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    LIQUITEX SETS, MEDIUMS & BIG SIZES

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    How does a Liquitex paint get made? To take an idea from concept to art store involves many different people, with many different skills. Here's an insight into the journey.

    STEP 1. THE BIG IDEA

    A collaborative team of artists, product development specialists and acrylics chemists work together on new concepts for formulations, formats, colors and supporting tools. This takes place in our London head office.

     

     

    STEP 2. EXPERIMENTATION & FORMULATION

    The chemists get to work at our in-house lab to turn the idea into reality. They draw on their decades of experience in acrylic technology and collaborate with materials suppliers to source the finest ingredients.

    A project can take anything from weeks to years to complete, depending on the brief and complexity: our new Acrylic Gouache took over two years to develop, to make sure it delivers intense pigmentation, high opacity and fluid viscosity across the range. When they have what they believe to be a perfect formula, the chemists put it to the test.

    A suite of in-house testing technologies is at their disposal - a restricted access room full of machines examining all aspects of the innovation, from light-fastness to opacity, stability and color intensity.

    STEP 3. PACKAGING DEVELOPMENT

    Once a new formulation is in process in the lab, it’s time to call in our in-house packaging technologists. They’re always looking to improve usability for you in the studio, so they work closely with our in-house artists to find the right format.

    For our new Soft Body and Acrylic Gouache bottles, we asked a big group of artists to sketch out their dream packaging as our starting point, before playing with a range of shapes and materials. The technologists then commission prototypes and torture test them with artists to make sure they’re fit for purpose.

    Functionality is king here and we're always looking to innovate. In 1980 we were the first company to change our tubes from pure metal to lightweight glaminate (a technology commonly used in the cosmetic industry) to stop the problem of tubes corroding and cracking with use.

    Liquitex packaging needs to stand the test of time. And the reality of life in the studio.

     

     

    STEP 4. TEST SCALE UP

    When the formulation has passed all the lab tests, it’s handed over to the Research & Development team at one of our factories to scale up. We have sites in Tianjin, China and Le Mans, France, each with their own specializations.

    We then start a production trial to make sure that when it’s made in bulk amounts, the formulation will deliver the same quality performance. The first batch will go through our regular testing process and the results will be used as the standard ‘recipe’ for the main production.

     

    STEP 5. QUALITY CONTROL

    A major part of every step of the process. Our formulations are tested at every stage, put on laboratory and ‘real-life’ stability tests, examined for performance and safety. Anything that fails tests at any stage gets rejected, the issue investigated and rectified.

     

     

    STEP 6. PRODUCTION

    Ingredients and final packaging are ordered, new machines and technology in place, bulk recipes are vigorously tested and ready to go. It’s time to get it into the tube… or bottle, can, pen, sachet. Once passed by Quality Control, the finished product is sent to the warehouse. It’s now set to be ordered by art stores all across the world, and be added to your studio toolbox. Back in London, we’re working away on our next big idea.


    We have a number of specialized factories around the world, all owned by our parent group, Colart. Most of our materials are made in France and China, with some elements made in Germany, UK and Italy.

     

    Liquitex is owned by the Colart Group, a company that has a bold vision in terms of ethics and corporate responsibility. 

    Our sustainability pledge takes into account not just environmental factors, but also our social responsibility and financial durability. We are firm believers in innovation and we see no conflict between increasing business growth and reducing our environmental footprint.

    A sustainable mindset is a natural part of the creative ethos, and we are active in both local and artists' communities to make sure everything we do contributes to improving working conditions and the environment.

     

     

    HOW ARE WE REDUCING OUR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT?

    As part of the Colart Group, we work with Forum for the Future, an independent, international non-profit organization with a 20-year track record of driving sustainable development. Together we are working to accelerate our shift to a sustainable future by transforming whole systems, from the way we source our raw materials and make our products, to our carbon footprint and supply chain.

    The group holds FSC Chain of Custody certification, which means that our art materials comply with the highest social and environmental standards on the market. With public concerns about the state of the world’s forests and timber resources increasing, FSC provides a credible solution to complex environmental and social issues.

    We have continued to reduce our total global CO2 emissions each year and we’re part of SEDEX (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange), the largest global platform for managing ethical data. And we’re also working towards making everyone in our supply chain a member too.

    Our two main factory bases in France and China have been awarded the ISO14001 Environmental Management & ISO9001 Quality Management systems certification. We are members of The Art and Creative Materials Institute, Inc. (ACMI), an international association of about 200 art, craft and creative material manufacturers which seeks to promote safety in art and creative products through its certification program.

    We are also members of CEPE - the European Council of the Paint, Printing Ink and Artists' Colours Industry. CEPE started its sustainability work in 2010 and published a Sustainability Charter in September 2012. The charter describes the policy the industry will follow in the coming years, encouraging CEPE members to look at the full life cycle of their products while keeping in mind the three pillars of sustainability: people, planet and profit.

     

     

    We are committed to a more sustainable future. Within the Liquitex team, our chemists and technical experts are reviewing our use of microplastics and looking at alternative materials to ensure product performance, without impacting on the ocean plastics crisis.

    We’ve already made the bold step to pioneer a real alternative to cadmium pigments, giving comparable product performance without the safety concerns. Our award-winning Liquitex Cadmium-Free colors were launched in 2017 and continue to roll-out across our ranges.

    We continue to educate artists around the world on safe use and responsible disposal of our materials through our support of The Fine Art Collective.

    OUR SOCIAL IMPACT

    Across the Colart family, team members have so far contributed over 6,560 hours to positive activities within their community. Volunteering is a day-to-day part of our working life and we spend time in a range of ways - from volunteering with charity and community groups, to helping within schools and environmental projects. Liquitex directly supports a host of positive causes with time, talent and materials. 

     

    Our current focus is Hospital Rooms, a mental health charity that believes in the enduring power of the arts to instill value, dignity and wellbeing in people. Founded by artist Tim A Shaw and curator Niamh White in 2016, the charity is successfully promoting the improved wellbeing of mental health service users by enhancing environments in hospitals with art, design and creative activity. We're delighted to be supporting Hospital Rooms through fundraising and volunteering.

    As an organization, we are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and transparency in all our dealings and to putting effective systems and controls in place to safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking place within the business or our supply chain.

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