Wynkyn De Worde Society

Some readers of this blog may know that for this past year, I've been chairman of the Wynkyn de Worde Society. Founded in 1957, the society takes it's name from William Caxton's journeyman, Wynkyn de Worde. After Caxton's death, de Worde set up his shop in Fleet Street, which therafter was for centuries perhaps the world's most famous centre of printing and publishing. This was in the 16th century, and the majority of people couldn't read - not just books but even shop signs. Wynkyn de Worde set up his shop under the 'sign of the sun' and it is this mark which the society uses today.

Throughout the year I have arranged a series of speakers, including Naomi Games, Michael Johnson, Jeremy Leslie, Luke Gifford and Stewart Drew. I also arranged a summer visit to Berlin, which was kindly hosted by Erik Spiekerman.

At the November Luncheon, I was presented by the committee and society with a gift, in thanks for being Chairman. It is this wonderful paperweight, hand-cut in slate by the Cardozo Kindersley Workshop.

Scale - 125mm diameter

David Kindersley, lettercutter, sculptor and inventor, started his workshop near Cambridge in 1946, having been apprenticed to Eric Gill. He was joined in 1976 by Lida Lopes Cardozo, beginning a partnership which lasted until David’s death in 1995. Today, the workshop is run by Lida, his widow, with her husband Graham Beck, it consists usually of two lettercutters and three apprentices.

This beautiful paperweight was made and cut by Hallam Kindersley, David's son

The circle is a universal symbol representing notions of totality, wholeness, the infinite, eternity and timelessness which perfectly links this wonderful piece to me and the past as David Kindersley was Chairman of the society in 1976, and Lida Cordozo Kindersley was Chairman in 1989. A wonderful gift and a great connection with the past and the heritage of the Society.

Below is an interesting interview with David Kindersley from 1976:

http://www.wynkyndeworde.co.uk/

http://www.kindersleyworkshop.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 30.11.2018

A Suit to Travel in

The Paul Smith brand (and person) has become synonymous with classic British tailoring and style. Renowned for well-made, good quality, simple cut clothing. Paul Smith designs are renowned for a splash of vibrant colour, a floral print or the signature multi-coloured stripes but they are equally known for the fabric. A suit to travel in is 100% wool and has stretch and crease-recovery properties that mean the suit will always look good, whatever the journey.

The finished size is A5 (210x148mm) portrait and it is a 6pp gatefold folding out to a finished size of 210x441mm

Below image showing outside, spread out flat...

Below image showing inside, flat

There is a piece of the fabric tipped in on the centre panel.

Birds eye image below showing the format...

The material chosen is our Omnia 320gsm which gives it that dead matt, tactile feel but with great reproduction, especially with the mono images and cool flat grey

You can see in the image below, how the Omnia has retained all the detail in the dark areas in the jacket...

Creative direction and design is by the in-house design team at Paul Smith. Printing is by Leicester based Greenshires with Richard Dalby handling the project. Beautifully printed and finished - a really well produced piece.

www.paulsmith.co.uk

http://www.greenshires.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 27.11.2018

British Book Design & Production Awards 2018

Yesterday evening,  I was lucky enough to be at the British Book Design and Production Awards which is hosted and run by the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) at London's Mountcalm Hotel in Marble Arch. A very lavish and swish occasion

I was kindly invited by Fenton Smith from London print company Boss Print, who were also one of the sponsors and printed the awards catalogue. Below is pictured Fenton (left) together with photographer Giles Revell, who's book 'Cartographic Colour' published by Concentric Editions was a finalist in the awards

On arrival, the nominated entries were all out on display and it was a truly wonderful array of books and catalogues. 

The evening was opened by Charles Jarrold, Chief Executive of the BPIF...

 ...a gathering of over 200 people from the world of publishing, print and design - and a few paper people in there as well!

Congratulation to all the finalists and award winners. You can read more about the entries and the winners here: https://www.britishbookawards.org/shortlist-winners-2018/ Below shows all the winners on stage...

Boss Print sponsored the category for 'Self Published Books' and they also produced the awards catalogue and the exquisitely produced boxes, in which the catalogues were locked away until the awards concluded and the keys were distributed so everyone could get their hands on the lovely catalogues.

Click on images to enlarge

It was a great evening - good company and food and my thanks go to Boss Print for inviting me and it was great meeting up with many other old friends on the table too.

https://www.bossprint.com/

https://www.britishbookawards.org/

Posted by Justin Hobson 23.11.2018

ISTD 90 Invitations

Founded in London in 1928, the ISTD turned 90 this summer. The Society has always been run on a voluntary basis and in June they organised a special celebration to recognise the huge contribution made over the years by board and committee members past and present.

The wonderfully substantial A5 invitations are hot foil blocked on our SUMO black 2mm thick board.

The invitations are simply hot foil blocked in metallic silver foil on both sides.

Click on images to enlarge

Below is an image of the blocks used for the hot foiling

Hosted at the iconic De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea, the event was an informal evening of friends, food and typographic fun provided by Andy Altmann, of Why Not Associates who gave a very amusing talk about the influence of seaside town humour and typography within his work  

As you can see from the image above, 2mm thick is really thick!

Playne Design executed the 90th anniversary identity, designer on the project was David Coates. The invitation was hot foil blocked by Pureprint, who have only just brought pre-press services such as hot foiling and UV varnishing in house.

https://www.istd.org.uk/
https://playnedesign.co.uk/
https://www.pureprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 20.11.2018 

Talkin’ ‘bout my g-g-g-generation

Here's a talk which is well worth getting tickets for... 

Design Educator Glen Robinson has been connecting generations of graphic design students and graduates with one another for over a decade.

Together with past students Rick Banks (Face37), Marianne Waller (CNN Digital) and current students Rowan Collins and Olivia Bush (studying Design for Publishing) they will share some personal insights from their creative lives and loves.

The talk is on Tuesday 27 November and the tickets are only £12.50 (concessions available)

You can read more about the talk here:
https://www.sbf.org.uk/whats-on/view/talkin-bout-my-g-g-g-generation/

You can buy tickets here:
https://billetto.co.uk/e/talkin-bout-my-g-g-g-generation-tickets-314532/select

Posted by Justin Hobson 16.11.2018

Carriage Works

Once a booming Victorian industrial town, Swindon’s reputation has suffered greatly since the Second World War. Swindon Borough Council recently commenced an ambitious regeneration plan for entire town. At its heart is the Railway Heritage Quarter, made famous by Brunel and Gough’s Great Western Railway in the 19th century.

The entire area is known as the Great Western Works (GWW) and the Carriage Works is a development for the tech and innovation business hub within GWW.

Size of the publication is 297x250mm, portrait with a 4pp cover on Omnia 320gsm and a 12pp text with two throw-outs (16pp total) printed on Omnia 150gsm.

Picture below shows the throw out...

Click on images to enlarge

The material chosen for the publication is our Omnia. This material has a high bulk, required as effectively this is only a 20pp brochure. The solid yellow, almost looks fluorescent, it is so vibrant. The photography and the CGI's have reproduced brilliantly on the Omnia.

Even though the 150gsm text paper is bulky, it still rolls and flows nicely in the hand without feeling too stiff and rigid....

Birds eye view, showing the two throw out pages:

Click on images to enlarge

A really nice feature is the singer sewn binding, which you can see here on both the exterior and interior of the publication.

Above showing exterior stitching (on the outside spine) and below showing the interior stitching on the centre pages.

The pantone special yellow is so vibrant!

Art direction and design is by Bell Integrated. You can read more about the whole project here: https://www.bell-integrated.co.uk/portfolio/great-western-works/. Printed offset litho throughout. The excellent print, repro and finishing is by Gavin Martin Colournet, based in London

https://www.bell-integrated.co.uk/
http://www.gavinmartincolournet.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 13.11.2018

COS Christmas Cards

Swedish label COS was launched in 2007 and has since become a real presence on high streets and shopping centres. COS (it stands for Collection of Style) is part of the H&M group which is one of the world's largest retail clothing groups.

Having started purely in clothing, COS now also offers a range of accessories and homeware. This article is about a simple range of Christmas cards.

There are just two designs - a Christmas tree and a speckled snow scene. The 4pp cards are A6 (148x105mm) portrait. The cards are printed offset litho on out Shiro Echo, White 300gsm. The Christmas Tree design is printed Litho and is also embossed, with a beautifully deep emboss, which you (hopefully can see) from the image below, showing the inside....

Click on images to enlarge

 Below is the dotty 'snowflake' pattern.

 The design is printed in just one colour, offset litho plus hot foil blocking in metallic silver foil....

Click on images to enlarge

The cards come with C6 gummed envelopes, produced from Shiro Echo, White 120gsm.

Design is by the in -house design team at COS. Printing is by Severn Print who are based in Gloucester and have a variety of environmental certificates. The project was handled by Anita Barry at Severn Print.

Thanks to Anita for sending me the file copies and the lovely note.

http://www.cosstores.com/

http://www.severnprint.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.11.2018

Stardream for Christmas

November is here, so we can now talk about Christmas!

Lilac Linnet Creative is the retail facing brand of Patternise Laser Studio Ltd, who specialise in laser cutting for prestigious clients and brands, such as Disney, Cath Kidston, Warner Music and Morrisons to name a few.

Lilac Linnet have created a range of unique Christmas decorations - all lasercut out of board, so they far more environmentally friendly than plastic.They have a real wow factor for guests at any winter gathering, be it a home event, a wonderland wedding or festive corporate party.

All Christmas decorations have been designed and manufactured by Lilac Linnet and they offer a range of standard colour schemes including traditional reds and greens, sparkling whites and blues, and bold purples and golds....and all the designs are manufactured from our Stardream pearlescent and metallic range!

You can even order them directly on line here: www.lilaclinnet.co.uk

www.cordenons.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 06.11.2018

Jobs from the past - Number 109

Regular followers of this blog will know that my first post of every month is a "job from the past" so that I can show some of the really good work from years gone by...

Minki Balinki - 2007

Minki Balinki are a company who create bespoke Visual Merchandising for retail campaigns and individual design briefs. Creative Director Nina Tillett established the business in 1999 developing her individual talents into a successful business. After graduating from Loughborough College of Art and Design in 1996 Nina went on to win the Osborne and Little, Fabric and Wall Coverings Award. Her first windows were Christmas at Harvey Nichols, so from there Minki Balinki Visual Merchandising was born.

This piece of promotional literature is really quite special.

Although it looks square, it is actually 151x140mm, portrait.

First inside spread here:

 Folding out again

 and again

 ...and again:

 … and finally the top and bottom panels, both fold out left and right.

The open size is 455mm (H) and 428mm (W). You can see the excellent matrix creases, which are deep and enable a crack free fold.

This brochure is printed on our Omnia 320gsm, which is a very bulky board with a subtle, natural texture and tactile surface. Reproduction is superb with the all the detail retained in the images and the fluorescent pink solid jumps off the page. It folds beautifully.

 ...you can see the excellent CMYK reproduction in the detail image below:

Brochure design is by The Pink Group who have since disbanded.

 

The excellent printing was by Principal Colour based in Paddock Wood in Kent. It's also worth pointing out that this job isn't "sealed, varnished or coated" in any way and this is the main reason that it feels so good - you can actually feel the paper and the ink. Since the time this was printed (2005) there has been a trend to install presses with coaters and most pieces of printed literature are smeared with a coating or sealer which (although making the printer's lives easier) betrays the feel of the paper ...and (what a lot of printers fail to mention) it discolours with age - now that's definitely something worth thinking about!

http://www.minkibalinki.com/
www.principalcolour.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.11.2018