This has got to be one of the best pieces of print to ever appear on this blog!
This publication is to showcase the result of a major landscape project in Singapore which started in November 2005 and was completed in June 2012. The gardens, including the amazing vertical 'supertrees', were commissioned by the National Parks Board of Singapore and was the result of a winning entry by a British team put together by Grant Associates, Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Atelier Ten and Atelier One.
This brochure is 340x240mm, portrait and has a 36pp text which is sewn along the spine with white thread. It has a 6pp cover with a full flap on the inside front. An absolutely sensational 'blind embossing' appears over the whole area of the cover - which looks and feels amazing. The cover is printed in the dark purple of the Mangosteen fruit, an intrinsic part of the brand identity of the gardens.
It may not surprise regular readers of this blog to learn that the material used is our lovely Omnia, the cover is 280gsm and the text 150gsm. Image reproduction was paramount but it was also important that the feel of the publication conveyed the tactility of plants and landscape, so a silk or gloss coated paper wasn't an option. The images with CMYK dark areas - with loads of ink going down, looks great on the Omnia, reproducing bright vibrant colours as well and the darker colour saturated images as well, whilst retaining all the detail and feel. ...and it looks brilliant.
The images below, speak for the job...
There is a seperate 32pp inserted in the middle, printed on uncoated 80gsm offset, which has all the details, relating to the project (below)
a staggeringly blue spread...
The below pictures show the binding which is worthy of note. This type of binding is generally known as 'three hole sewn' - because there are three holes, the thread comes out of the middle up and into the top hole, down the inside of the book out of the middle hole again and now down to the lower hole and in again up the inside of the book to the middle hole, where it is knotted. In this case, there are two banks of three hole sewing and this is to take account of the extra bulk and position of the extra 32pp text section, inserted in the middle.
Here's a close up showing the sewing and the beautiful embossing:
Thomas.Matthews are the branding and communication designers who formed part of the winning bid, to design the identity for the gardens. The intricate, shape based illustration forms the basis of the identity (embossed on the cover), together with the brand typography. Creative Director on the project is Sophie Thomas.
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| Gardens by the bay branding pattern |
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| 'Gardens' typeface |
Thomas.Matthews also art directed and designed this brochure. To have the opportunity to produce a piece of literature about a project with which they had been so intimately involved, must have been a total delight and something that I think shows, in this beautifully considered piece of design for print. Art director on this project is David Grbac.
The exceptional printing, repro, debossing and binding is by London based Jigsaw Colour.
http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/home.html
www.thomasmatthews.com
www.jigsawcolour.co.uk
Posted by Justin Hobson 12.02.2013
Tim Milne runs a London based company called Artomatic that I've written about before on this blog, and he's been passionate about print for as long as I've known him. He has just produced this interesting little slideshare which might be worth showing to clients who don't quite get what print can do in this digital age! 
This is the Autumn/Winter 2012 lookbook for Whistles - (we've only just taken the pics which is why it's a bit late for this season!) 
Just heard the news that Anthony Donovan has returned to Frost* as Creative Director at the Sydney studio.
He's spent the past two and a half years as creative director at Moon who are also based in Sydney's burgeoning creative district in Surry Hills.
La Collection Privée from Christian Dior is their collection aimed at the world of haute parfumerie. Dior’s perfumer, Francois Demachy, not only knows how to create amazing perfumes from blending raw materials but also knows how to create a story. 
Last Tuesday, the Lindt Big Egg Hunt was launched in Covent Garden in London. One hundred and one giant Easter eggs have been hidden around the former flower market area as part of a charity egg hunt in support of Action for Children. The two-and-a-half foot tall fibreglass eggs were on display in London until Sunday and have now gone on tour around the country, returning to the capital on the 22nd of March, in time for Easter.
This is an extremely interesting publication produced by Jacksons, a company which produces, fencing, gates, railings etc. In house graphic designer, Lauren Soutan, got in touch with me and explained that they wanted to produce a catalogue which would appeal and inspire architects. To this end, her proposal was to produce a piece of literature, more along the lines of a fashion "look-book" which would be more inspirational, rather than having all the specifications and facts and figures (which, of course, can all be found on-line). The end result is this superb piece of print, titled ...in practice.
Design is by Lauren Soutan at Jacksons Fencing. Print production is by James Stewart Printers in Hertford. Thanks to Lauren for sending me file copies and a note.
Now what has made this calendar different from many run of the mill calendars, is that the cover sheet was "heat debossed" and hot foil blocked in metallic silver on our Flockage Litho. As I hope you'll be able to see from the image below (click to enlarge) the Flockage debosses beautifully, leaving a perfectly flat area and leaving all the detail of the fine serifs incorporated in the gorgeous logo (designed by Pentagram, lettercut by Tom Perkins in Joanna).
