Wish you had a one-stop shop for paper, inks, and cost-per-unit reports?

See how we helped Deanna Camp catch more customers with her fantastical fish-themed cards, glicée prints, and more.

Angling for Laughs

Deanna Camp uses colored pencil and paint to depict fantastical fish not found in your local stream or river. Her versions sport everything from an Elvis pompadour (King Trout) to tie-dyed scales (Deadhead Trout).

Deanna compares her career as an advertising art director to the quirky creatures she designs through her business, Elusive Trout. Her clients come to her with marketing challenges and go away with unique, creative solutions. “Each fish is a case study of that ethos — a fun dive into the unknown to see what can be created,” Deanna says.

Enter Red River Paper

The variety of sizes and card formats at Red River Paper isn’t lost on Deanna. All sheets are cut to standard sizes, and the cards are scored, enabling her to use her two Canon printers without sending projects to an outside printer or bindery. “The quality and printability of every Red River Paper sheet are exceptional,” she tells us. Her favorite papers include our 60-lb. Polar Matte Greeting Cards (single-sided and double-sided), featuring a bright white tone that offers excellent contrast, free from distracting glare and surface texture. Deanna also enjoys our Polar Gloss Metallic 255 Paper with a high-gloss, pearlescent-metallic surface that elevates her prints.

When supporting our customers, we don’t stop with paper. “RRP has helped me create a pricing structure with their cost-per-unit resources on the website,” says Deanna, who lives in Spokane, Washington. “They also provide my ink, printer services, and printing knowledge.” We’re glad our company can help Elusive Trout reel in more clients!

See More of Deanna’s Work

Fishing for more of Deanna’s piscatorial musings? Cruise over to her website, ElusiveTrout.com. You’ll find her Aloha Trout, Camo Trout, and more showcased in cards, posters, prints, large-format giclée prints, and even a “True Tales and Cocktails” coffee table book. To learn about her typical customers and how a calendar started her business, see our Q&A with Deanna below.

Enjoy our Q&A with Deanna Camp…

What year was your business founded and how did you get started?
I formed Elusive Trout (a subsidiary of Camp Creative) in 2010 when I came up with a fun idea for a calendar. I illustrated a complete line of whimsical trout and engaged a school of writers to help me tell stories about these unique and rare trout. It was clear then that I could create a whole line of merchandise — cards, prints, posters, calendars, and a book — that share their stories with the public.

Tell us a little about what product or service your business offers.
I offer cards, giclée prints, postcards, and a coffee table book of Elusive Trout — the World's Rarest Trout collection for man cave, commode, or cabin.

What makes your business unique?
We braved perilous rapids, precarious trails, and hostile attorneys to depict these unique fishes that make up our collection. What makes us unique is our creativity and attention to detail. I designed the fish to simultaneously reflect the characteristics of humanity and fish and make the reader laugh right out loud.

Where do you source your raw materials from?
I use Red River Paper and Canon Inkjet Inks.

In what ways does the business reflect your own personality?
My background is in advertising as an art director and a fine artist. Every client who comes to me looking for a solution comes away with a unique, creative approach to their marketing problems. Each fish is a case study of that ethos — a fun dive into the unknown to see what can be created and have fun doing it.

Who are your typical customers?
People who fish, love the outdoors, love to laugh; women shopping for husbands who have everything; and anyone who needs a gift.

What is the most interesting project you've encountered in the course of your work?
After the calendars, I determined that creating a book would give me the shelf-life required without the annual scramble to create something new every year. The book retained the writing services of Paul Quinnett, a fly-fishing expert, fishing humorist writer, and world-renowned psychologist specializing in suicide prevention. His contribution to the book was exceptional, and his insights into humor and business made creating a book together so much fun.

What has Red River Paper done for your business? Is there a particular challenge Red River Paper has helped you overcome or a goal they helped you meet?
Red River Paper has helped me create a pricing structure with their cost-per-unit resources on the website. I appreciate the variety of paper sizes and card formats that allow me to design and print without ever using an outside printer or bindery. All sheets are cut to standard sizes and all cards are scored. This allows me to print on my own printers and not have to send work out to be printed, cut, or scored.

What do you appreciate most about Red River Paper's products/services?
The quality and printability of every Red River Paper sheet are exceptional. Try the metallics! I have 2 Canon printers, one for small items and a Pro1000 for large items. Not only does RRP provide an exquisite sheet, but they also provide my ink, printer services, and printing knowledge for their unsurpassed papers. There are lots of advertising buzzwords here, but it's true. I can send in a query to RRP regarding a printing or paper issue and get it resolved quickly.

How can people purchase your products/service?
www.elusivetrout.com

Would you like to share a customer testimonial?
“The book arrived as promised, and I immediately retired to my library (aka my living room sofa) to peruse it. I read it as I read my weekly New Yorker: First, I look at the cartoons. Somehow or other, I thought you were going to get into the Trouser Trout, but wiser heads must have prevailed, and you avoided that pitfall. Guys, this book is truly stunning, from the dust jacket to the typography.” — Bennett J. Mintz, PR/Adv. 2015

Last updated February 19, 2024

Original Publication Date: February 19, 2024

Article Last updated: February 19, 2024

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