Victorian Blogging ...an exhibition

Yesterday evening, the opening event for the exhibition titled Victorian Blogging opened at the Conway Hall.

Conway Hall is the oldest surviving freethought organisation in the world. The only surviving ethical surviving ethical society in the world, it is named in honour of Moncure Daniel Conway (1832 – 1907), anti-slavery advocate, out-spoken supporter of free thought and biographer of Thomas Paine.

The exhibition is about the humble Pamphlet, the original type of blog. Since the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century, pamphlets have been used for a variety of purposes – from reports of meetings and court cases to reproducing political speeches, from spreading religious messages to spreading gossip and tall stories – but their great strength lies in the weaponry of their words for political and social protest. Where previously the political elite had been able to easily keep information from the masses, pamphlets opened access to ‘ordinary people’, enabling them to begin to criticise their political and religious masters and demand involvement in the decisions that affected their daily lives.

This exhibition will showcases the key campaigns, movements and agitators represented in Conway Hall Library’s nineteenth-century pamphlet collection. It is part of the Conway Hall's National Lottery Heritage Funded project to digitise the pamphlets and make them freely available online.

This is the publication that accompanies the exhibition. It's an 18pp concertina folded publication, size is 104 x 146mm, folding out to 308 x 438mm.

It is digitally printed on our Redeem 100% Recycled 100gsm and as you can see, the result is superb. The paper is uncoated with a neutral white shade giving the publication a feel which really works with the subject and is sympathetic with the period.

Design is by Gareth Humphreys. Digital printing is by Typecast Colour in Paddock Wood.

You can read more about the exhibition which runs until the end of January here:
https://conwayhall.org.uk/event/victorian-blogging-the-pamphleteers-who-dared-to-dream-of-a-better-world/

https://conwayhall.org.uk/

http://www.typecast.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 13.09.2019

D&AD President's Lecture - Simon Mottram

Yesterday evening I went to the D&AD presidents lecture to hear Simon Mottram, founder of the Rapha cycling brand at the Conway Hall in London.

Simon was introduced by D&AD President Bruce Duckworth. Using a mixture of films and images Simon charted the history of the Rapha brand from the early beginnings on his kitchen table, where the brand was placed at the centre of the business, which is quite firmly where it remains today.

Simon is an excellent speaker, clearly as passionate about cycling as the business he founded. His insights into creating a brand, being the brand owner and how he has managed to create a business which has the ethos of the brand in everything they do is a remarkable story. As he said:
"The brand drives everything. Phrases like ‘moments of truth’, ‘alignment’ and ‘engagement’ become more than buzzwords. They become reality".

He is modest enough to say that as much as it has been down to hard work and determination that there was also a fair element of luck and good timing.

He gave us 13 clues about how Rapha works. Looking at this list now, it looks a bit "dry" but when Simon was going through each point they jumped out at you. 

In my capacity as a small supplier to Rapha, I totally get it. The people I have dealt with over the years are totally engaged with the business, which is testament to Simon's point that "If your brand is going to be authentic at every point then it’s vital that you build the brand from the inside out"
There are many businesses that I work with (including design agencies) that have an excellent outward customer facing brand and image ...BUT if you are talking to that business as a supplier, you get treated very differently.

Interestingly, I checked back in my files and I first sent paper samples to Rapha on 12th May 2005 (to Ben Aquilina), which was in the very early days as Rapha only started in 2004! Since then we have supplied Rapha for a number of projects, here are just three for interest:
http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/glory-through-suffering.html
http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/rapha-springsummer-2010.html
http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/rapha-gt-shoes.html

 At a guess, I would think there were probably 300-400 people in the audience. Attending events like this is very important for all of us in the creative industry - it helps to share other people's perspectives and share what else is going on. At £15 per ticket, it's good value too....

I left feeling inspired and invigorated!

You can see the presidents lectures here:
http://shop.dandad.org/events/

Make it a belated new year resolution ...GO to more industry talks!

http://www.rapha.cc/gb/en/

https://www.dandad.org/

Posted by Justin Hobson 12.01.2017