ROLE Co., Ltd.
Business cards made from waste paper that is discarded at printing shops, and T-shirts made from 100% used clothing. ROLE’s “new consumption cycle initiative” that focuses on environmental impact receives a design award
At the “63rd Toyama Prefecture Design Exhibition” held in November 2023, ROLE’s design activities with the theme of environmental impact received double awards for excellence.
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“ROLE YOURS” is a joint brand between Takaoka City’s waste paper project and ALL YOURS.
The first award at the 63rd Toyama Prefecture Design Exhibition Excellence Award was given to waste paper, which is always generated and discarded during the production of general printing such as flyers, pamphlets, and posters. This is a “new waste paper
recycling” project that converts waste paper into business cards for city hall employees by printing over it without discarding it. The second award went to “ROLE YOURS,” a project to “recycle new old clothes” by adding new functions such as antibacterial and deodorizing properties to large quantities of discarded used clothes. Nowadays, efforts to reduce environmental impact, such as carbon neutrality and SDGs, are attracting attention, and we would like to expand our efforts to deliver messages to consumers with the aim of “environmental behavior that is fun and easy to understand.” Award-winning work 1: “New waste paper recycling” – Employee business cards made from waste paper –
POINT: A project based on the theme of the large amount of waste paper that is unavoidable in flyer printing sites.
Waste paper that is generated during the test printing stage, which is an unavoidable part of the process to stabilize print quality, is collected and reused as business cards and envelopes by filling it over. By intentionally leaving some of the original printing on the product, we designed upcycling to be “easy to understand and communicate,” making the distance between environmental behavior and daily life more familiar.
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Photo: Waste paper generated at the printing site and test printed for quality adjustment
Is it unavoidable? Why waste paper is necessary in the printing process. [Image 3
The process of creating a “new waste paper recycling”
When we use home printers or commercial laser printers in our daily lives or work, we only need one sheet of paper to print each page. However, in the method of “offset printing” used when printing in large quantities such as flyers and advertisements, 1. Adjust the position of the “plate” of each of the four CMYK ink colors 2. Stabilize the amount of ink at the beginning of printing 3. In order to stabilize the quality, such as making fine adjustments to the color you are aiming for, we prepare waste paper from the beginning and manufacture it. Whether you need a few hundred or a few thousand flyers, the amount of waste paper you need doesn’t make much of a difference, and large amounts of paper are thrown away across the country every day.
In addition to “eco = recycled paper,” there are other resource recycling options available.
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Business cards and envelopes made from waste paper
Since the 2000s, recycling itself has an environmental impact, such as the use of large amounts of water in the process of recycling used paper and the need for appropriate chemicals to increase whiteness depending on the application. We are now in an era where major paper companies are reconsidering the concept of recycled paper, such as discontinuing the production of 100% recycled paper. However, as Takaoka City also uses recycled paper, this project does not negate recycling itself, but rather hopes to increase interest in
environmental behavior through a different approach. I am. Rather than a message saying “This paper is made from 〇〇% recycled paper” in the corner of the printed material, we purposely left a hint of what was originally printed on it to make people more aware of resource circulation. This is an experimental attempt.
Since it is a city publication, the city recycles it independently. [Image 5
From full paper size to “new waste paper recycling”
Creative studio ROLE promoted the exhibition “ROLE YOURS,” an exhibition of recycled used clothing brands held in the fall of 2022, with a design using waste paper. At ROLE, we have always been looking for ways to make effective use of waste paper by consulting with printers and other companies, but the rights issues mentioned above were a barrier, and we were having a hard time taking any major action. However, from the viewpoint of “If it is an official publication of the city, the rights can be managed by the city, so perhaps we can use waste paper and repurpose it into city printed matter”, so we decided to use it for employee business cards. I decided to start. At the initial stage, we had only planned to send business cards, but a positive opinion came up: “Why not make envelopes to hand out at environmental events and next year’s 20-year-old gathering to appeal to the younger generation?” Click here for the detailed release of Takaoka City’s waste paper project → Award-winning work 2: “Recycling new old clothes” ~Clothes that overturn common sense~
POINT: “ROLE YOURS” is a brand that makes functional clothes using old clothes. We will provide new ways to enjoy the consumption cycle and create “not to make”.
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In 2022, we will launch “ROLE YOURS”, a project of “new used clothes” that adds new “functions” such as antibacterial and deodorizing properties to old clothes collected from discarded items in large quantities, in collaboration with the Tokyo apparel manufacturer “ALL YOURS.” Raise. By “creating what doesn’t add,” we go beyond client work and tackle issues for the future, such as considering our role as a consumer and the future of circulation. You can purchase ROLE YOURS products here– https://allyours.jp/pages/roleyours The hint is baby’s underwear? Clothes that overturn “common sense about clothes” are truly “upside down.”
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ROLE YOURS products. It’s interesting to see that the design on the front is slightly transparent because it’s flipped inside out. All seams are on the outside, so it feels better against your skin. Antibacterial processing and other functional additions at the fabric stage have not been uncommon in the textile industry, but secondary retrofitting of used clothing is unprecedented. Furthermore, by “turning the clothes inside out and facing the seams outward”, which was inspired by the structure of baby clothes, it feels smooth against the skin and supports a comfortable fit.
A new perspective that was created by overturning the common sense that “you’re doing things wrong” is, in other words, adding something, but not adding anything. It looks like they are making clothes, but they are not.
How are functional clothes made from old clothes made?
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A demonstration experiment project to create functional clothing using old clothes as raw materials. This T-shirt has a “smell-free” function and a design that “makes it feel better on the skin.” ●How the brand was launched
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A large amount of collected old clothes
ALL YOURS, an apparel brand that collaborates in making clothes, is working on collecting clothes that are no longer worn, and in July 2022, it will collect clothes at station ticket gates (Musashi-Sakai Station, Nishi-Kokubunji Station, and 3 other stations on the Chuo Line) in collaboration with JR East group companies. station) to collect items from the general public. Most of the clothes we collect, about 300 kg per week, are recycled as raw materials, but some are still in wearable condition. “ROLE YOURS” was born after discussing with ROLE how to make effective use of such old clothes.
Each item of used clothing is given a number of previously unseen “functions” and reborn as a new brand. This is an experimental project that creates a new perspective on circulation, which is a little different from both recycling and upcycling.
●About the ROLE YOURS symbol mark
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Jun Haneda
Planning design/art direction
Jun Haneda (ROLE/)
Born in Osaka in 1984. After being in charge of gallery curation for eight years, he opened an office in Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture in 2015. Regardless of whether it is a government, a company, or an organization, we will help clients increase their motivation by leveraging the fun of words and projects.
[Affiliations] JAGDA, TOYAMA ADC, Takaoka Traditional Industry Youth Association (44th Chairman)
[Awards] TOYAMA ADC Grand Prix / Toyama Creator Award / Toyama Prefecture Design Exhibition Grand Prize / Golden Pin Design Award Best of Design Award (Taiwan) / Selected for Tokyo TDC / Hometown Event Award Prime Minister’s Award / Good Design Award, etc. [Main clients in recent years (in alphabetical order)]
Kitanippon Shimbun / Suntory Museum of Art / Takaoka City / Toyama Prefecture / Discover Japan / Toyama Prefectural Ink Museum / Hokuriku Hakuhodo / Nakao Seigetsudo (Japanese sweets) / Ramen balls / ReBITA / etc.
Click here for ROLE’s work – https://www.role.ne.jp