Jobs from the past - Number 182

Regular followers of this blog will know that for my first post of every month I try (but not always!) to publish a "job from the past" so that I can show some of the really good work from years gone by - this project is from 2014

PREEN LINE SS2014

This is the Spring/Summer 2014 look-book for Preen Line, which is the "contemporary line" range with the more economical price tag from London fashion house PREEN.

It's a lovely oversize 333x240mm, portrait, saddle stitched format. It is a 28pp "self cover". This means that it is printed on the same material throughout, so the cover is on the same weight as the text. It works well on this job as it feels really substantial. A big part of that is the format and the fact that it is printed on our Omnia 150gsm, which has a high bulk and therefore you really don't notice that the cover is no heavier ...and, most importantly, the text flows nicely in the hand and lies nice and flat.

As you can see from the images, there is lots of rich colour and blue is prevalent - and it just looks beautiful on the Omnia - just gorgeously even and crisp reproduction. In particular the images with CMYK dark areas - with lots of ink going down, looks great on the Omnia, reproducing bright vibrant colours as well and the darker images as well, whilst retaining all the detail.

Design is by Mark and Chris Thomson at Studio Thomson. Photography is by Nick Dorey and the superb print by Push, although sadly (like many printers) they are no longer in operation.

https://www.preen.eu/
https://www.studiothomson.com/

https://www.nickdorey.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 04.11.2025

London Packaging Week 2026 - don't miss us!

Over ten years ago, Easyfairs launched Packaging Innovations London and Luxury Packaging London, creating a meeting place for packaging designers, technologists and suppliers in the capital. Changed in 2022 to London Packaging Week – This year it is being held at Excel in London and is in a couple of weeks time on 15th and 16th October. It's a great show which brings a sharp focus on packaging development for the capital’s key luxury and FMCG markets.

Although we don't have a stand this year, we will be there together with our suppliers including FAVINI and also Kapag & Oppboga who make the amazing FibreForm® paperboard which we launched in the UK last year:

...as you can see, it can be embossed or debossed to three times it's own thickness without breaking!

Please visit the Favini stand and also the Kapag|Oppboga stand, we hope to see you there! 

https://www.londonpackagingweek.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 07.10.2025

Colorset has 49 shades

For those of you not familiar with Colorset, it is our range of coloured text and cover papers which is 100% recycled and more competitively priced than some other well known brands of coloured paper!

A few years ago we launched 350gsm, so we now have ALL Colorset shades in 120gsm, 270gsm and 350gsm - all in B1 size (700x1000mm). 

A few years ago we further developed the range with 9 new colours...

...and more recently we added another dozen shades to make 49 shades in total plus white (so it's 50 really!)

The new shades include 7 shades made using Virgin fibre (due to the dye take up) and these are Blush, Warm White, Glacier, Hopsack, Charcoal, Spearmint and Aubergine, all marked with an asterisk in the swatch

...so there you have it, a range with 49 colours including TEN greys!

If you would like the updated swatch, please drop me an email and I'll pop one in the post justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.10.25

Growing through the Seasons 2026

The "Growing through the Seasons" calendar, beautifully illustrated by Isla Middleton and written by Bryony Middleton, is a guide for gardeners and vegetable lovers. 

Images kindly supplied by Isla Middleton

This calendar is a celebration of seasonal flowers, fruit and vegetables illustrated with full page original designs.

The calendar has been created to inspire, encourage and teach how to sow, grow and harvest fresh produce straight from the garden. It is 300mm square in size and a month to view format.

It is printed on our PaperWise Natural 130gsm and 295gsm, which is manufactured from 100% agricultural waste - this is the stems and leaves left over the harvest and which is usually left in the field and burnt. You can read all about PaperWise HERE. As you can see from the images PaperWise is a natural shade and is completely unbleached and home compostable too ...a perfect choice for this calendar!

You can see the designs for each month here...

Isla has created this calendar with her sister Bryony Middleton, Head Gardener at Sharpham Trust in Devon and also a Growing Chart will feature at the back, with an overview of the sowing and harvest schedule as you can see here:

The calendar is superbly printed, offset litho by Ashley House Printing in Devon.

I was on holiday a couple of weeks ago and popped in to Halen Môn, the Welsh sea salt manufacturer and saw the calendar for sale in their gift shop!

Strangely enough Halen Môn have appeared on this blog before as the designer of their identity and packaging (Sid Madge) printed a casestudy back in 2011 using our Omnia, which you can read about HERE.

My thanks to Isla for sending one of the calendars and also allowing me to use the images from the website.

The calendar is for sale in many excellent shops and is also available to buy on-line here: https://www.islamiddleton.co.uk/product-page/2026-growing-through-the-seasons-calendar

https://www.islamiddleton.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 29.08.2025

John Morgan 1973–2025

An announcement from John Morgan Studio...

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of John Morgan, who died on 2 September 2025, in his library, surrounded by his family and his books. He was 52.

John was a devoted husband to Claire and a proud father to Rudy, Francis and Iris. He was the cherished son of Bob and Maureen, and a much-loved brother to Jane.

In 2000 John founded John Morgan studio in London where he developed a widely celebrated body of typographic work that was quietly radical: elegantly simple, powerfully expressive. His creativity also extended to theatre and film, with projects including Blank Dummy and Julie. In 2017 he co-founded the digital type foundry Abyme.

Alongside his practice, John was a dedicated teacher. He lectured at institutions including Central Saint Martins and the University of Reading, where he taught on the MA Book Design course from 2007–2016. Since 2016 he was Professor of Design, Typography and Book Art at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he established Klasse John Morgan.

Those who knew John remember an uncommon honesty and steadiness. He held his course with strength and humility – ‘so strong and so mild’, as one friend put it. His integrity bred a rare trust, and when making design decisions many colleagues would find themselves asking, ‘What would John do?’ He was a mentor and a friend, connecting people and giving form to words and work for nearly 30 years.

Books were central to John’s life. His own book Usylessly, which explores the non-literary aspects of the 1922 edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses, was published in December 2021. In 2025 he set up the publishing imprint Ten Thousand Angels Press. Its first title, Usylessly (edition two), will be published later this year, followed by Baskerville’s Teardrop Explodes: A Selection of Books as Muses, completed shortly before he died.

A funeral will take place in John’s Oxfordshire village on 11 September 2025. On that day, we invite those who knew and loved him to take a moment to reflect and remember his life.

Messages of condolence and support for John’s family can be sent to info@morganstudio.co.uk

John Morgan

6 January 1973–2 September 2025

John Morgan studio

info@morganstudio.co.uk

morganstudio.co.uk

==========================================

This is such sad news. My contact with John was infrequent but always a pleasure. He was always considered, thoughtful and respectful of me as a supplier. My condolences to his family, friends and the studio.

Posted by Justin Hobson 09.09.2025

DO Radio

The "DO" lectures is an organisation started by David Hieatt one of the founders of howies. The idea is to get together people who are real "doers" to do lectures and make them as widely available as possible. Now they have launched Do Radio to broadcast new and the previously recorded lectures.

My first post of the month is to look back at work from previous years, so what better time to revisit this wonderful promotional mailer produced for the Do Lectures in 2009. It was designed by the howies in house team and was specified on Offenbach Bible 60gsm. It's A2 folding down to A7.

 

The size is A2 (420x594mm) folding down to A7 (105 x 74mm)

Claire Margetts (administrator at the do lectures) was very grateful as I put them in contact with the printer who would print on Offenbach Bible and said I was a real "doer" 

The job was printed in 2 colours offset Litho by Principal Colour. It was machine folded and then hand finished. http://www.principalcolour.co.uk/

Above are some previous howies catalogues that we have supplied Colorset (100% recycled) for the covers. Designed by Nick Hand

https://thedolectures.com/

https://thedolectures.com/do-radio/

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.09.2025

St Bride Conference 2025

Fenner Paper is pleased to again be one of the sponsors of the annual St Bride conference which is being held this year on Saturday 18th October.

“Doing the work” is more than a phrase – it’s a call to action. In recent years, it has come to embody the responsibility we all share to educate ourselves, to challenge inequality, and to act with intention in building a more just society. For marginalised creatives, however, “doing the work” has always meant something more. It is the ongoing labour of breaking barriers, of creating work that is both excellent and deeply authentic, of carving out space in an industry that too often resists change. 

Doing the Work at St Bride Foundation is a participatory conference dedicated to recognising and amplifying those voices. Through talks, discussions, and a collaborative workshop, we will: 

• Celebrate the creative brilliance of marginalised designers. 

• Confront the realities of racism and exclusion in the design industry. 

• Explore pathways to build an inclusive, equitable future for all. 

The day will culminate in a collective act of creation: together with our facilitators and speakers, participants will workshop ideas into a shared manifesto. Printed at St Bride Foundation’s letterpress workshop at a later date, this manifesto will stand as a permanent record of our conversations and commitments – a tool for creatives and organisations to adopt, promote, and live by. 

This is an invitation to listen, to reflect, to act – and to do the work, together. 

Speakers: Carolyne Hill, Harkiran Kalsi, Kingsley Nebechi, Ricardo Eversely, Jodi Hunt. 

Panel discussion facilitated by The Unimistakables 

Event curated by Greg Bunbury 

Conference illustrator: Lana Lê

You can book HERE. So why don't you get those little grey cells moving and sign up! NOW

https://sbf.org.uk/whats-on/view/doing-the-work/

Posted by Justin Hobson 29th August 2025