Cast Iron Design has created a guide book for the city of Boulder, Colorado on recycled paper with ink made from algae.
Created for clothing company Patagonia, the city guide is printed with a black pigment that Cast Iron Design sourced from Colorado company Living Ink. It is made from a by-product of blue-green algae, spirulina.
Living Ink transforms the solid biomass, which is produced in California by Earthrise Nutritionals, into a dark pigment by a light thermal treatment that develops a black colour.

The pigment is then mixed with other materials to form the ink. The final product is made up of 20 per cent pigment, sourced from the algae biomass, 70 per cent vegetable oil and 10 per cent additives, such as defoamers and surfactants. Cast Iron Design's guide book is printed in Boulder using a process called offset printing, in which the texts and images are transferred from a plate onto a rubber blanket, and then onto recycled paper booklet.
The local studio claims the brochure is the first time the ink and printing process has been used, and believes it could help make the print industry more sustainable.
"The potential for the technology is substantial (ie it's a big frickin' deal)," said Cast Iron Design. "Small victories like this push the industry towards a more sustainable future."

The studio added that Living Ink's algae-based substance is more natural and safer than traditional black ink, which is often produced from heavy crude oil, and ge...