Kendal Green – Tailor Made Bespoke Colour Paper
The James Cropper brand colour, Kendal Green, has an illustrious pedigree. Kendal Green cloth was made at our mill in Burneside half a millennium before paper took over. Moreover, it was famously worn by Kendalian archers at the battle of Agincourt and later even referenced by Shakespeare in Henry IV.
Extensive research identified the original pigments used to dye Kendal Green cloth: woad (blue) and dyers’ broom (yellow). Through the Tailor Made process, samples of the pigments were sourced and matched to papermaking dyes that were used to make paper for new branded stationery and packaging.
Green had always been the dominant James Cropper company colour but had never been defined. Our Chairman and sixth generation family member working in the business, Mark Cropper lead the team to re-discover Kendal Green.
"Reviving this colour and linking it to the James Cropper brand was a wonderful way of bringing this important history back to life and an authentic expression of the company’s long-standing links to their Cumbrian home."Mark Cropper
Mark explains,
"Colour is a really important part of anyone's branding and of course for James Cropper, really one of the world's leading coloured paper mills, it's something we really needed to get right.
I led a rebrand process of the company and part of that was to actually define exactly what our company colours were. We started with a colour, which was green, as that had always been the company colour.
I had the idea that we should try and hark back to a green that had been very famous in our area. It's called the called Kendal green. Apparently, archers at the Battle of Agincourt wore it and Shakespeare wrote about it.
I went to all the local museums to see if we could find a bit of original Kendal green cloth."
Mark continues, "We couldn't find anything but what we did manage to do was to find out the original of pigments and they were woad, which is a deep blue and dyer's broom, which provides a yellow pigment.
I found it really exciting at that point because to actually go back and try to match a colour that was in the past but with no physical sample was, I say, quite a challenge. We enjoy challenges and to actually see it and bring it to life in the form of Kendal green."
The original pigments used to dye the cloth were identified and the colour brought back to life by the colour lab team at the heart of James Cropper's coloured paper manufacturing.
“Colour matching for the world’s most discerning taste-makers is an almost daily task for us so it was only right that we did the same for ourselves”Mark Cropper
"We then made the hand sheets and assess them under various different light sources to ensure that we've got the correct colour that is going to fit our Kendal green brand colour.
The point was that the colour we ended up with was completely authentic. The core James Cropper values that I think have seen us stay in business for so long, is about integrity.
James Cropper's Tailor-Made Paper service is all about having exactly what you want."
"I was very keen our brand colour had an authentic provenance. We've been experts in colour for over 175 years and this experience is a key reason brands from all around the world choose to work with us. So it was important our own colour was as unique and true to our roots as those we make for so many others." Mark Cropper
