Made of Manchester

Two years in the making this 'Made of Manchester' photo book documents more of Manchester from the photographer, Paul Grogan's, perspective. A limited first edition of only 100 copies, the book is beautifully designed by Manchester based branding and web agency Think Design Manchester.

With a foreword by local Celebrity Chef, Andrew Nutter and a contribution from local wordsmith and poet, David Scott who said of the book, “With a rich history that’s been well-documented I thought I had seen Manchester from every angle; and that’s where the charm of Paul’s photography lies. He captures our city with a fresh perspective; through his use of light, shadows and composition you get to see some our most famous landmarks with an unobserved twist; there are also plenty of surprises in how striking he can make Manchester’s deep-seeded urban decay."

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Size of the book is 210mm square and is perfect bound. There is a 4pp cover on Omnia White 280gsm with a 96pp text on Omnia, White 150gsm.

The content has some wonderful spreads, with some wonderfully cropped images and a combination of colour and mono images.

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The 96pp text is bulky but the book still flows well with the pages turning easily.

The 96pp text on 150gsm gives the book a 10mm spine

The book is printed and finished by Manchester's own Galloways Print. As it is a limited edition of just 100 copies, it is printed digitally on their Heidelberg Linoprint, which is a toner based digital press and the result is superb. 

Paul Grogan lives and works in the Manchester area, having also graduated from MMU in 1997 - so he is a Mancunian through and through, giving him this unique perspective of the city. You can buy the book here.

 

https://www.paulgroganphotography.com/

www.thinkdesignagency.co.uk

http://www.galloways.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 16.08.2018

Paul's pocketbook portfolio

This is an interesting concept - rather than a big flashy studio brochure , Paul Grogan has deliberately produced a "pocketbook portfolio". The size is A6 105x148mm) landscape and is saddle stitched. The 4pp cover is on our Colorset 120gsm and 36pp text is on 90gsm, which means that it sits nice and flat.

The cover is printed on Colorset Flint 120gsm, printed digitally in white ink - very effective.

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The text is printed in colour, also digitally printed on our Marazion Ultra 90gsm. This is a lightweight paper with a matt coating but which has an amazing bulk, tactile feel and excellent opacity for 90gsm. It feels just right for this project, because it just flops over wonderfully and sits nice and flat.

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As you can see from the image below, it really does sit nice and flat, the overall thickness is under 2mm thick, so it really can fit in a pocket.

An excellent example of a cost effective, simple piece of promotional collateral.

 

Paul Grogan lives and works in the Manchester area. Digital printing and finishing is by Galloways Printers based in Poynton using their Heidelberg Linoprint press, which is toner based digital.

 

www.thinkdesignagency.co.uk

http://www.galloways.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 30.05.2017

Balvac 80th Anniversary

The use of concrete doesn't sound like the most exciting of subjects, but this book is about exactly that and it is a fascinating story.

Established in 1933, Balvac is a leading specialist contractor undertaking repair, strengthening, refurbishment and protection of civil and building structures throughout the UK. Their work includes road and rail bridges, tunnels, highways, marine structures, power stations, water treatment works, multi-storey car parks, residential and commercial buildings, and heritage structures. They are now part of the Balfour Beatty group.

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The size of the publication is 245x180mm, portrait. The cover is printed on our Colorset Light Grey 350gsm, with a 56pp text printed on Omnia 150gsm

Designer on the project is Paul Grogan whilst at Manchester agency Make Complex Simple. The piece is profiled on his website as "a design project to make concrete sexy". Paul goes on to say... "It was a graphic designers dream. All this amazing source material to play with. The only problem was there was just too much to play with. The after wading through countless stories, news clippings and slides, we were finally able to agree a budget and page plan. The stories include the famous Summit tunnel fire in Lancashire, secret bank buildings, and a stolen dogs ear!"

The cover is beautifully blind embossed and it works perfectly with the black binding tape around the spine.

The cover has 135mm wide flaps on the inside front and back covers, which covers up the embossing on the inside. It also gives a "limp bound" publication, such as this, a "bookier" feel.

Below shows detail of the black binding tape around the spine.

The book is organised into spreads which tell a particular story, either of the company

...of a product, this is about Gunite

or of particular projects

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The text is printed offset litho on Omnia, which looks and feels just beautiful. It perfectly shows the images, illustrating the stories - lots of detail and excellent reproduction and great solids - no patchiness or mottle. It is totally in sympathy with the rough concrete interiors - tactile and engaging.

The binding is section sewn and below shows the detail:

The publication is made from just the right weights, it flows in the hand and the pages turn over easily.

Photography is by Claire Wood Photography. Printing and finishing is by Galloways Printers in Poynton. You can read more about this project here:

http://www.thinkdesignagency.co.uk/a-design-project-to-make-concrete-sexy/

www.balvac.co.uk

http://www.thinkdesignagency.co.uk/

http://www.galloways.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 31.01.2017