Wrapper

Wrapper's delight
By: Lauren Otis, Business Editor
11/14/2006

	Three partners produce creatively-designed gift paper that will rival the present found inside The house on south Harrison Street is set back behind several large hedges, it's shingled solidity fitting in well with its neighbors. The only clue to the creative enterprise which resides within is a hand-printed, boldly-patterned American flag hanging out front. Inside, the house is airy and bright with eclectic and interesting furnishings, a handsome yet "lived in" space that speaks to the tastes of Kevin and Elizabeth Cooke as well as the fact that they have an active 11-year-old son. This is the Cooke's home, but it is also the base for Trimorphos, the high-end gift wrap paper and greeting card business they have operated with Joseph Alperstein for six years. The enterprise has enabled Mr. Alperstein, 49, and Ms. Cooke, 45, both architects, and Mr. Cooke, 46 — a mechanical engineer by training who works in the family business founded by his father in Princeton, Interior Design Associates — to indulge their passion for design, creating wrapping paper and cards with sophisticated graphics and bold colors. Sometimes purely abstract, sometimes taking one visual element — a snowflake or Christmas tree
Staff photo by Mark Czajkowski Trimorphos, consisting of, from left, Kevin Cooke, Elizabeth Cooke and Joseph Alperstein, is all about bold design, currently displayed on their gift wrap and greeting cards.
ornament — and building a pattern from it, always vibrantly colored, Trimorphos products draw inspiration from everything from the natural world to modern art to vintage décor. Care is taken to use high quality paper stock and inks, with Mr. Cooke's engineering experience coming in handy when setting up manufacturing specifications. Trimorphos is particularly demanding of its printer, insisting on precise color reproduction and registration in its products, Mr. Alperstein says. "We are on our third printer," he says, now having found a quality printing company in New England. "If we wouldn't want to buy it ourselves then why should we sell it," he says of Trimorphos' high standards. Trimorphos grew out of conversations Mr. Alperstein and Ms. Cooke had about how, as architects, the older they got the less design work they did, as well as conversations with Mr. Cooke about the creative fulfillment and satisfaction, as well as discipline, involved in running one's own business. On a whim, the future partners went to a national stationary show at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. "We didn't see a lot that was colorful and bold," Mr. Alperstein says, recalling how they all felt "we can do this" and do it better. So, in 2000, Trimorphos was born. "We decided there was a tie between graphic design and turning it into gift wrap, which everyone buys," said Ms. Cooke. Although some cards and gift wrap overtly feature lettering and designs that have a winter holiday theme, in general, "we try to stay away from the traditional icons of the holidays," Mr. Cooke said. Through the committed efforts of its founders — whether it is Ms. Cooke researching receptive retailers over the Internet and sending them a copy of Trimorphos' slick self-produced catalogue or Mr. Alperstein "pounding the pavement" with samples — the company has extended its reach across the country. Returning to the national stationary show, this time with their own wares to display, resulted in buyers from across the country taking an interest, Mr. Alperstein says. Starting out with just five paper designs, Trimorphos is up to over 40 today, and Mr. Alperstein estimates that approximately 600 stores across the country carry Trimorphos products, including approximately 60 museum shops. Urban areas, with their concentration of quality craft and design stores, and hip and discerning consumers, are a particularly fertile market. With the exception of a washer and dryer sitting forlornly in a corner, nearly the Cooke's entire basement is given over to the Trimorphos enterprise. Banks of fluorescent lights illuminate work tables in the center while boxes and filing cabinets line several walls. Scores of rolls of wrapping paper are stacked in a floor-to-ceiling rack across one whole wall, lending a wine cellar-like aura to the space. The name Trimorphos "essentially means three different entities, three forms coming together," says Mr. Alperstein, whose day job is with KSS Architects in Princeton. For years, the Cooke's spacious wood dining room table has served as the place for Trimorphos' three founders to gather together. "We all sit around and throw out our designs," says Ms. Cooke, a former colleague of Mr. Alperstein's at KSS who now devotes her professional time exclusively to Trimorphos. "We are all very passionate about our designs," says Mr. Alperstein. From the spirited give and take at the dining room table emerge the designs that ultimately find their way onto Trimorphos products. Although artists and designers come to them, asking if Trimorphos purchases outside designs, and on the retail side licensing opportunities are presenting themselves — "we did license one of our designs to Best Buy this year, for a gift bag," said Mr. Cooke — it is still the direct link to the creative process which inspires them. "We are in this because we want to design," says Ms. Cooke, as opposed to overseeing other designers or negotiating corporate licensing agreements. Although wrapping paper and card stock may be the mediums of choice for Trimorphos' three partners at present, they have designs on placing their vibrant graphics on a host of consumer products eventually. The notion is of "Trimorphos as a studio — three people getting together with ideas," Mr. Alperstein says. Although Princeton may not necessarily provide direct inspiration for the designs Trimorphos produces — only Mr. Cooke grew up here — it does provide an ideal platform from which to launch Trimorphos projects, the partners say. "The nice thing about Princeton, even though it is a small town, it has global appeal," Mr. Alperstein says. Currently, plans are afoot for Trimorphos lamp shades and pillows, with textiles, rugs and more a possibility in the future. "I could see furniture, I could see coming up with a line of furniture, anything with a pattern," Mr. Alperstein says. "I'd like to do plates too," Mr. Cooke adds. Whatever the product is, it should have a distinct Trimorphos style. "We want people to be able to walk into a store and look at something and say, 'Ah, that's Trimorphos,'" Mr. Alperstein says. Trimorphos' partners won't divulge sales or growth figures, but do note how amply busy their so-called side project now keeps them. Mr. Cooke, with his experience running a smaller, privately-owned business, has set the tone for managing Trimorphos' growth so it does not overextend itself. "Every year since we've started we've grown," Mr. Cooke says, adding, "To be candid, we are very deliberate in what we do. We have a million ideas for a million products, but we don't want to get out of control and into debt, so we'd have to close up shop." Neither he nor Mr. Alperstein say they're close to giving up their day jobs, although that possibility someday in the future does bring smiles to their faces.