Business Cards for Stefano Marinaz

From its London base, the Stefano Marinaz Landscape Architecture studio works alongside international architects and designers on projects ranging from small private gardens to larger landscapes, and historical restorations to installations for garden festivals.

These are the most beautiful and beautifully produced business cards I have ever had the privilege to write about on this blog!

Stefano Marinaz appointed Mercer Design for a brand refresh, part of which was the design of new business cards, which as many people now identify are the most important piece of print that most businesses produce.

I shall let the words of Stefano Marinaz explain...
If you know me you must also know how keen on plants I am. My passion for the natural world and understanding of plants started when I was very young sharing some special moments with my grandfather in the glass house, he was growing vegetables to be sold in the shop. More than 70 years ago he started a business in Trieste, Italy, where he was selling seeds and plants to professional and amateur growers. As the business developed further my father and my mum became part of “Marinaz Agraria e Giardinaggio” and after almost 40 years of work they managed to expand the company by selling, throughout Italy and abroad, seeds, plants, gardening tools, machinery and everything else that can assist professionals and amateurs in the gardens and in the fields. The seeds have been the core business of my family since the beginning and I am personally fascinated by their beauty and by the fact they are able to generate new life and endless possibilities for us as human beings as well as in my case for designers. Sometime it is important to see things with a closer look and this is why I have chosen the beautiful pictures by Robert Llewellyn to be part of my new business cards.

I selected nine seeds which I found very interesting mainly in relation to the plants they develop. It has been a very enjoyable design process with the fantastic team of Mercer Design

These gilt edged business cards are printed four colour process one side (seed images) and one colour on the face and are also hot foil blocked on the face in a bronze foil (Foilco Ref: 6732). The gilt edging is in a matching bronze colour.

You may be thinking that these 1mm thick cards are duplexed ...but you'd be wrong! They are printed on our Sumo 1mm thick board - so how are they printed I hear you ask? - they are printed flat bed, offset litho by a very clever company called Avenue Litho, based in Hackney, East London.

One of the reasons that this solution was chosen because the client wanted to avoid the card being 'bendy' which is characteristic of duplexed boards. Because Sumo is 'mill laminated' (a process that uses a lot of pressure and very little glue) the moisture balance is not interfered with, which is why the sheet maintains the correct moisture balance and therefore remains flat.

https://www.stefanomarinaz.com/

https://www.mercerdesign.com/

https://www.avenuelitho.com/

https://www.robertllewellyn.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 15.03.2023

Thank you...

IST Printing are Hot Foil Blocking and Embossing specialists. Based in Glasgow, IST is run by Ian Stopford and he has a real passion for foiling and the finest print finishes. His work for clients based all over the country has appeared many times on this blog before.

Ian has just printed these 'Thank You' cards to send out with completed orders...

The cards are A6, Landscape (105x148mm) and are printed on our Shiro Echo 100% Recycled in Raw Grey and Raw Sand 350gsm.

Click on images to enlarge

The front of the card is hot foil blocked and embossed. On the reverse of the card, the details of the reorder number and the stock and foil type used...

You can see the detail of the superb embossing here...

Click on images to enlarge

Below you can see the wonderful hot foil blocking, which is using Foilco Black 7067NAB, which is a smudge resist foil. 

Dies are made by Metallic Elephant.

My thanks to Ian for sending me file copies and I know he is working on other items which he says he will send me...

https://www.istprinting.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 21.09.2021

VIP Preview invitation

Paddington Square is the highly anticipated development in west London which will revitalise the area and also feature a new icon for the London skyline by Renzo Piano Building Workshop.

This is the beautifully produced invitation for the VIP preview held at the Chiltern Firehouse last November.

Size of the invitation is 215mm square and looks stunning.

The square on the front of the invitation is hot foil blocked in Rainbow SHLR from Foilco and the type printed in "Just Black 700" which is one of Foilco’s most popular pigment foils and has a Gloss finish.

The invitation is printed on SUMO, which is our a heavyweight, thick board manufactured by FAVINI in Italy. It is available in black and white and the consists of 1mm, 1.5mm, 2mm up to a whopping 3mm thick ...seriously chunky! Last year, the range was extended to include a small range of colours - five new shades all available in 1mm thick.

This invitation is produced on Sumo, White 2mm thick, which is really substantial and the result is absolutely dead FLAT - unlike the risky business with duplexing boards together which can result in a warped finish...

The hot foil stamping looks superb, sinking into the thick board and giving a wonderful, tactile, quality. 

Design is by property marketing specialists Wordsearch. Designer on the project is Ana Iugulescu and the artworker is Alex Shannon. Printing is by Trident Printing in London.

https://paddingtonsquare.co.uk/

https://www.wordsearch.co.uk/

https://tridentprinting.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.11.2020

Catching Feels online launch

This Thursday, 22nd October at 2pm (BST), you can join us for the PERGRAPHICA® 'Catching Feels' online launch. This is the new lookbook for our PERGRAPHICA® range of uncoated papers manufactured by Mondi

Featuring contributors from the Adobe Stock Premium Collection, Catching Feels takes you on a sensory journey through six feelings, as emotive visuals are enhanced through different printing techniques and finishes on distinctive paper shades, adding depth to a creative vision. 

Learn about PERGRAPHICA®design papers as well as the printing and special finishing techniques applied in the book with the design, special finishing and paper experts that were involved in the project. 

Hear from the following speakers...

• Zoe Truchy - Brand Manager for design papers with the paper making team at Mondi 
• Karen Henderson - Customer Project Development Manager in the UK for Mondi
• Matt Hornby – Sales Director of Foilco, the leading specialists for hot stamping foils. 
• Cos Mingides - Founding Partner who leads the creative department at True. 

Fenner Paper is pleased to be the stockist for PERGRAPHICA® in the UK.

To join us on the online launch, you can register HERE

Posted by Justin Hobson 19.10.2020

Stardream Print Processes book

Stardream is a market leading pearlescent and metallic paper range produced by the Cordenons paper mill in Italy. Many designers and printers have become fans of the light irridescent finishes and the dual sided deep metallic finishes which do truly shimmer. Stardream is used for a wide range of applications, including cover, presentation folders, invitations, greetings cards and luxury packaging.

This is the new "Print Processes book" which demonstrates the wide variety of print processes that you can achieve using this paper range.

The cover image is printed offset litho in CMYK on Stardream Copper 285gsm and the result is stunning - just look how good a CMYK image can look, even on a relatively deep shade such as the Copper. What many people forget is the litho inks are transparent, what this means is that if you print on a colour, the colour will come through and it also means that if you print on a pearlescent/metallic substrate, the printed result will be pearlescent/metallic and take on the shimmer of the surface printed on.

The size of the presenter is 230x220mm and the wiro-bound inserts are 210mm square. The first page is hot foil blocked using Foilco Ref 6815 copper foil on Stardream Anthracite 285gsm.

Click on images to enlarge

Page two is is printed using Thermographic printing (thermography) in red and black.

Thermo (as it is commonly called) is a great process and can produce a gloss or matt raised surface. In this instance, the result is a gloss finish, printed on Stardream Rose Quartz 120gsm

Stardream is also suitable for digital print processes and the below rainbow image is printed on Stradream Crystal Digital 240gsm on an HP Indigo Press

The next page is french folded and is lasercut...

Click on images to enlarge

The sample printed on the Stardream Silver (above & below) is just the most simple and yet effective sample. It is printed in just 1 colour offset litho as a halftone (or some people refer to it as a montone) and as mentioned before, because litho inks are transparent, the printed result is pearlescent/metallic and takes on the shimmer of the Stardream surface.

and the grand finale of the book, really is amazing at is is the simplest, yet crazily effective process. The below watchface is digitally printed in white using a dry toner press (this was a Ricoh)

...and here is a detail image

...and below shows the deep blue colour (Stardream Lapislazuli 285gsm) that it was printed on.

Digital white (toner) is an incredibly stunning effect and a very economical price, so it's definitely worth looking into.

My thanks to the paper mill, Gruppo Cordenons for supplying us with the tools to show the Stardream range in the very best light. If you would like one of these new books, please email me: justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

http://www.cordenons.co.uk/
http://www.gruppocordenons.com/en/

Posted by Justin Hobson 25.06.2020

Playbook

The Playbook of Form is notebook style publication produced for Accenture. Size is 210x137mm portrait with a 4pp cover and 108pp text and is PUR bound, the spine is 9mm thick. On the outside cover and on the spine, it is hot foil blocked in two colours with foil supplied by Foilco. The cover is printed on Zeta Hammer, Brilliant White 350gsm.

Being an internal publication, it isn't appropriate to show you the inside text pages, suffice it to say the job is printed in three colours (purple, blue and black) offset litho. the majority of pages are just printed as squares for writing notes...

The 108pp text is printed on Shiro Echo, Bright White 120gsm, which is our 100% recycled paper with FSC accreditation.

Spine is 9mm, below image shows the PUR binding...

Print and hot foiling is by Identity Print, based in Paddock Wood with Paul Martin handling the project.

http://www.identityprint.co.uk/
http://www.foilco.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.09.2019

The Burlington Arcade

The Burlington Arcade in London dates back to 1819. Designed by Samuel Ware “for the sale of jewellery and fancy articles of fashionable demand, for the gratification of the public.” It was commissioned by Lord George Cavendish, Earl of Burlington and owner of the adjacent Burlington House, as a safe place for his wife and other genteel folk to shop. Today it continues that tradition, with a host of luxury shops.

"Just the cover makes the difference" is a phrase I've used many times on this blog about many projects where the cover "makes the difference" and this is just one of those projects. The cover is printed on one of our new Colorset shades - Charcoal in 350gsm.

Brochure size is 240x170mm, portrait. The outside cover is simply (but beautifully) hot foil blocked in a rose gold metallic foil - Foilco Ref 6037

There are some really nice features to this project. Firstly the brochure is encased in a bespoke envelope (250x180mm) made from the same material as the cover and is also hot foil blocked on the outside and a beautiful touch is the foiling on the inside of the flap. Quite an extensive area to foil but the Foilco Foil (6037) looks superb...

Another quality element is the three hole sewn binding, which is superbly done and holds the 16pp text securely in place. Identity Printers actually do this at their in-house bindery.

...and on the inside front and back covers the Burlington monogram is hot foil blocked in clear foil.

Detail showing the monogram

Just look at the precision of the scoring on the outside flap of the envelope. It gives the whole project a wonderful, quality feel.

Print and hot foiling is by Identity Print, based in Paddock Wood with Paul Martin handling the project.

https://www.burlingtonarcade.com/
http://www.identityprint.co.uk/
http://www.foilco.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 21.06.2019

Stefano Marinaz Business Cards

From its London base, the Stefano Marinaz Landscape Architecture studio works alongside international architects and designers on projects ranging from small private gardens to larger landscapes, and historical restorations to installations for garden festivals.

These are the most beautiful and beautifully produced business cards I have ever had the privilege to write about on this blog!

Stefano Marinaz appointed Mercer Design for a brand refresh, part of which was the design of new business cards, which as many people now identify are the most important piece of print that most businesses produce.

I shall let the words of Stefano Marinaz explain...
If you know me you must also know how keen on plants I am. My passion for the natural world and understanding of plants started when I was very young sharing some special moments with my grandfather in the glass house, he was growing vegetables to be sold in the shop. More than 70 years ago he started a business in Trieste, Italy, where he was selling seeds and plants to professional and amateur growers. As the business developed further my father and my mum became part of “Marinaz Agraria e Giardinaggio” and after almost 40 years of work they managed to expand the company by selling, throughout Italy and abroad, seeds, plants, gardening tools, machinery and everything else that can assist professionals and amateurs in the gardens and in the fields. The seeds have been the core business of my family since the beginning and I am personally fascinated by their beauty and by the fact they are able to generate new life and endless possibilities for us as human beings as well as in my case for designers. Sometime it is important to see things with a closer look and this is why I have chosen the beautiful pictures by Robert Llewellyn to be part of my new business cards.

I selected nine seeds which I found very interesting mainly in relation to the plants they develop. It has been a very enjoyable design process with the fantastic team of Mercer Design

These gilt edged business cards are printed four colour process one side (seed images) and one colour on the face and are also hot foil blocked on the face in a bronze foil (Foilco Ref: 6732). The gilt edging is in a matching bronze colour.

You may be thinking that these 1mm thick cards are duplexed ...but you'd be wrong! They are printed on our Sumo 1mm thick board - so how are they printed I hear you ask? - they are printed flat bed, offset litho by a very clever company called Avenue Litho, based in Hackney, East London.

One of the reasons that this solution was chosen because the client wanted to avoid the card being 'bendy' which is characteristic of duplexed boards. Because Sumo is 'mill laminated' (a process that uses a lot of pressure and very little glue) the moisture balance is not interfered with, which is why the sheet maintains the correct moisture balance and therefore remains flat.

https://www.stefanomarinaz.com/

https://www.mercerdesign.com/

http://www.avenuelitho.com/

https://www.robertllewellyn.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 09.04.2019

Multiplicity in Brighton

Yesterday evening, we were pleased to be the sponsor of  Multiplicity in Brighton. Hosted by Foilco, this is the third event hosted by Foilco, with the previous talks having been in Glasgow and Leeds. Just over 150 creatives came together at The Old Market in Hove to hear three great speakers.

The three fantastic speakers were Hamish Makgill, Anthony Burrill and Andy Stevens from GTF.

Hamish began the evening. His talk began by likening the amazingly simple concept and design of the JEEP to the work that they strive to achieve at his studio by "stripping away the unnecessary and drawing out the essential"

Hamish then spoke about his work for The It's Nice That 2014 Annual, Nike WE, ONCA, James Reade, the WW Chair and of course his work for that other well known paper merchant based in Hull!

 

Next up was Andy Stevens, one of the founders of Graphic Thought Facility (GTF). He spoke about their beginnings at the RCA and how they established the studio, including spending the money they won as a prize on a poster ...see below image:

Anthony Burrill gave us an insight into his beginnings at college and then at the RCA. He spoke about his years in the advertising industry and it's rather abrupt end when he made the decision that he wanted a change telling his agent not to look for new work - and how everything, including his existing work, just stopped! He then described his journey establishing himself as an independent graphic artist, print-maker and designer.

It was a great event and everyone I spoke to came away feeling enthused and charged.

Even I said a very few words at the beginning of the evening....

Afterwards may of us went to the bar until kicking out time!

This is the third event hosted by Foilco, with the previous talks having been in Glasgow and Leeds. They have been arranged by Andrew Cottam at Foilco and my thanks to Andrew and to Dave Sedgewick at Studio DBD

 

Foilco has been servicing the graphic arts industry for over 25 years, offering the largest range of hot stamping foils in all sectors. With a wealth of expertise on all types of applications, they have a wide range of colours and grades offering endless creative possibilities to designers the world over.

 

http://www.studiomakgill.com/

http://anthonyburrill.com/

http://www.graphicthoughtfacility.com/

http://multiplicitybyfoilco.com/

http://www.foilco.co.uk/news/multiplicitybrighton/

Posted by Justin Hobson 05.05.2016