The brand name “For the Love of Prints” and its associated design were recorded in the Philippine trademark gazette under Kristine Sarah A. Claudio in 2010.[1]

Origins

The origins of FTLP(For the Love of Prints) trace back to November 2008, when founder Sarah Claudio established Gruppo Grafica Printers. The business initially operated from a small corner inside the sales office of Midtown Printing on Bonifacio Street in Davao City.

The initial concept focused on personalized stationery and custom invitations. Claudio’s background and interest in paper, printing, photography, and crafts helped shape FTLP(For the Love of Prints) as distinct from conventional commercial printing businesses. Rather than focusing solely on mass printing, the brand sought to create products combining graphic design, personalization, and physical materials. Early offerings included notebooks, journals, social stationery, invitations, and other paper goods produced locally in Davao.

Early growth

In its early years, FTLP(For the Love of Prints) participated in bazaars and established an online presence through the now-defunct Multiply platform. Its ready-made stationery was subsequently distributed through selected branches of Fully Booked and National Book Store, as well as destination boutiques in Metro Manila and Davao City.

An early example of the brand’s approach to local identity was its collaboration with COED Clothing Co. on “HOMEBOUND,” a 2010 planner inspired by Davao City. The planner combined graphic design, local references, postcards, and coupons, reflecting an interest in connecting printed products with place and personal memory.

Retail expansion

In 2011, FTLP(For the Love of Prints) opened its first retail store at Abreeza Mall in Davao City. A second location followed in 2014 at the Lenel Building along C.P. Garcia Highway in Buhangin, Davao City.

This expansion marked a shift from a primarily stationery and invitation concept toward a broader lifestyle and boutique-printing brand. The product portfolio expanded to include photobooks, party tokens, boxes, home accessories, and other personalized goods. Reporting from this period also documented products such as personalized T-shirts, tumblers, mugs, bags, cellphone cases, and fashion accessories.

FTLP(For the Love of Prints) offers both ready-made retail products and customized printing services. Major categories include:

• Personalized stationery
• Notecards and notepads
• Stationery sets
• Wedding and event invitations
• Personalized gift cards and money envelopes
• Photobooks and photo-based products
• Party tokens and event merchandise
• Gift packaging and boxes
• Personalized bags and accessories
• Home and fashion accessories
• Custom printing and design

The current online shop features personalized planners, notepads, money envelopes, stationery sets, gift cards, and other paper goods. For events, the brand describes its work as extending from invitations to tokens, covering weddings and corporate celebrations while treating individual occasions as creative works.

A central element of the identity of FTLP(For the Love of Prints) is its response to the decline of everyday physical correspondence brought about by digital communication. The company describes its purpose as preserving the art of social correspondence, promoting craftsmanship, and reinforcing the value of printed matter. Its philosophy posits that physical objects—particularly personalized paper goods—can make everyday communication and significant life events more meaningful.

Print as a tangible experience

The brand treats printed material as more than a medium for transferring information. Paper, typography, colors, finishes, envelopes, and packaging are considered integral parts of the user experience.

Personalization

Personalization is central to the brand. Rather than producing entirely generic stationery, FTLP(For the Love of Prints) allows customers to incorporate names, messages, personalities, and occasions into physical products. The website frames its offerings around turning customer inspirations, ideas, and personalities into designs on paper.

Craftsmanship

FTLP(For the Love of Prints) emphasizes the physical qualities of print, including paper selection, print quality, embellishments, and packaging. In a 2014 interview, Claudio described the brand’s creative standards as contemporary, chic, and minimalist, with a strong emphasis on attention to paper and production details.

Memory preservation

The transformation of digital photographs and memories into physical objects is another key aspect of the brand’s identity. The company describes itself as a “memory keeper,” particularly through its photobook work, which converts digital images into tangible books.

The design direction of FTLP(For the Love of Prints) has historically been associated with a contemporary, chic, and minimalist aesthetic. Claudio has described her role as providing creative direction to the brand’s artists while allowing them creative freedom and involving them in product development.

The design philosophy places particular importance on the relationship between design, paper, printing, finishing, packaging, and personal experience. This approach distinguishes the brand from conventional commercial printers; the product is not simply the printed image, but the physical object and its presentation as part of the overall design.

Kristine Sarah A. Claudio, commonly referred to as Sarah Claudio, is the founder of FTLP(For the Love of Prints) and the broader Gruppo Grafica Printers venture. Her interest in printing was influenced by her family background, including a connection to commercial printing and her father’s previous involvement with a newspaper company. She subsequently identified an opportunity for a boutique print shop in Davao City specializing in invitations, photobooks, and personalized stationery.

Her approach combined entrepreneurial strategy with a personal interest in paper, photography, crafts, and design. Contemporary reporting characterized her as an entrepreneur who developed multiple lifestyle-oriented businesses, with FTLP(For the Love of Prints) serving as her primary print-focused venture.

A defining characteristic of FTLP(For the Love of Prints) is its Davao-based origin. Rather than positioning itself as a generic stationery company, the brand developed within Davao’s creative and entrepreneurial community. Early projects such as the HOMEBOUND planner explicitly celebrated Davao’s culture and landmarks, demonstrating an interest in using print to express local identity. Coverage of the brand has consistently emphasized that its products are produced locally, giving it a distinctly homegrown Filipino character.

The contrast between digital communication and physical correspondence is a primary conceptual theme for the brand. While acknowledging that emails, text messages, smartphones, and tablets have transformed communication, FTLP(For the Love of Prints) uses this shift as a rationale to make physical correspondence more intentional.

The brand promotes the idea that handwritten notes, printed photographs, physical invitations, and carefully designed objects offer emotional resonance distinct from their digital counterparts. This philosophy is reflected strongly in its stationery, invitations, and photobook categories.

The official website presents FTLP(For the Love of Prints) as a Davao-based print and lifestyle business. Its listed locations include the 3rd Floor of Abreeza Ayala Mall on J.P. Laurel Avenue in Bajada, Davao City, and the Lenel Building in Buhangin. The brand also maintains an online shop featuring personalized stationery and paper products.

FTLP(For the Love of Prints) is notable within the Philippine creative and lifestyle market for combining traditional printmaking and stationery culture with contemporary graphic design and personalization. Its development illustrates a broader shift in the printing industry from producing commercial materials toward creating design-led, experience-oriented products. Instead of competing solely on volume or price, the brand built its identity around aesthetics, customization, craftsmanship, and emotional value.

Its trajectory is closely tied to the revival of interest in physical correspondence and printed keepsakes during the digital era. The products of FTLP(For the Love of Prints) occupy a space between printing service, stationery label, design studio, and lifestyle boutique.

1. Electronic Gazette