Colorset has 49 shades

For those of you not familiar with Colorset, it is our range of coloured text and cover papers which is 100% recycled and more competitively priced than some other well known brands of coloured paper!

A few years ago we launched 350gsm, so we now have ALL Colorset shades in 120gsm, 270gsm and 350gsm - all in B1 size (700x1000mm). 

A few years ago we further developed the range with 9 new colours...

...and more recently we added another dozen shades to make 49 shades in total plus white (so it's 50 really!)

The new shades include 7 shades made using Virgin fibre (due to the dye take up) and these are Blush, Warm White, Glacier, Hopsack, Charcoal, Spearmint and Aubergine, all marked with an asterisk in the swatch

...so there you have it, a range with 49 colours including TEN greys!

If you would like the updated swatch, please drop me an email and I'll pop one in the post justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.10.25

The Lionesses' did it!

In a thrilling final yesterday evening, the curtain has fallen on the 2025 UEFA Women’s European Championships with England successfully defending their title winning in the penalty shootout against Spain.

Euro 2025, was the 14th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised for the women's national teams of Europe and played in Switzerland from 2 to 27 July 2025.

...and apart from the congratulations that go to the winning team and the runners up, I should also like to thank the designer of our amazing wallchart. This is the latest in a series of beautifully designed typographic wallcharts which have all been designed by David Coates, who is an independent designer. My thanks to Dave for making it all happen - a perfect way to combine his love of type and football!

It is printed on our Colorset Bright Red 120gsm (100% Recycled too!) which is the perfect Swiss red shade. They are digitally printed in two colour, white and black.

The flat size is 880 x 315mm perfect for wall, door or cabinet mounting!

https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/UEFA-Womens-EURO-2025

https://davidcoates.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 28.07.25

Colorset has 37 shades

For those of you not familiar with Colorset, it is our range of coloured text and cover papers which is 100% recycled and more competitively priced than some other well known brands of coloured paper!

A few years ago we launched 350gsm, so we now have ALL Colorset shades in 120gsm, 270gsm and 350gsm - all in B1 size (700x1000mm). 

A few years ago we further developed the range with 9 new colours, making this a collection of 37 shades.

The new shades include five light shades and three deep shades. The new shades are Blush, Warm White*, Glacier, Storm, Nautic, Hopsack*, Charcoal*, Spearmint* and Deep Blue (Note: four of the new shades with an asterisk* are virgin fibre)

...so there you have it, a range with 37 colours including SEVEN greys!

If you would like the updated swatch, please drop me an email and I'll pop one in the post justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 17.07.2024

Life In Ukraine by Sergiy Maidukov

The War in Ukraine reaches a depressing second anniversary tomorrow. Illustrator Sergiy Maidukov has been recording his experiences of the invasion over the last two years. Including previously unseen black and white sketches, it is a snapshot of his life in Ukraine, written in both languages.

Click on images to enlarge

This is the latest in the UNSEEN series by c-ll-ct-v-ly. Founded in 2015 by Mark Leeds and Duncan Johnson c-ll-ct-v-ly is a London based Design and Research studio working in all media and especially editorial and moving image. As a studio project. they publish these limited edition magazines, using unpublished, reordered, remade, refound or newly created artworks. They are a quick-fire collaboration between the studio and a range of creatives ...an easy consumed, visual hit.

Click on images to enlarge

Size is A5 (210x148mm) portrait, saddle stitched. The "cover" is made using strips in the same colours as the Ukrainian flag (Colorset Solar 120gsm and Colorset Midnight 120gsm. There are 16pp of text (8pp on Colorset Light Grey 120gsm and 8pp on Gardapat Kiara 150gsm) plus another two thirds height insert (above) in Colorset Solar 120gsm.

Above shows the centre spread which is printed on Gardapat 13 Kiara 150gsm. For readers not familiar with GardaPat 13, 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 - some which incorporate the word matt in the name, but aren't! Apart from the high quality matt surface, this paper has an extraordinarily high bulk - this 150gsm text with a thickness of 195mics. If you would like to read more about the bulk, you can read it HERE.

All materials are digitally printed using an HP Indigo digital press and the results are superb, beautifully showing the artworks. As many readers will know, many materials have to be "Sapphire Treated" to work successfully on HP Indigo presses, however the text (Gardapat 13) is printed without sapphire treatment ..and it's superb! The Colorset has been sapphire treated and as you can see from the below image, it is printed in white ink, which looks amazing...

The excellent printing and finishing, including the white ink and also the black wire used on the saddle stitches (below) is by WithPrint who are based outside Bristol in Rooksbridge.

Concept and Design is by Mark Leeds. Illustrations: Sergiy Maidokuv, Typography: KTF Rublena (https://kyivtypefoundry.com/about), Unica PanEuropean,

https://c-ll-ct-v-ly.com/ 

https://with-print.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 23.02.2024

Made by Shannon

Here is a lovely selection of cards from Made by Shannon...

This greeting card publishers is run by a lovely lady called Shannon and they are based in Surrey. The below card is printed on our CRUSH Grape 250gsm

Click on images to enlarge

Above is a more detailed image and hopefully you can see the small specs and inclusions in the paper. Crush is made partly using the residue from the industrial processing of agro-industrial "end of life" products replacing up to 15% of conventional tree pulp. The 15% process residues are combined with 40% recycled fibres (post consumer waste) and the remainder is FSC virgin pulp and the product is FSC certified. The range is produced using green energy and is carbon balanced at the mill gate (we can also supply the paper in the UK, certified as carbon balanced)

The A6 cards are printed and hot foil blocked in-house, where they have letterpress and a 1980's hot foil blocker which is used on cards and envelopes. However, they also sometimes just hand apply gold leaf as you can in the small embellishment below.

The above SIXTEEN TODAY card is printed on our Colorset Storm 270gsm. The beautifully hot foiled envelopes are made using Colorset Storm 120gsm.

...which also have a superb embossing on the flap:

At this time of year, personalised Christmas cards are in great demand and below is an example printed on our CRUSH Kiwi 250gsm.

Click on images to enlarge

Thank you to Shannon for sending me this selection and if you would like to see her range of cards and gifts, you can see them HERE.

https://www.madebyshannon.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 13.12.2023

Thread Business Cards

...on our Colorset 100% Recycled board

Thread is a studio specialising in design for a wide variety of clients from the art and cultural sector. Thread is the design studio of Michael Windsor-Ungureanu ...and these are his very simple and effective business cards.

Front...

Size of the cards is 85x45mm, there are three different coloured cards, all produced on Colorset 270gsm - a mix of Ash, Lemon and Deep Orange, all printed offset litho in one special pantone (PMS 072U) blue. Michael very cleverly printed these business cards at the same time as his brochure ...very economical!

 

Reverse...

For those of you not familiar with Colorset, it is our range of coloured text and cover papers which is also 100% recycled and more competitively priced than some other well known brands of coloured paper! There are 36 colours including black and white.

Design is by Michael Windsor-Ungureanu. 

https://www.threaddesign.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 30.06.2023

Jobs from the past - Number 156

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...

Aaaaaaaaah! film poster 2015

This is the promotional poster for Steve Oram's directorial feature debut, Aaaaaaaah! (that's eight "A's"). The film has been written and directed by Steve Oram and the cast includes Julian Barratt, Toyah Wilcox, Julian Rhind Tutt and Holli Dempsey.

This poster is A2 size (594x420mm) and is silk-screen printed in six colours, a combination of tonal work and solid colours - the zip is printed in shiny metallic silver. It is produced using our Colorset, Bright Red 270gsm.

The posters were printed to coincide with the film's premiere in Leicester Square as part of Frightfest 2015. More information on the film can be found at both the Rook Films and Lincoln Studios sites. You can see the trailer below...

There is a review of the film here: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/10/aaaaaaaah-review-satire-of-beastly-behaviour

The prints were screen-printed by Gary Parselle at Brighton based silkscreen studio, The Private Press, and the above picture is from from the studio when they were in the drying rack.

 

Design is by Jay Shaw. Above is a picture of Steve Oram and Holli Dempsey pictured with the poster at the premiere!

https://www.rookfilms.co.uk/aaaaaaaah

https://www.theprivatepress.org/

Posted by Justin Hobson 03.11.2022

Jobs from the past - Number 155

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 2012...

Irrational Marks: Bacon and Rembrandt - 2012

Irrational Marks: Bacon and Rembrandt was an exhibition hosted by Savile Row gallery, Ordovas and was concerned with the influences of Rembrandt's self-portraits on Francis Bacon's own self-portraits.

Here's the description of the idea by the designer of the book: "Bacon kept a number of documents and source images relating to Rembrandt's work in his studio. The cover image is one of those working documents on show in the exhibition. Covered in paint from his studio, folded and creased, it represents both artists who lived three hundred years apart. The typography draws you into the eyes, something which Bacon refers to in his acknowledgement of the influence of Rembrandt on his work. The red lettering on the cover along with the red endpapers give a spark of energy and echo the life which is present in both the artists' works."

The size of the book is 240x310mm, portrait and is section sewn, casebound in a paper over board cover. The end-papers are our Colorset Bright Red 120gsm. The 88pp text is divided between two papers. The majority of the book with both editorial content and images is printed on our our Omnia 150gsm which works brilliantly with both the reproduction of the oil paintings and the mono photography (below).

The remainder of the text showing the finished works is on 170gsm silk coated paper.

Design and art direction is by Sinéad Madden and it really is a beautifully designed book. Sinéad also created the exhibition identity, invitations, signage and advertising.

 

Faultless print and finishing is by Pureprint.

https://www.ordovasart.com/

https://sineadmadden.co.uk/

https://www.pureprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.10.2022

Healeys Calendar 2022

The 2022 calendar from Healeys Printers is printed on a variety of recycled an environmentally friendly stocks. This month it is printed on our Colorset Blush 350gsm

Healeys are based in Ipswich and are one of a handful of printers who are registered as a 'Carbon Balanced Printer' by the World Land Trust and can offer a totally carbon balanced printing service including the paper and all aspects of production and delivery.

The size of each of the calendar leaves is 155x180mm and each month is printed on a different board - each is a recycled or environmentally friendly grade. Not all the papers used are from Fenner Paper, but we are fortunate enough to have our papers used for May (Colorset Sandstone) and September (Colorset Blush)

A really super calendar and a great idea to show what print can do.

https://healeys-printers.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 28.09.2022

The Blue Angel mark

I am often telling people about the Blue Angel mark as here in the UK, it is hardly known about or recognised, whereas in Germany (where it was established) and in mainland European countries, it is both highly visible on products and very highly regarded.

The Blue Angel (Der Blaue Engel) is a German certification for products and services that have environmentally friendly aspects. The Blue Angel mark is the oldest ecolabel in the world, and it covers some 10,000 products in some 80 product categories!

It was originally conceived and put in place by the government of the former West Germany and has been awarded since 1978. The Environmental Label Jury (Jury Umweltzeichen) is an independent, decision-making body for the Blue Angel and includes representatives from environmental and consumer associations, trade unions, industry, the trade, crafts, local authorities, academia, the media, churches, young people and the German federal states. As a result, it isn't open to political interference, industry pressure groups or vested interests, either from industry or the fanatical green groups. This is the reason that I rate the scheme so highly and it frustrates me that the UK government has never had the guts to put such an independent system in place in the UK - equally it's a shame that there isn't a pan European system.

The award of the Blue Angel is preceded by a review of the entire life cycle of the products. Such review considers as many aspects of environmental and health protection as possible for the respective product. Subsequently, the criteria limit or rule out those environmental impacts which are considered to be the most important impacts for the respective product. The Basic Award Criteria for a product are specified for each product group and they are all published.

The Blue Angel covers a wide range of different products including paints, gardening products, construction, electronics and many more, including paper and board.

We carry products which have been awarded the Blue Angel mark. The Creative Print range of 100% recycled text & cover paper manufactured by Koehler Greiz mill carries the Blue Angel mark, as do some of the recycled colours in our Colorset range.

You can read more about the scheme here:
https://www.blauer-engel.de/en

Posted by Justin Hobson 15.08.2022

Jobs from the past - Number 153

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...

The 58th "Not DeAd yet" - The Bootleg Annual 2020 

In 2020, D&AD announced that they would not be printing the paper annual for the first time ever. However, creative team Rhys Hughes and Barret Helander, who work together in London decided to produce a few copies for themselves and the idea just grew resulting in an unofficial dodgy knock-off of the 58th annual...

In their words...

"That huge mysterious book, made by creatives for creatives, to celebrate and inspire creativity. 2020 was finally going to be our year, but just as we were getting our bookshelves ready, the announcement came. The annual was going digital. There are so many great reasons to make the annual available online. It connects creatives all over the world with an infinitely inspirational archive, that tucks neatly away in a tab. The digital annual is a good thing, there’s no doubting that. But do the book and the website have to be mutually exclusive? Physical traditions are often lost to technology, and sometimes, we don’t appreciate how nice they were until they’re already gone. This particular physical tradition is one that means a great deal to us. So, unwilling to part ways with this iconic book, we decided to take matters into our own hands, and make use of the new, freely accessible website. This is the resulting knock-off. We cut corners, definitely took some artistic liberties and racked up some serious hours of copying and pasting, but it was well worth it to honour all of this brilliant work. This is our wonderfully dodgy tribute to the book we can’t bear to let go." 

With a beautifully written intro by John Hegarty. ‘When we’ve lost so much, it’s important to hold onto that which is precious. This is precious.’

At 542 pages, it features all of the 2020 pencil-winning work. The book draws on its unofficial ‘knock off’ complete with a cardboard cover and the D&AD Annual logo has also been reimagined to fit the tagline ‘Not Dead Yet’.

It features all the award winning projects including Twenty-five Sculptures in Five Dimensions a project Fenner Paper was involved with, which was conceived and sculpted by poet Tom Sharp, designed by Studio Sutherl&, soundtracked by Tony-nominated composer Alex Baranowski, with an introductory essay by art writer and curator Anna Souter. This project was printed on our Sixties 60gsm paper by Fenton Smith at Printsmith...

The Bootleg annual is printed in a limited edition of just 100 copies. With a natural corrugated cardboard cover and printed on 100% recycled uncoated paper.

Where Fenner Paper came into the project is that the yellow end-papers are printed on our Colorset Lemon 120gsm (100% recycled)...

The edition was digitally printed by Pureprint and carbon balanced with the World Land Trust.

What a great project and it's a shame that no one has taken the job on of producing the 2021 annual in print.

http://thebootlegannual.com/ 

https://rhysandbarret.uk/about

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.08.2022