Turning Over a New Leaf: A Conversation with Keith Gasch on the Timberluxe Journal

Legion Paper sat down with Keith Gasch, Vice President at Fey Printing, to discuss a striking promotional journal project featuring Timberluxe wood veneer paper for the cover and Colorplan for the interior. With its bold gold foil, woodgrain aesthetic, and charming pun (“My Many Tree-mendous Thoughts”), this pocket-sized piece is a celebration of paper, print, and playful design.

Keith, this journal is gorgeous. Let’s start with the inspiration—what sparked the idea?

{Fey Printing} Thanks! We wanted something tactile, memorable, and pun-forward—a piece that would make people smile while showcasing premium materials. Timberluxe was the perfect match. The natural grain gives every journal a unique look, and the "tree-mendous" pun just clicked from there.

Timberluxe is certainly eye-catching. How was it to work with from a production standpoint?

{Fey Printing} Surprisingly smooth—literally and figuratively. Timberluxe has that real wood texture but it's flexible and sturdy enough to score and fold cleanly. For this cover, we used Timberluxe Cherry, and applied both gold foil stamping and letterpress printing in PMS 4975 directly onto it. The foil took beautifully, giving those woodgrain lines real dimensional pop

And what about the inside pages?

{Fey Printing} For those, we chose Colorplan Pristine White in 91lb Text weight that we digitally printed. It’s a fantastic writing surface—substantial but not bulky, and plays well with both ballpoint and gel pens. The light grey lines we printed keep it functional while letting the cover do all the visual heavy lifting

Any technical specs you’d like to share for the print nerds out there?

{Fey Printing} Sure! The journal is 3.5" x 5.5" with 36 pages. We letterpress printed onto Colorplan Pistachio for the inner fly sheet, then saddle-stitched everything together with a clean square fold. The Timberluxe was foil-stamped in Kurz Luxor 385 gold, and we used a steel rule die for finishing. No lamination, no tricks—just letting the paper and design shine.

Final thoughts?

{Fey Printing} This journal was a fun one. Timberluxe and Colorplan each bring their own character—together they tell a great story. And that’s what good paper should do, right?

Learn more about Timberluxe.

Fey Printing.

4 New Papers You'll Love for Packaging

The purpose of packaging is not just to protect the product inside, but also to create demand, hint at the quality of its contents and reflect the brand it represents. The design – not just visual but tactile as well - that can be achieved with paper can make the entire experience from first look, opening and to disposal or storage a wonderful experience.

1. Mohawk Renewal

   Renewal was born out of a desire to redefine the contours of how we source fiber and expand the existing definition of sustainable papermaking. By rediscovering old fiber sources like hemp, straw and cotton rag, we uncovered a new path forward. You might say we looked to the past to discover the future.

   Choose from 3 renewable fibers in 7 colors and 2 gorgeous finishes. Each shade tells its own origin story and breaks new ground in the responsible creation of world-class, fine papers.

   HEMP- Unlike trees, Hemp grows rapidly, maturing in as few as 90 days. Turning hemp into pulp requires less chemicals, water, and energy than wood.

   RECYCLED COTTON- Made from t-shirt and denim scraps diverted from the 10.5 million tons of clothing waste Americans send to landfills every year.

   STRAW- Making paper with straw eliminates the need for the annual "fall burns" set by farmers to clear straw from their fields, creating acrid smoke and carbon emissions.

2. Mirri Lava

Mirri Lava is a wash with color in a random wave-like pattern similar to that of lava. This highly decorative paper is available in a variety of colors in a matte finish.

Manufactured using an exceptionally high quality film, the brightness of the metalized surface provides a mirror finish which is further enhanced by the smoothness of the cast-coated board to which it is laminated. With the metalized surface protected by a polyester film, this construction has a high surface energy that offers an excellent key for inks and adhesives. 

3. Timberluxe

Whether you choose Cherry or Birch, it’s a paper that constantly reminds you that it’s not just a wood in name. It has everything: The grain, the knots, the perfect “imperfections”, the texture, and perhaps most important, the feel. You’ll appreciate it as wood but relish it as paper.

Pliable and welcoming, Timberluxe will add an organic spirit to whatever you create. It’s a unique and unexpected medium perfect for foil stamping, offset printing, silkscreen, letterpress and packaging.

4. Colorplan’s four new colors

Simply stated, Colorplan is the broadest range of premium colored papers we know. The four new crowd sourced ‘favorite colors’ were chosen from GF Smith’s ‘World’s Favorite Color Report’.

Chartreuse is a hue almost halfway between green and yellow and was voted the world’s most popular shade of yellow. Due to the high attention it commands since 1972 following a survey by the International Tennis Federation, it has been the regulated color of tennis balls due to its high contrast on the television screen.

Bright Pink was added to the Colorplan range as ‘bright’ was mentioned over 1000 times when describing color in The World’s Favorite Color survey.

As a paper, both black and white are highly prized and form some of the best selling ranges. Slate is the world’s most popular shade of black from the World’s Favorite Color survey. A shade at the darkest edge of grey, adding even greater depth to our existing night time shades.

Rust was added to embody the natural warmth and tactility that people associate with hope and joy.

View all our papers used for packaging here.