Joie Studio’s First Year at the NSS : At the Show

Joie Studio’s First Year at the NSS : At the Show: "

If you missed part one of this series, which covers Joie Studio’s experience during the months leading up to the National Stationery Show, then you can find it right here.

Today, we pick up at show central, the Javits Center, where the Joie Studio booth crate has arrived, along with Tina and the rest of the Joie Studio crew. Let’s see what surprises await them during booth setup and the show itself.

Booth Setup

How did your pre-show booth setup go? Any big surprises, or did everything go as expected?

The big surprise came when we arrived and one of the sides of our crate was literally hanging on by two screws. Nothing was damaged inside luckily. Brad from Maginating donated some screws to us to help us fix the crate, which was great. Other than that, we had absolutely no troubles setting up the booth. My friend Brian who lives in the city came by to help Candie and me set up, which was so so helpful. Our walls and furniture came together quickly, thanks to the dry run that we did before the booth walls and furniture left Pasadena for New York. Brad was also there to walk us through the more nuanced things that honestly I wouldn’t have known (like the fact that everything that was trash needed to have a trash sticker on it).

What was going through your mind as the doors opened for business on the first day of the show?

You know, it’s funny. We got there an hour early to do last minute prep on our promotional materials, and I don’t think I realized that the doors had opened for business. I was chatting it up with Shelley from Albertine Press when I realized there were buyers walking around. Shelley was funny, though, and told me not to worry. “It’s raining. It’s Sunday. Between rain and brunch, it won’t pick up until 11am.”

Joie Studio’s Finished Booth

What was your favorite thing about the show? Least favorite thing?

I loved meeting everyone, fellow exhibitors, buyers, designers, students, press, just everyone. There’s just such a great social aspect to the National Stationery Show. The hours, though, are pretty rough. I got there at 8:30am every morning and the show goes from 9:00am to 6:00pm every day, except for the last day, where it goes until noon, and then exhibitors have to break down immediately after the show ends. Those days are extremely long days.

What are your overall thoughts about the show from a first time exhibitor’s point of view?

I really enjoyed being a part of the show. I got to meet so many great people and made great contacts. I got to introduce Joie Studio’s letterpress goodness to a national audience, and that in itself was so exciting. It’s a tiring marathon-like trip to the National Stationery Show, and I really feel you have to work hard to get out what you want from the show, especially the first year when buyers are unsure of you.

We’ll be wrapping up Joie Studio’s first year at the NSS on Tuesday, so tune in then for insights about Tina’s post-show experience!

images from Joie Studio

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Europe's better sunscreens | EWG's 2011 Sunscreen Report | EWG's Skin Deep

Article found from the EWG which can be found clicking HERE

Sunscreen makers can use any of 27 sunscreen chemicals in Europe but only 17 in the United States (Osterwalder 2010). Seven approved compounds that absorb UVA radiation are available in Europe, only three in the U.S. Among those approved in Europe are three – Tinosorb S, Tinosorb M and Mexoryl SX – that are between 3.8 times and 5.1 times more protective than avobenzone, the most common UVA filter in the U.S. (see figure).

Five years ago companies began to apply for FDA approval to use some of these compounds. They are still waiting.

An EWG analysis of this year’s products – specifically, 530 beach and sport sunscreens with SPF ratings of 30+ – found that more than 60 percent of them provide inadequate UVA protection. Those 330 products are too weak for the European market, where manufacturers voluntarily comply with a European Union recommendation that all sunscreens provide meaningful UVA protection in relation to the sunburn protection factor (SPF), a measure of the product’s ability to shield against UVB rays (European Commission 2006).

Source: EWG analysis of UV protection factor using standard industry sunscreen model (BASF 2010), assuming percentage of active ingredient in product equal to maximum allowable amount, or the concentration a company requested that FDA approve for use in sunscreen in the company’s submitted Time and Extent Application.

CIBA Specialty Chemicals Inc. applied in April 2005 for approval of Tinosorb S and Tinosorb M. Sunscreens in Europe have contained these compounds for a decade; FDA has not yet acted.

Loreal submitted an application for Mexoryl SX in September 2007. FDA has not approved the compound for general use in sunscreens but did approve it for use in a small number of specific sunscreens sold under Loreal’s “LaRoche-Posay” brand. Mexoryl SX has been on the market in Europe since 1991.

The upshot of FDA’s delays is that Americans have fewer choices and notably poorer UVA protection than is available in Europe.

Tinosorb S and Tinosorb M offer stable, broad-spectrum protection and appear to be much better UVA blockers than avobenzone. They penetrate the skin in insignificant amounts, pose fewer potential health risks and possess no known hormone-disrupting properties, unlike ingredients in common U.S. sunscreens. Unless FDA approves them, not a single sunscreen sold in the U.S. will earn FDA’s four-star top rating for UVA protection under the system proposed in the agency’s draft sunscreen regulations, based on a standard industry model for rating sunscreen efficacy (BASF 2010).

In Europe as in the US, UVA regulations have not been finalized. But Europe’s proposed standards for UVA protection are far more stringent than FDA’s. The agency has spent years finalizing a rule that would merely require disclosure of UVA protection levels, while Europe has proposed that sunscreens provide UVA protection at a level at least one-third as strong as the sunburn protection level (SPF) (European Commission 2006).

This means the minimum UVA protection in Europe would be roughly equivalent to FDA’s proposed three-star protection level. Requiring balanced protection across the UVB and UVA spectrum has the secondary effect of limiting sky-high SPF values, ensuring that sunburn protection isn’t out of step with protection from other health problems, such as free radical damage and skin cancer. Very few sunscreens on the U.S. market would meet the baseline UVA protection standards proposed in Europe (Osterwalder 2009).

While the FDA fails to act on modernizing sunscreen standards and expanding the roster of approved chemicals, Americans continue to be exposed to more UV radiation than ever.

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New York City in Black & White

New York City in Black & White: "

34th Street. Note the building with the billboards who wouldn't sell to Macy's so they built around it.

There’s something about these old photos of New York that continually draws me back. I actually posted some other images from this collection by Berenice Abbott back in 2009 during the thick of the economic meltdown, which sadly many people are still dealing with. Abbott’s photos — which were commissioned by the WPA and are part of the New York Public Library’s collection — cover a large swath of New York life during the mid-1930s, another very difficult period in our country’s history.

Even though you may have seen these before, these photos are never a let down. To me it is interesting to see how much the city has changed and of course, how it hasn’t. You can see the complete set here and can own the book too, should you desire.

Under the elevated train. Beautiful.

The bread was warm. Note the fog on the glass.

Brooklyn to Manhattan.

Blossom Restaurant, 103 Bowery, Manhattan.

Penn Station.

What a damn shame they destroyed the old Penn Station.

Likely not easy to get to then either.

This could be my favorite image from the lot. Fulton Fish Market.

Downtown Skyport. That's the Woolworth Tower in the background.

Union Square.

The tin man.

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Jim Morrison's past house(s) and his Ghost - local news video clip