New So...Silk Swatch

There are some new swatches in town!

So...Silk is a range of iridescent paper and board from the Cordenons paper mill in Italy. The paper has a luxurious matt finish which is pleasing to the touch, similar to the soft texture of silk.

There is 'White Style' and seven colours which have amazing depth, all with a sensuous silky touch.

This paper looks amazing and make any publication or packaging look really special. If you would like one of these swatches, just drop me an email: justin@fennerpaper.co.uk 

http://www.gruppocordenons.com/ 

Posted by Justin Hobson 29.06.2021

Light/Rock #4

Founded in 2008 by Adrian Strittmatter and Andreas Fux, Saentys now has offices in London, Paris, Lyon, Geneva and Zurich and are a leading specialist in bespoke destination marketing. Every so often, they produce a customer focused publication looking at projects, case studies, trends etc. and this is the latest superbly produced edition, produced at the end of last year...

Size is 330x240mm, portrait and is 6 hole sewn! with a 4pp cover and 48pp text. 

Click on images to enlarge

Following the introduction is a news section

Each section is separated by black divider spreads.

The paper used is our Omnia - 200gsm on the cover and 120gsm for the text. The reason that Omnia was chosen is because it would beautifully reproduce the photography with the rich imagery of locations, the solid blacks and dark, detailed images. Of course the most important thing is for the publication to be special - with the reproduction that you would expect on a silk or gloss but with a natural tactile uncoated feel.

The Omnia 120gsm is a bulky sheet, although it flows beautifully in the hand. The use of a 200gsm for a cover, would often be considered too light, until I tell you that Omnia 200gsm is 280 microns thick!

Click on images to enlarge

The below image shows half of the binding...

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, which holds the text and cover very securely. The below image shows the centre spread, where you can see both of the binding threads...

Centre spread...

Omnia has a dead matt, tactile feel but with great reproduction. All printed offset litho throughout. The publication has a fantastic feel - solid flat areas of colour work amazingly well - as you can see in the images below, the solid rich deep blue and the light nude shade both look fantastic with no mottle or patchiness - in fact they are flawless solids...

Click on images to enlarge

The publication has a total thickness of 5mm, but even though Omnia is bulky, the 48pp sits nice and flat and doesn't 'gape' in the spine.

Design is by Saentys. The exceptional printing is all offset litho with production handled by Nick Stacey at Ctrl-P, a bespoke print studio based in London.

https://www.saentys.com/

https://ctrl-p.studio/

Posted by Justin Hobson 24.06.2021

Introducing... Grass Paper

Inclusion Grass contains 30% sun-dried grass and 70% post-consumer recycled paper fibres. Available in 100gsm and 120gsm.

The sun-dried grass is sourced from fallow land – which is left unplanted for a season resulting in a fast-growing raw material, protecting natural resources and the environment. The grass is turned into pellets which requires less energy, water and chemicals than the production of woodpulp. The grass pellets are produced in Germany ensuring short delivery to European paper mills, reducing CO2 emissions.

Click on images to enlarge

As you can see from the image above, the sheet is an off white shade and has visible grass fibres. The extraordinary use of this grass combined with 100% Recycled fibres ensure that every sheet of paper is truly unique.

If you would like a sample, just drop me an email: justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 22.06.2021

INQUE Bookmarks

Last summer, you may remember that a Kickstarter campaign for a new magazine INQUE, which I wrote about here. INQUE is a large-format annual literary magazine from Dan Crowe and Matt Willey. Dedicated to commissioning and publishing diverse global writing next to extraordinary art, design and photography, with an editorial remit to be creatively groundbreaking. The crowdfunding campaign was hugely successfully and the first issue is due out this October.

In the meantime, they have produced various goodies, T shirts, Tote bags etc and these amazing bookmarks (or should it be bookmarques!)

The size is 77mm x 210mm and they are hot foil blocked on our Sumo, Black 1mm board, so they are very substantial and look great. 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! The has also now been extended to include a small range of colours - five new shades all available in 1mm thick.

Click on images to enlarge

Design is by Matt Willey. They have been beautifully hot foil blocked in gloss black foil by Identity Print.

I'm not sure what you have to do to get one of these lovely bookmarks, but in the meantime you could subscribe to issue one HERE - it's not too late!

https://inquemag.com/

https://mattwilley.co.uk/

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

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inque/inque-magazine

Posted by Justin Hobson 18.06.2021

Turner Prize at Turner Contemporary, Margate

The Turner Prize is named after J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) who was an innovative and controversial artist in his day, is now seen as one of the greatest British artists, and expressed a wish to establish a prize for young artists. Turner Contemporary is named after the artist for similar reasons; their work is inspired by Turner’s innovative and radical approach to art.

Every other year, the Prize leaves Tate Britain and is presented at a venue outside London. Four of the most exciting artists working right now are shortlisted to win the prize based on an outstanding exhibition that has taken place in the previous year. The finalists include Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock, Oscar Murillo and Tai Shani.

Contents...

This is the show catalogue for the exhibition which ran from 28th November 2019 until 12 January 2020. Size is 235x160mm, portrait and is section sewn.

Click on images to enlarge

It has a 4pp cover printed on Omnia 200gsm and a 96pp text, printed offset litho on our Marazion Ultra 115gsm, which is a bulky sheet and gives the publication a spine of 6mm,although as you can see from the below image it flows really nicely.

Marazion Ultra was chosen mainly because of it's matt flatness which would reproduce the artworks well without a glossiness which can often detract from the images. The combination of the Omnia and Marazion Ultra is a simple but effective choice of materials which works particularly well with both the pale and dark solid colours.

Click on images to enlarge

It's not been possible to reproduce all the spreads in the publication, so there are just some of my favourites here. As you can see from the spread above, even when the images are very dark and saturated with CMYK, the detail has been retained.

For readers not familiar with Marazion Ultra, it's a fully coated paper but it really does have a dead flat MATT surface. There are many papers on the market which profess to be matt (and some which incorporate the word matt in the name, but aren't!) ...but this really is - and if you don't believe me, just ask for a sample!

Below image shows the neat 6mm spine and the sewn and glued sections. Print is by Kent based printer Principal Colour and they have made a beautiful job of it.

The shortlisted artists are Helen Cammock, Oscar Murillo, Tai Shan and Lawrence Abu Hamdan, The catalogue is published by Turner Contemporary and design is by Lukecharles.

https://turnercontemporary.org/whats-on/turner-prize-2019/

https://www.lukecharles.com/

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

Posted by Justin Hobson 16.06.2021

North of Scotland Distilling Co. Folders

Established in 1958 by George Christie, the distillery he built at the foot of Wallace's Monument, was unusual in that it distilled both Malt and Grain Scotch Whisky. Today, North of Scotland Distilling Company is run by his son, Ricky Christie selling a variety of popular brands including Wolf of Badenoch.

This is their beautifully designed and produced presentation folder, although it is hard to do it justice with my limited photographic skills!

The size of the folder is 305 x 217mm, portrait and has a 53mm glued pocket on the inside back cover but the production on the front and back covers is extraordinary...

The logo is hot foil blocked in black gloss foil, while the compass device is hot foil blocked in black matt foil. The coloured crest is printed first with a white ink on the black (printed on a UV equipped waterless litho press) plus CMYK Offset litho on top of the white. The real thing is far better than my images show here.

It is printed on our Blackgold 290gsm which is a range of intense black from the Cordenons range.

The reverse is printed in white - 3 hits, giving an excellent density of white.

The folders really are stunning and it was very kind of Philip Wilson at Love & Humphries to send me a file copy with an explanatory note...

Design is by Alan at Cameron Design Consultants and the folders have been superbly printed and finished by Love & Humphries, who are based in Port Glasgow, Scotland.

http://www.nosdistilling.com/

https://www.camerondesign.co.uk/

https://www.loveandprint.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 14.06.2021

Letterpress in the Time of Covid

On Monday 12th July you can hear eight speakers share their experiences since the pandemic took told of the world in 2020. They will share what challenges they may have faced, how they have adapted to the way they work – or not – under lockdown, how creative they have felt in this time and what the pandemic and changing world around them has inspired them to produce. From group exhibitions and collaborations to printing daily reflections on the pandemic, this event celebrates the good that has come out of these troubled times.

Speakers include Ane Thon Knutsen, Ben Blount, Naomi Kent, Michelle Yu, New North Press, Peter Gibbons, and more to be announced shortly.

It's Online via Zoom and tickets are a bargain: £3–5

You can book HERE 

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.06.2021

Hotel Astoria - St Petersburg

An illustrious St. Petersburg landmark, the grand Hotel Astoria sits

directly across from St Isaac’s Cathedral, a short walk from leading attractions such as Nevsky Prospect, Palace Square and the Mariinsky Theatre. Since opening in 1912, this elegant Art Nouveau hotel has hosted eminent guests, from dancer Isadora Duncan to poet Sergei Yesenin.

This the brochure for the hotel, which follows the new brand identity for Rocco Forte Hotels, created by Pentagram.

Size of the brochure is 266 x 204mm, portrait and is saddle stitched. The cover is an unusual format as there is an 8pp cover with 140mm wide flaps and there is an outer jacket, only 210mm high, also with 140mm flaps. It is the first time I've seen this combination and the effect is superb...

The materials used for the covers is our Dali range, which is a 'felt-marked' paper with a linear effect and a natural, tactile feel. If you click on the image below, you will be able to see the texture in the paper.

The cover is on Dali Nero 200gsm and is hot foil blocked in matt white and copper foil. The jacket is printed on Dali, Candido, 160gsm and is litho printed in CMYK on one side only.

Above is a birdseye view. Below shows inside front spread...

Click on images to enlarge

The 16pp text is printed offset litho on our Marazion Ultra 135gsm, chosen because of it's dead matt flatness which would reproduce the interior images well without a glossiness which would detract from the classic look and feel of the hotel.

Click on images to enlarge

The brochure has a beautiful, quality feel and flows in the hand superbly. The combination of photography, materials and quality print makes this a wonderful piece of print.

Design is by Pentagram. The excellent print, repro and finishing is by Gavin Martin Colournet, based in East London. 

https://www.roccofortehotels.com/hotels-and-resorts/hotel-astoria/

https://www.pentagram.com/ 

https://www.gavinmartincolournet.co.uk/ 

Posted by Justin Hobson 08.06.2021