Jobs from the past - Number 178

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 2011, even though it is titled 2016!

Knight Frank - London 2016

This is a fascinating and beautifully produced book commissioned by leading international property consultancy, Knight Frank to visually communicate their predictions for London's commercial property market, in a project titled 'London 2016'.

Five years doesn't seen too far away, but the invitation to their September conference is worded as follows:
"In 2006, no one owned an iphone, Lehman Brothers' market capitalisation was $40 Billion and Bear Stearns' was $20 Billion, Iceland had a triple A credit rating, Twitter signed up it's 50th tweeter in July - think how different the world will be in five years time..."
(...that makes you think!)

Knight Frank commissioned London based agency YCN to produce the conference collateral, including this specially produced book to be given as a take-home pieces for select clients detailing the company's view of London in five years time.

The size of the book is 185x245mm, portrait. It is printed on SHIRO Echo, White (100% recycled) which has a "natural" off white shade and works well with the illustration and text. The book is made using two text weights 160gsm for the three throw-out pages and 100gsm for the main text made up of 45 "French Folded" sections.

The casebound book is covered in dark grey bookcloth and is hot foil blocked in silver.

All the text is "French Folded" as you can see below:

The creative team at YCN on the project is as follows:

Project Director: Alex Ostrowski

Art Direction & Design: Alex Hunting

The text features illustrations by Samuel Green and infographics by Chris Clarke

...and particularly remarkable (other than the paper, of course!) is that the job has been printed digitally by Pureprint on an HP Indigo press and the result is just superb. The solid colours alone compete with the quality achievable with offset litho. Simon Cooper at Pureprint handled the project.

 ...and a lovely touch is the rubber stamp used to personalise and number each of the 150 copies:

https://www.knightfrank.co.uk/
https://agency.ycnonline.com/
https://www.chris-clarke.co.uk/
https://www.pureprint.com/

Posted bu Justin Hobson 04.09.2024

Jobs from the past - Number 167

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 2013

AMC² Issue4

Archive of Modern Conflict is an independent publisher based in London and this is issue 4 of  their series of journals. (their books on photography and art have won or been shortlisted for many prizes). This is a truly beautiful book, which is just a delight to hold and leaf through.

 

AMC² issue4 comprises photographs from Collected Shadows, an exhibition curated by the AMC for Paris Photo 2012. The works span a period from the early 1850s to the present day and are by photographers both known and unknown, amongst them Bertha Jaques, Gustave Le Gray, Robert Frank, Willi Ruge, Paul-Émile Miot, Johann Böhm, Ferdinand Quénisset, Mario Giacomelli, Eugene Atget, Josef Sudek and many others, while subjects include earth, fire, air, water and ether as well as divinity, astronomy, meteorology, flight and dance (these words from AMC books)

The size is 230x200mm, portrait and is perfect bound. The publication has an 8pp cover on StarFine White 200gsm. The text is made up using "French-folded" sections on Marazion Ultra 90gsm which gives it a sensational light feel and flows beautifully in the hand. The book has a 14mm spine.

The book has 140pp or printed pages (which I would normally describe as 70 x 4pp French-folded sections) - this actually makes 280pp but because the other side is unprinted and the ends are bound, each 4pp = 2pp. It's a bit tricky but if you think about it, it makes sense. French folding with a material like Marazion Ultra 90gsm feels fantastic because the weight of the material lets the pages flop and flow beautifully. The 8pp cover (pictured below) on Starfine 200gsm contributes to the soft feel. 

The picture below shows the foredge with the "french-folded" text

The book is printed by a Belgian printer, Die Keure, who are based in Bruges. They are one of the most renowned European book printers and they print for many of the high end publishers in Europe. The print and binding is superb on this book. It is printed CMYK throughout but most of the images have a mono/sepia reproductions and it's hard to get the consistency of look and feel in one publication from multiple image sources but this is an admirable result.

 

The designer is Melanie Mues, who I have worked with for many years. It was great to have the opportunity to work on a book project together, especially one as exquisite as this. 

https://archiveofmodernconflict.com/amc2-journal-issue-4/
https://www.muesdesign.com/
https://www.diekeure.be/printing/en/

Posted by Justin Hobson 03.10.2023

Lunar

Tonight there is a Full Moon, this one is called the Snow Moon in the northern hemisphere, so what better day than to write about our range from Favini, called Lunar.

This range is very different to other pearlescent/metallic papers on the market, which are normally rather 'blingy' with bright shades. Lunar has seven subtle shades which are inspired by moonlight rays illuminating the dark with the shade range extending from glowing white and silvery shimmer to inky navy and pitch black.

As well as the subtle shades, this is also a subtly tactile range as Lunar has 2 wonderful micro-embossed textures, Nexus and Mini...

Detail showing the Nexus micro embossing 

Detail showing the Mini micro embossing 

This is a paper to be experienced through the fingers. The subtle micro embossed patterns give a multi-sensory experience and charge your imagination adding that third dimension to any print design and luxurious packaging project.

To accompany the swatch, there is a printed showbook to demonstrate printing quality and finishes.

Size is 240x154mm and features the letterpress work of Typoretum (see above image). Typoretum are a creative letterpress printing and design studio based in Colchester in Essex. Cecilia and Justin (good name!) are annual regulars at the St Bride Wayzgoose where we always see each other. 

The showbook is superbly printed and finished and is 'French Folded' (see above) - this is where the folded edges are on the foredge of the book, as in the picture above. 

Design and art direction is by Silk Pearce.

If you would like a copy of the Lunar showbook and swatch, just ask me for one! Email justin@fennerpaper.co.uk 

https://www.favini.com/gs/en/

https://www.silkpearce.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 27.02.2021

Naomi's Poem

This project is a collaboration between Tom Sharp – poet, writer and founder of The Poetry of it all and Katherina Tudball, Creative Director at Superunion

In a limited edition of 200 copies, the publication confronts some cliff-edge health news Tom’s sister received in August last year. Through poetry, Tom began documenting the siblings’ emotional journey – as fears, nostalgia, regrets and love became the focus of their conversations.

The size of the book is 230x100mm, portrait.The only immediately readable type is the title and a short introduction on the inside front cover (above)

...as each section of the poem is bound within a French-folded text printed on our lightweight Offenbach Bible 60gsm, meaning that it is hidden from sight and requires the reader to tear the paper in order to read. Below you can see the torn pages revealing the poem.

Click on images to enlarge

‘Naomi’s Poem’, is a single epistolary poem in twelve sections, shared between brother and sister as part of a therapeutic creative conversation.

The text is made from 12x 4pp French folded sections. Below shows one unopened book and one with the torn pages...

Rich with drowning imagery, the poetry is set in 8pt Doves Type, the typeface famously lost under the waters of the Thames for 100 years before being rescued and accurately recreated by Robert Green.

The truly amazing binding is stitching that mirrors surgical patterns. As part of the design process, Katherina and Tom consulted with Fleur Oakes, Imperial College’s Vascular Surgery Department’s Lacemaker in Residence.

Click on images to enlarge

The printing, finishing and binding is by Boss Print who are based in West London and it is truly superb - yes, they managed to sew the book like this! The text is all printed on Offenbach Bible 60gsm and the cover is printed on Colorset Natural 270gsm

This is a highly personal project which has been produced in a truly amazing way. I am very grateful to have received my copy - No 172 of 200.

https://www.superunion.com/
https://www.thepoetryofitall.com/
https://www.bossprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 11.06.2019

Set in Stone

Yesterday evening I was at the St Brides Foundation in London for the launch of a wonderful notebook titled "Set in Stone". The project was a collaboration between design agency Carter Wong, printer Boss Print and us! This is the fifth notebook in the series, each one with a different and equally fascinating subject!

This edition showcases the fascinating examples of Jurassic fossils which can be seen all across London and its buildings.

The evening started with lashings of beer and wine and the opportunity to look at the exhibition showing the concept and the images that are the subject of the book.

There was then an introduction to the project by Sarah Turner, Managing Director of Carter Wong followed by a short presentation by Fenton Smith from Boss Print. There were over 100 people who attended....

...and here is the actual notebook that was the centre of attention.

The wonderfully debossed cover is on a vinyl based cover material. Flexible, durable and just right for a notebook.

...a birds eye view showing the binding and the pages with the images of the tiles printed, which are "french folded"

The below image shows a spread of the notebook with the image page on the left, showing the building and on the reverse side of the French folded image sections is an image of the stone/concrete that includes the fossils.

- what you cannot see and is impossible to show/photograph is the way that all the fossils are embellished, either with the most superb embossing, so they are actually in relief - a truly amazing effect or the most amazing foiling...

Above is the most amazing relief deboss and below is incredible foiling, which just brings the image alive...

The paper used in the books is our Redeem 100% Recycled 80gsm for the text pages and Omnia 120gsm for the fossil pages. The text pages printed on the Redeem are all printed with a solid tint which increases in tint as it goes through the book, representing the strata of rock.

Omnia is the perfect material to use for the Text pages as it's dead flat mattness gives incredible tactility to the fossil images, whilst still reproducing the images of the buildings superbly.

Printing is all offset litho. Embossing and foiling is all by Boss print and it is all to an exceptionally high standard.

 

A big thank you to Carter Wong, Boss Print and of course, our friends at the St Brides Foundation who made the event special as always.

http://www.carterwongdesign.com/
https://www.bossprint.com/
http://www.sbf.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson on 23.05.2019