Central St Martins - Degree Show 2016

Yesterday evening I was invited to the private view of the Central St Martins Degree Shows at King's Cross. It was a very humid London evening but the show was well attended, laid out on the ground, first and second floors.

I spent most of the time at the BA Graphic Design course where I was shown around by Helen Ingham, from the letterpress workshop.

It was a very busy show with lots of thought-provoking work on display. Interesting (for me) to see just how many final projects still involve paper and printing. There was a superb project by Michal Kuzmierkiewicz, beautifully illustrated, exploring the roots of his family's exodus from Poland to Britain after WW2 (unfortunately I didn't get a pic of that project.) 

Below is the work of Odira Morewabone on Matatuism, a subcultural exploration of the urban youth culture in Nairobi in creating these artworks used on local taxis.

And below is the work of Anna Finch on the Jewellery Design course who has incorporated paper into her work. Through extensive experimentation, including pulping, carving, cutting, laminating, heating and sanding, Anna has been able to create some extraordinary pieces.

This piece is made using paper that she has processed, inlaid with pearl and silver.

Thanks to all staff and people I know at CSM for the kind invitation and a chance to see the work of the new graduates.
http://www.arts.ac.uk/csm/#

Posted by Justin Hobson 24.06.2016

Season Zine

Following on with the footballing theme, here is another project on the subject, which is also a stunning piece of design and print.

SEASON is a cross between a fashion magazine and a football zine. This new publication reveals the preferences and rituals of fashion and football fans. Their perspectives on the world’s most popular sport are explored in thoughtful and intimate ways, focusing on why these fans care and what they wear.

Featuring interviews, essays, photography and more from up-and-coming creatives, SEASON aims to kick off a dialogue acknowledging how modern football and fashion play into each other. Issue 1 is dedicated to 'The Female Fan'

Above image shows front cover and back cover



Size is 240x165mm, portrait (very economical format on a B1 press). It is a 72pp 'self cover' and is printed offset litho on our Redeem 100% Recycled 100gsm. The paper is a neutral white shade gives the publication a 'newspapery' feel which really works with the images and zine design.

Many of the spreads which are purely type work particularly well with the paper - the neutral white just works with black type superbly.

At 72pp it is at the limit of saddle stitching - only because it can get a bit "gappy" in the middle. In my opinion this is acceptable, but were the gap or gape to get much larger, I think it would start to look a bit ugly.

As it is, the zine just flows beautifully. Pages turn easily and is an excellent example where the design, the print and the paper work in synergy. It has a wonderful quality about it - a really interesting, well put together piece of literature.

Season is published by Felicia Pennant. The designer is Natalie Doto. Production and print is by Ricky Aldred at VR Print based in Tonbridge. Superb reproduction.

http://www.season-zine.com/
https://www.instagram.com/season_zine/
http://www.vrdigital.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.06.2016

Wedding Invitation with a 14 carat flower

This is an exceptionally special invitation produced by Adorn, a wedding invitation specialists based in London. The ceremony was to be held in California and the invitations were entirely bespoke, created for Vanessa and Jim. Vanessa Williams is an American actress and Adorn went through an 'inspiration' process to discover what was important to the couple, to establish ideas which Adorn could then turn into reality.

The stationery set included a wedding invitation card, RSVP cards, security information card, accommodation information, custom envelopes for invitations and reply cards and place cards. The centrepiece of the set is the metallic gold lasercut 'gate' that surrounds the main printed invitation card, which was produced using Stardream Gold, 285gsm.

The above image shows the intricate details being lasercut.

During the inspiration process at Adorn, they discovered that the lotus flower had a really special meaning in the couple's relationship. The flower has a strong presence in new age spirituality and signifies new beginnings and luck. Jim had engraved the lotus flower on their engagement bands so Adorn decided that this detailing needed to be on the invitation. They designed and laser cut a 14k gold plated lotus flower that was hand applied to every invitation as you can see in the image below.

Clearly the happy couple were very pleased with the finished result and the wedding went well in the California sunshine. The feedback has been so favourable, that Adorn have agreed with Vanessa Williams to put her design into production which will make it affordable to everyday couples

...but without the 14 carat gold plated décor!

You can read more about the project here:

https://www.adorninvitations.co.uk/blog/vanessa-williams-wedding-invitations-design/

http://vanessawilliams.com/

http://www.cordenons.co.uk/

https://www.adorninvitations.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 23.05.2016

Jobs from the past - Number 79

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...

Rupert Sanderson 2002 Preview Invitations

Shoe designer Rupert Sanderson founded his company after a disastrous career (his words) in advertising and design. He undertook a two year course at the Cordwainers College in East London learning to design and make shoes. After college he was working in Italy firstly for Sergio Rossi and then Bruno Magli. Rupert returned to London and founded his own company in 2001. He now has a store in London as well as Hong Kong and a global following.

This is one of the very first Rupert Sanderson invitations produced in 2001 for the preview of his 2002 Spring/Summer collection.

The invitation is a folded down shoe cutting pattern, which is presented in this translucent, pale blue pocket which is 217x156mm. It has been made to size and incorporates a thumb cut in the top, allowing the invitation to be pulled out. The pocket is made from a range called Voile de Papier Acqua 120gsm, which sadly has since been discontinued by the mill.

 The invitation itself is a 16pp concertina folded invitation - finished size of A5 (210x148mm).

The below image shows the invitation folded out to it's full extent - click on the image to bring it up to a reasonable size.


Click images to enlarge

It is printed offset litho in just one colour - a very pale blue, which it's why it is hard to see - but it's worth enlarging the images here, as it is a wonderfully clever and skilfully executed piece of design for print.

The paper used is our Offenbach Bible 50gsm, which gives a sylph like quality to the invitation,  whilst mimicking the material used for a pattern guide.

Design of the Rupert Sanderson identity was by Johnson Banks and this invitation followed shortly after, also by JB. Creative director is Michael Johnson, designer on this project was Luke Gifford, working with typographer Michael Pratley. Printing and make up of the pockets was by Gavin Martin Colournet.

Now going back to the bit at the beginning of this post where Rupert Sanderson is reported as saying that he had a 'disastrous career' in advertising. Well, back in 1990, I was one of the clients that he was looking after! He was a 'suit' (account handler) at Smith & Milton when they were in Chelsea and I thought he was actually pretty good - but I guess it's just as well he didn't think so, otherwise he wouldn't now be creating these lovely shoes. Congratulations on your success Rupert.

http://www.rupertsanderson.com/eu/
http://www.johnsonbanks.co.uk/
http://www.gavinmartincolournet.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 03.05.2016

Architect IPA

This is a good post for the Friday before a Bank Holiday weekend ..it's about beer! The Architect IPA is a limited edition Festival ale celebrating six of Glasgows most notable architects of the past, is brewed especially for the Scottish Festival of Architecture.

The Festival is a major, year-long, Scotland-wide celebration led by The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland which brings Scottish architecture to life and is a key part of the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design. The Festival of Architecture 2016 is designed to be an engaging, inclusive and Scotland-wide celebration. The Festival is a partnership of over one hundred organisations, a nationwide event that will show how architecture touches everyone’s lives. This truly global Festival is designed to reach out to the broadest audience – local, national and international.

Produced in collaboration with Drygate and Graphical House the Architect IPA is a limited edition Festival ale celebrating six of Glasgows most notable architects of the past. Alexander 'Greek' Thomson, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Gillespie Kidd and Coia, Basil Spence, Robert Adam and Honeyman and Keppie were selected through a public vote and the work of each architect has inspired the Architect IPA labels and wraps.

The Architect IPA will be sold from the specially designed Architect Bar. A pop-up bar design which has been informed through in-depth research of the Glasgow pub typology, and its development through the years. The Architect IPA will be available at events throughout the Festival which celebrate the work and themes of each of the selected architects.

Click on images to enlarge

The size of the wraps is 190x270mm, a flap folding over to make the finished size of 136x270mm. On the reverse side of the wraps is a biography about each of the architects. A well written, interesting and useful addition to a beer label.

Each is printed offset litho onto our Offenbach Bible 60gsm. The sheets are then hand wrapped and affixed around the 750ml bottles.

Offenbach Bible is the perfect paper for this project, as it is light enough to be easily wrapped around a bottle, has an almost 'tissuey' feel and yet prints amazingly. The wraps are printed offset litho in CMYK.

Here they are in all their glory... 

The ale was launched last month (17th March) at this launch event.

Design and Art direction is by Graphical House, based in Glasgow and the creative director is Colin Raeburn. Superb printing is by J. Thompson Colour Printers in Glasgow.

A wonderful beery way to start the weekend ...!

http://drygate.com/

http://www.graphicalhouse.co.uk/

http://www.jtcp.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 29.04.2016

Queen's Award to Blue Eyed Sun

BLUE EYED Sun are flying the export flag for greetings cards and celebrating Her Majesty’s 90th birthday today in fine style with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise In International Trade.

Image & words courtesy of http://www.greetingstoday.co.uk/

The award was conferred today, Thursday, April 21, after it was announced that The Queen has been “graciously pleased to approve the Prime Minister’s recommendation” that the publishers receive the honour in recognition of their exceptional export growth over the past three years. MD Jeremy Corner and his wife Jo, the artist behind Blue Eyed Sun’s designs, have been invited to The Queen’s Reception at Buckingham Palace in July along with other Queen’s Award

winners.
Jeremy said: “We’re thrilled that the Blue Eyed Sun team have been recognised for their hard work in growing internationally with this highly prestigious and coveted award. “It’s an honour to be flying the flag for greetings cards especially in a year when the Queen celebrates her 90th birthday and will certainly be receiving many thousands of cards as part of her celebrations.”

Congratulations to Blue Eyed Sun, who have appeared on this blog before, here.
...and of course, congratulations to her Majesty on her 90th Birthday.
www.blueeyedsun.co.uk
http://www.greetingstoday.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 21.04.2016

Jobs from the past - Number 78

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...

Polo Ralph Lauren 2009

As part of their internal communications programme, Polo Ralph Lauren commissioned the Pink Group to create bespoke procedure manuals that could be rolled out to all their factory outlet stores across Europe. There were two manuals, each being produced as ring binders so they could be easily updated.

Image courtesy of The Pink Group

At Fenner Paper we do a very unusual product called Flaxprint Litho Printable Bookcloth. It is a genuine bookcloth which is litho printable. The cover is printed conventional offset litho in CMYK with a blue (Pantone 289) being printed as a special. Like all bookcloth, it is one sided, in this case with a lightweight paper reverse, so it can be mounted onto board to form a casebound cover or slipcase ...and as you can see, it works just perectly. 

Image courtesy of The Pink Group

The size of each binder is 310x255, portrait with a 50mm spine width. Each manual was translated into five languages and features easily updatable tabbed inserts. The covers are also hot foil blocked with a clear foil as you can see from the below image:

Detail of solid colour and hot foil blocking:

Flaxprint 74lb cover, really is an amazing product. As far as I am aware this is the only genuine bookcloth (as opposed to paper) which is litho printable and offers such amazing versatility. Having the ability to print an image and solid colours on a casebound book on a genuine cloth, rather than a paper alternative, offers a huge range of possibilities. In comparison with paper, a cloth is much, harder wearing which is why it has been used in this case. The below image shows the close detail of the weave and print detail, including reversed out white logo.

Click on image to enlarge and see the detail of the weave

....and I still happen to have one of the 'running sheets' from the job, so you can see below with the colour bars, before it was made up into a binder.

Design is by The Pink Group, Creative Director is Spencer Peppiatt.

I doubt the images are doing this project the justice it deserves but hopefully I have given some insight to this great feeling binder. If you are not familiar with Flaxprint and would like a sample, please get in touch.

http://thepinkgroup.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.04.2016