Full-time papercraft
The work and whimsy of SusyJack Contemporary Paper Goods
By Amy Strauss
Published: February 18th, 2008 | 9:20am
Paper designer Susan Connor likes the idea of working flat. As a former graphic designer and painter, passionate doodler, and list-maker, Connor found it logical to use paper as the vehicle to start her own business, SusyJack Contemporary Paper Goods.
While handcrafting her own products had always been a closeted dream, it was not until early 2007 that the designer decided to become reacquainted with all things inspirational — her creativity, personality, and friendships—and produce her first set of abstractly-drawn, yet refreshingly beautiful journals. “I had been designing for 6-7 years for other people when I lost my job,” says Connor. “I had been hired to bring change, and let go because I was trying to.”
Rattled by the experience, yet motivated to move forward, she resolved to spend less time on client work and more on her own designs. Loading up on her favorite materials like raw canvas, kraft paper, heavy bristol, newsprint, and fiberboard, SusyJack’s been her main thing ever since. Launched online last fall as an experiment, Connor received nothing but positive feedback ratifying that it was so obvious she’d be making such goods.
“There’s so much of my personality in these simple little things,” she says of her bright and bubbly prints and products.
Still less than a year old, the bold and whimsical patterns found floating atop her paper goods are based on her idea of communicating without decorating. “The products and designs are meant to be expressive and also somehow meditative,” says the New York artist who recently moved from Boston. “I enjoy creating items that each individual can pour their own meaning into.”
From journals and gifts tags to notebooks, desk toppings, and recently wall hangings, Connor strives to ensure her creations remain fresh, unique, and represent a piece of herself. “I see interesting patterns in New York City or out in the country and notice them,” she says, “but, when I sit down to draw, the forms are really expressive ways of what I want to see in the world.”
While flowing motifs, hand-lettering, and gestured lines may be her trademarks; Connor’s clean designs lead way for a new wave of card crafting. Capable of transposing the image of a worn Manhattan chain fence to a linked sea of color and beauty, or graffiti on a train to a sunny expose, any item may one time or another inspire the papermaker.
“SusyJack’s like a math problem that I never get tired of solving,” says Connor. “I love having an idea and being able to make it. Creating them with my own hands insures that this is happening, and then, that it’s coming directly through me to my customers and peers.”
Shop SusyJack online at susyjack.etsy.com
Issue #28
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