Jobs from the past - Number 174

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 - this project is from eleven years ago.

Gardens by the Bay 2013

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. Gardens by the Bay include 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.

Gardens by the bay branding pattern

'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 was by London based Jigsaw Colour, who sadly don't exist anymore, however Paul Martin who was responsible for the job is now at Identity Print.

https://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/
https://thomasmatthews.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 03.05.2024