find gullible lawmakers and influence not really wise Supreme Court judges.

Suddenly the owner of a legally issued Patent is described as a “Patent troll.”
Is it “Illegal”? Why do you issue PATENTS in the first place?
Everything is done to stiff startups and competition, satisfy the BIG TECH interest.

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Cove 19 vs Cholera Pandemics of 19 Century.

An 1883 illustration of the Grim Reaper draped in a cloth labeled "cholera," arriving in America on a British ship. Bettmann / Bettmann Archive

The year 1876 start of Hopkins University, is one of the rare moments where the scientific approach started preparing the U.S. for the modern world’s challenges. Yet big chunk of our population still lingers in the 19-century approach disregarding scientific knowledge. No wonder so many of us do not believe in natural diseases, preferring conspiracy theories. Observing popular culture is not hard to conclude. I think the reason our public is more susceptible to it is, in general, disregard for intellectuals and knowledge.
Yet, there are several Viruses, pandemics not yet invading our reality but waiting to happen.
Nipah Virus (From bats), listed currently as one of the 10 most dangerous viruses, has a 10% survival rate and 45 days incubation rate. Already experienced on a few occasions in Malaysia, Bangladesh, and India with fatal consequences for humans.

There are more like, for example, MERS – Middle Easter Respiratory Disease 10- times more deadly than Cove 19 first experienced in Saudi Arabia in 2012, 4 different swine flu viruses with the potential to develop the ability to infect humans, MARBURG VIRUS DISEASE, EBOLA, LASSA FEVER, SARS, ZIKA, CRIMEAN-CONGO HAEMORRHAGIC FEVER, RIFT VALLEY FEVER, MONKEYPOX, and many more.

1918 Influenza with estimated worldwide death tool between 50-100 million was erased from collective memory. Nobody is talking about priests cruising the street of Philadelphia in horse-powered wagons announcing the public to bring out their dead. Bloody nose bleeds are not part of today’s reality.

The first cholera pandemic (1817–24) began near Calcutta and spread throughout Southeast Asia to the Middle East, eastern Africa, and the Mediterranean coast.


The second cholera pandemic (1826–1837), also known as the Asiatic cholera pandemic, reached from India across western Asia to Europe, Great Britain, the Americas, and east to China and Japan.

1855. Wikipedia: “The third plague pandemic was a major bubonic plague pandemic that began in Yunnan, China, in 1855 during the fifth year of the Xianfeng Emperor of the Qing dynasty. This episode of bubonic plague spread to all inhabited continents and ultimately led to more than 12 million (perhaps 15 million) deaths in India and China, with about 10 million killed in India alone, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history.”

Please do not forget the 1866 cholera outbreak in New York and many other cities.
And the fact that Cellular Connection, WI-FI, and 5G blamed by some for today Cove 19 could not have such explanation hundred or more years ago. The high speed of the 19-century new invention Steam locomotives in Great Britain over 20 miles per hour did not prevent pregnancies, and Early Trains Were Thought to Make Women’s Uteruses Fly Out.
So WEAR THE MASK!

The top Image credit “An 1883 illustration of the Grim Reaper draped in a cloth labeled “cholera,” arriving in America on a British ship. Bettmann / Bettmann Archive”

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uwpluxe.com – O, such painfull name

Scrnli 1 3 2021 11 26 44 AM

Do you know them? Interesting! But not quite Original pop-up cards.
The cryptic name “uwpluxe.com” ensures that you are going to forget it quickly.
Straightforward construction. It catches my attention for two reasons.
1) They supply a nice selection of pop-up cards to MOMA NY “Museum of Modern Art.”
2) Simplicity of the construction of the cards on the border of boredom.

No, they are quite nice but seeing the selection of available cards, I put them above the Chinese/Vietnam-designed cards (Too ornamental) and below the British ones.
What attracts my attention is that one of the designs mimics one of my first ever designs (Green wardrobe). Of course, this is their own (White Color) interpretation, but I think the designer may have difficulty coming out with their own new subject.

Surprisingly I see one of their best designs in the “sale” section of their website. “Dream Big” card.

I think this “Southwest Skull” subject may play well in the EU but not in the United States of America where people subconsciously avoid subjects referring to the painful areas of American Lives and the feeling of guilt.
The world “stockists” used on their site suggests that the owner of the web site is from the other shores, a lucky escapee from the abyss of Brexit
So we wish them good luck but, overall we are not impressed.

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Up with Paper. Pop-up simplicity.

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When I first saw “Up with Paper” greeting cards I was impressed with their small square cards. Their traditional book format was something new in the right size, and they were a success story with virtually no competition. Graphic3D existed much longer but was and still is invisible, focusing on a steady business market. Far away from the hustle and bustle of retail. I think “Up with Paper” initial success was not justified for a period of time because their made in China cards did not stand out exactly with their quality. Their rough-cut pieces glued together did not make an impression when inspected close up. It changed, and now you can enjoy well made and designed cards with nice simple artwork. I do not see any new concepts, but as with every established business, they focus on their proved holdings. A nice choice for occasional mailings to your friends and family. They also try their hands on a small collection of pop-up books. I am less impressed with it, but they addressed it to kids, and apparently, some kids enjoy their work.

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I love pop up cards. Your Christmas Card may pay you well.

Christmas pop up card

I love pop-up cards. My long-time love of paper started in grammar school, where in a school competition I won first prize for a paper steam engine. I loved my creation so much that I refused to let it out of my hands to submit it to a between-schools competition.

December is the time we can see collections of flat Christmas Cards posted all over the offices.

  • I never asked what is happening to this display after Christmastime is over. Mostly, this is a missed opportunity to keep your name up in the front of your client’s eyes.
  • Nobody keeps them, and there is no reason to do that.
  • The usual Flat generic cards with simple messages and very simple designs are not exactly eye and heart catchers.

Stand-alone kind of Pop-up cards tends to stay displayed as a handy decoration or remainder

Smart Marketers know well that 3-dimensional mail has an unusually high up to 25 to 50% response rate, and that’s why smart companies like graphics3inc  are selling pop-ups almost exclusively to business customers.

Every few years they refresh their existing contraptions with new graphics and with a limited number of designs they serve their customers for more than 20 years. You can grab some of their designs right away from their website.

Their designs are powered up with rubber bands. We decided not to use rubber bands.

If you like something original, there is our option. Contact us with your requirements, and we will provide an original design with original art and higher impact than any generics, Our unique pop-up cards designs pops-up under gravitation force. The weight of paper they are assembled from.

Pop-up cards

1. Grabs authentic attention.

2. Create an instant positive impact.

3. Have very high response rates.

4. They leave a lasting impression.

For generic 3D cards, the response rate can vary from 2-4% or higher for retention campaigns.   I have heard about higher rates, but of course it depends on the quality of your mailing lists, industry, and your offer. Successful flat mail have 0.5%-2% response rate.

In our personal experience, flat cards are easily lost in a stack of paper and after the initial encounter the recipient no longer pays attention to them.

3 D pop-up cards get more attention, but it depends on design quality and size. The big sized are disposed of quickly since, due to their space requirement, they are viewed as a problem.

Smaller pop-up greeting cards have better luck, unless they are required to be held open in the recipient’s hands or the design is of poor quality.   That’s why Graphics3D rubber band open cards and SmartPaperCuts.com gravitational force cards are my favorite.

By the way. Have you met our St. Nick?

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wLyXZ_8SxI]

 

 

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The end of the Reign of the Ring Binder. Ringless Binder is born.

Cat 2 video gif

 Friedrich Soennecken inventor of the Ring Binder should certainly wake up from his well-deserved final rest knowing that finally there is something/ somebody good enough to challenge his invention “Ring-binder” 133 years long reign in every office on the earth.

  • To my surprise, the new solution comes not in form of a complicated mechanism but as a single, flexible sheet of material cut a certain way. All rings and metal parts are eliminated. And it works.
  • There is no sticking-out spine always taking the same space on the shelf even if empty. The New Ring-Less Binder is flexible and quite pleasant to handle, the same as the rest of this new family serving the same binding functions.

  • The Challenger says he has ambitions to improve range of products currently on the market. Eliminating the Rings, Spines, prongs etc. His solution simply is simpler. It means less expensive. It means Not welcomed by competition.

This is not the first time the Reign of the Ring is challenged. There are numerous challenges to its rule sponsored by many companies. None of them were successful, lingering on the fringe of the Office market mostly due to the fact that they introduce their own sets of problems.

In the U.S. there is an additional problem with the office market dominated by very few big players. Players with immense financial resources not taking any risks when it comes to the introduction of a product competing with their well-established offerings.

To make things more palatable for inventors the 2011 Leahy–Smith America Invents Act effectively makes U.S. patents worthless and unenforceable by a small player not having financial resources to finance legal challenges.

  • Leahy-Smith’s act (2011 America Invention act) sponsored by Big Tech effectively enables “Efficient Infringement” practiced by already established companies barring entry to the market for eventual startups/competition. Introduced by this legislation PTAB (Patent Trial and Appeal Board ) enjoys well-deserved fame as a ” Patent killing squad” invalidating by own admission 84% of all challenged patents. The effect: Invention exodus to more promising lands already caught politicians’ attention in Congress. 
  • So far, there is no real action to fix things except proposed bills released with misleading titles and preambles and opposite in effect, the rest of the text. Under “Save The Inventor”false flag trying to cement the current situation, benefiting no one except the BIG TECH.
Ring binder
Empty Ring binders. Please notice the space needed to store even the empty one.

If we add the long string of anti-patent rulings by the US Supreme Court, there is no wonder why the US public do not see the latest fruits of technological development we can easily spot in other countries. To learn more about the plight of US inventors please check https://innovationgadfly.com/ & https://usinventor.org/

5 Ring-Less binders by Alfac.us
Ring vs Ring-less
compare Ring-Less with empty Ring binder