Kickstart the Typographic Workshop

This is a recently launched Kickstarter project which I think you might like to support...

Theo Hersey in the workshop. Photo by Owen Tozer.

Theo Hersey is a young designer who graduated from the LCC. Whilst at university and during his 'gap year' he has been assisting Alan Kitching at The Typography Workshop in Kennington. Even though he now has a full time job as a graphic designer, he continues to assist and collaborate with Alan.

Alan Kitching & Theo in the Workshop. Photo by Tom Gifford.

Alan Kitching floated the idea of Theo purchasing the workshop from him and he needs your help.

There is a vast collection of fonts held at the workshop, from Caslon Old Face to Futura and everything in between in both metal & wood type. The collection is a brilliant array demonstrating the rich history of type design from both British and overseas type foundries, many having been purchased from the type foundries in their closing years. Theo is now in the extremely fortunate position to be able to take over the space and continue the legacy of The Typography Workshop and develop letterpress in his own style into the future.

One of the 250+ cases of wood & metal type. Photo by Theo Hersey.

Fenner Paper has been in contact with Alan Kitching and the Typography Workshop for over 30 years, I first met Alan back in the Clerkenwell workshops back in the early 90's and he designed the Fenner Paper diary cover in 2010 and uses our diary in the workshop to this day. We are very happy to continue this collaboration and support Theo in his endeavour.

Theo is being supported by friend and collaborator Anthony Burrill and they have designed three exclusive prints for this Kickstarter campaign.

Theo Hersey & Anthony Burrill. Photo by Owen Tozer.

So, how do you support Theo? ...it's easy! have a look at the Kickstarter page HERE, where you can choose to either simply donate or purchase some of the excellent rewards. Do it NOW and ensure the continuation of The Typography Workshop and the craft of letterpress printing in its South London home whilst also helping a talented youngster who will take it forward into the future.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theohersey/letterpress-heritage-the-typography-workshop

Posted by Justin Hobson 29.05.2023

 

Collection 002 literature

Faye Toogood is a British designer who's work has appeared on this blog before. Her work covers interiors, installation, furniture, fine art fashion and more!

This is the literature produced for the launch of their unisex outerwear collection. Eighteen unisex garments, all manufactured in Britain. Materials used are tough cottons and hardwearing linens. With names like the 'Farmer Jacket' 'Oilrigger Coat' and 'Plumber Overall' these garments hanker back to our hardworking industrial past.

This promotional literature is a small folded up piece measuring 70x100mm, folding out to 280x600mm.  

Beautifully concertina folded.

Folding out to...

Click on image to enlarge

It is printed Offset Litho in four colour process, one side only, on our lovely Offenbach Bible 60gsm, giving it a lightweight feel but with a beautiful quality.

Creative Director is Faye Toogood and the designer on the project is Catherine Acornley. Printing is by Chris Chadbon Printing.

https://t-o-o-g-o-o-d.com/

https://chrischadbonprinting.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 25.05.2023

The annual Wayzgoose at the St Bride Foundation

 The 7th Wayzgoose

Yesterday, I had a stall at the St Bride Foundation WAYZGOOSE. This is a term (unfamiliar to most people) that used to refer to an annual holiday in a print-works and was often an awayday to the coast or some other sort of day out, more often than not, paid for by the firm. In this instance the St Bride Wayzgoose is a kind of letterpress 'bring and buy' sale.

Thirty or so tables displaying and selling many different items - everything from lead type to the Adana tabletop presses (see below picture) from Caslon, to secondhand books and printed examples of work.

Below is the table that I was allocated, where, as with previous years, I adopted a "throw it all on the table" approach! I took lots of offcuts and discontinued paper and board items. All paper and card sold by weight - 40 pence per 100 grams.

I served at my 'paper stall' from 11am to 4pm  ...and by the end of the day I had raised £280, all donated to the St Bride Foundation.

...and here is my beautifully crafted 'Weigh & Pay' signage.by Helen Ingham from the Hi Artz Press - It's now lasted four wayzgooses!

My thanks to all the staff and friends at St Bride's who organised the event.
https://sbf.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 22.05.2023

Regent Porto Montenegro

Penthouse Floorplans

Porto Montenegro is being developed as the Mediterranean’s most comprehensive yacht marina. Along with the berths, there are five private residential buildings with a total of 228 apartments.

These are the floorplans for the Penthouses which form part of the collateral produced for the marina. The flat size is 525x750mm folding down to 175x250mm.

Click on images to enlarge

The plans are concertina folded as you can see from the birds eye view below:

Folding out to the full flat size of 525x750mm (18pp)

Click on images to enlarge

The floorplans are printed on our Shiro Echo, White 80gsm which 100% recycled and FSC accredited. It is perfect as a material to print these plans on - almost conjuring up a "blue-print" type feel and rattle, They are printed offset litho and are hot foil blocked in metallic gold foil. Below is a detail of the foiling:

Another thing to note is the absence of a "crows foot" on the folds - this is because it was concertina folded. As you can see from the image below - nice clean, crisp folds and no ugly creasing.

You can read more about "Crow's feet" here:
http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/what-is-number-4.html

The floorplans are just one of the items in the pack of promotional literature which makes up a whole collection of collateral (below) for the exclusive Regent Porto Montenegro apartments.

Art direction and design is by London branding agency &Smith. Creative Directors are Rachel Smith and Dan Bernstein. Print and production is by Gavin Martin.

https://www.portomontenegro.com/
https://andsmithdesign.com/
https://www.gavinmartin.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 17.11.2023

Sustainability in packaging report

In a new survey conducted in the US by McKinsey & Company on Sustainable Packaging, the headline is that consumers are willing to pay more for eco-friendly packaging...

Among consumers in the United States, five key findings emerge: 

• Price, quality, and convenience are still consumers’ top buying criteria for products, while environmental impact continues to be one of the lowest-ranked factors (however, this is not true for all consumer groups). 
• While respondents named hygiene, food safety, and shelf life as the most important characteristics for product packaging when making a purchase, 43 percent of consumers still say environmental impact is an extremely or very important packaging characteristic when making purchasing decisions. That said, the overall relative importance of environmental factors for consumers has decreased somewhat. 
• Among concerned consumers, the impact of ocean litter has become the primary environmental issue across all generations, regions, and neighborhoods; all other concerns have decreased in importance since 2020. 
• Most consumers do not have a strong understanding of which packaging types are more sustainable but seem to favor compostable and plant-based packaging. 
• Most consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable packaging. In fact, in each end-use category surveyed, 4 to 7 percent of consumers are willing to pay a premium well above 10 percent. 

The key takeaway from their survey is that winning in sustainable packaging in the US market will require a granular approach. Done right, products with clear environmental credentials are clearly outgrowing their peers. However, there is no universal solution.

You can read the whole report here...

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/paper-forest-products-and-packaging/our-insights/sustainability-in-packaging-us-survey-insights

https://www.mckinsey.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 11.05.2023

Wrangler - Denim Performance

This is the season's promotional literature for Wrangler’s Denim Performance line and features Kimi Räikkönen.

This 10pp concertina brochure is 190x135mm, expanding to 190x675mm. It is printed in CMYK offset litho on our Omnia, White FSC 320gsm and is printed and finished beautifully. Birds eye view below:

Click on images to enlarge

Although this is a simple publication, it's often the simple jobs which don't get the attention to detail. This is well creased and folded square which is just perfect

Omnia was chosen because it would work with the rich detail that is present in the images but that would still give a natural look and tactile feel. As you can see from images, some of the photography is quite dark, but there is no loss of detail, which is what can often happen printing on an uncoated paper.

Art direction and design is by JJ Marshall Associates. Creative Director is Jethro Marshall and thanks to Jethro for sending me file copies.

Excellent print and finishing is by Principal Colour based in Paddock Wood, Kent.

https://www.wrangler.co.uk/mens-jeans

http://jjmarshallassociates.com/

www.principalcolour.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson .08.05.2023

Jobs from the past - Number 162

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 and this one is from 2015...

Spring/Summer 2015 - The Tokyo Collection

Olivia von Halle is a British luxury nightwear brand that launched at London Fashion Week in September 2011. The brand can be found in nearly 100 stores in 20 countries including Harrods, Selfridges, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and online with Net-a-Porter.com.

Focusing on beautifully cut silk pyjamas in stunning exclusive prints, Olivia von Halle has quickly made a name for itself in the world of high-end nightwear. In 2013 the company was awarded the ‘Blue Butterfly Trust Mark’, which is given to brands and companies that have a positive impact on people and the planet.

The publication is sub A4 - 290x205mm, portrait. It has a 4pp cover on Omnia 200gsm and a 16pp text on Omnia 150gsm and is 3 hole sewn.

Unlike many of the fashion lookbooks featured on this blog, which are printed offset litho, this has been digitally printed on an HP Indigo press. The colours are strong and punchy and the whole publication has a matt, tactile look and feel - in fact I can honestly say, every bit as good as litho!

Although Omnia was never originally developed for digital, we now keep it as a stock item with "sapphire treatment". This treatment is often applied to more unusual papers and provides a "key" so that the inks (which are different to litho inks) work on the paper surface. The great thing is the job just doesn't look and feel like a digital job.

These pictures show the binding which is particularly worthy of note. This type of binding is generally known as 'three hole sewn' - because there are three holes! I wrote about the process on this post here: http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/what-is-3-hole-sewn.html

Where the binding on this particular project differs from the three hole sewing that I described in my post is both in the distance between the holes and the fact that this is knotted on the outside - on the spine.

The thread runs 130mm from hole to hole (260mm in total). It's the first time I've seen this and it works superbly.

Art direction is by Tiffany Goody at Erotyka and photography is by Takuya Uchiyama. Graphic design is by Michael Knight, who runs his studio in East London called A New Mark. Print and finishing is by Gavin Martin.
https://oliviavonhalle.com/
https://anewmark.com/

https://www.gavinmartin.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 03.05.2023