Invercote in full bloom

A unique touch

Invercote Touch is Holmen’s first uncoated paperboard. It enables brands to create premium packaging products with a natural look and feel. A flower was the ideal concept to showcase the paperboard’s unique tactile qualities. But this vision and the production of the end product required a collaborative effort involving various experts from different companies.

“We knew we wanted something full of effects and vibrant colours,” says Blohm. “A design that would really showcase everything Invercote Touch can do. It’s a unique, premium paperboard with endless possibilities for bending, folding, and printing. Since our aim was to create something versatile, eye-catching, and surprising, we reached out to designer Mikael Selin. His work is rich in colours and patterns—exactly the opposite of a minimalist approach, which was important to us!”

Pushing the limits

Selin, a Gothenburg-based multidisciplinary designer, initially came up with several concepts. “We started by researching craft projects and what else you could do with paper besides a box,” he says. “It needed to have an impact, with an unboxing experience and be something the recipient wanted to keep. We wanted something that sparks the imagination and pushes the limits of what can be done with paperboard. It sounds cheesy, but we wanted to think outside the box. And then we came up with the flower. It was ambitious. But I started the design process very early, and realising that it would require advanced construction techniques, I started collaborating with packaging construction specialists.”  

Bouncing ideas back and forth

Selin designed the appearance of the flower’s various petals and shapes. To bring the concept to life, Holmen engaged several specialists, including the Gothenburg-based converter and digital printer Ink n Art and the Copenhagen-based foil and embossing experts Dreyer Kliche.

“I made a lot of models using regular A4 paper,” Selin explains. “Maria and Holmen determined which paperboard weights should be used. But there was a lot of testing—it was very hands-on, figuring out how it would work, with plenty of redesigning along the way. The collaboration was essential. Initially with Holmen to shape the overall concept, and then—through Holmen—with Ink n Art and Dreyer Kliche to refine how it could be embossed, foil-stamped, folded, and constructed. We bounced ideas back and forth, and that allowed everyone to focus on their own area of expertise.”

Digital printing

Holmen brought Ink n Art on board partly because of their digital printing expertise. “Because this was a limited edition, we wanted to print it digitally,” says Blohm. “Digital printing is more efficient for smaller runs, and we wanted to show that Invercote Touch works great with digital printing too. And as well as showcasing the natural material without any printing or effects, there is also a lot of printing and foils on this. I think we have included a bit of everything on it.”

“We worked closely with Maria, Mikael and Dreyer Kliche from start to finish on this project,” says Erik Svensson, Sales Packaging at Ink N Art. “Mikael came up with the idea for the flower, which was pretty tricky. But we have the knowledge of what we can do with our machines and how we could actually make it. After some tests and discussions, we broke the construction down into 12 separate pieces, which were then quite simple to approach. And Invercote Touch made it easier, too. It is a good material for printing, die cutting and embossing. It has the right amount of bulk and thickness, too, for creasing and folding.”

A door opener

With this sample, Holmen extends an open invitation to customers and partners to explore new possibilities in packaging. “It’s a door opener,” says Blohm. “It demonstrates what can be done with our material and represents our commitment to collaboration — building long-term relationships, understanding unique challenges, and turning visions into reality. Together, we can create packaging solutions that inspire and perform.”

“This was a lot of fun to work on,” says Selin. “We came up with a concept that meant I had to learn some new things as well. If they had told me they wanted a box, then I wouldn't have had any questions. But it's fun to come up with a new concept, then work together with various people to figure it out and make it happen. It sometimes takes working with others to be more open. And this has certainly opened up my mind about what you can do with paperboard.”