Jobs from the past - Number 145

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...

HRP Textile Conservation Studio 
Five Year Review 1991-1996

This is beautifully produced report produced by the Historic Royal Palaces in 1996. It has a fantastic, tactile quality and the design makes the most of the rich subject matter which the palaces have at their disposal. Based at Hampton Court Palace and originally managed by the William Morris Company, the studio now plays an integral part of the conservation efforts of the HRP.

Size of the brochure is 297x210mm portrait and is perfect bound with a 4mm spine. It has a 4pp cover with a mixture of text papers, combining an uncoated feltmark paper with a high gloss 'real art' paper. The cover features a 55mm square cut out which allows the detail from the 'Departure of Abraham' tapestry from 1540 to show through.

The paper used for the cover is Dali Neve 240gsm on the cover and a combination of Dali Neve 160gsm and Concorde Pure Brilliance 135gsm for the text.

One of the things that makes this a really special publication is the choice of materials used. From a range of different papers shown to the client, the feedback was that "Dali is the paper which most represents the tactility and weave of cloth". I recall that Dali was selected over other linen embossed papers, which were regarded as far too 'Faux'

You can see from these pictures showing the close up detail, how well the detail of the tapestry reproduces and how the subtle feltmark pattern is both tactile and visual conveying the image of woven cloth.

The image reproduction of the high gloss coated paper (Concorde Pure Brilliance 135gsm) is superb - remember, this was in the days when a transparency was scanned, colour separations made and film produced before plates were made - nothing digital going on here! ...and the result is superb. This piece of print looks so fresh and outshines many pieces of print that I pick up and handle today.

Design is by Big Active www.bigactive.com. The designer who worked on the project was Mark Watkins. In 2001 Mark left Big Active moving to Derbyshire, where he established his own studio called LUCK.

 

The job was printed by a company called Penshurst Press based in Tunbridge Wells. Sadly the company is no longer around, however Alan Flack and Martin Darby who worked at there (and produced this job) went on to form their own printing company called Principal Colour and their work still features on this blog from time to time.

Just one final thing I've noticed - due to the mixture of text pages it has been perfect bound rather than section sewn (and PUR was only for longer runs in those days) - well, it is holding together perfectly, with no sign of degradation - not bad for nearly 25 years old!

http://conservation100.hrp.org.uk/about/
www.bigactive.com
www.thisisluck.com
http://www.principalcolour.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 01.12.2021

Jobs from the past - Number 61

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...

HRP Textile Conservation Studio 
Five Year Review 1991-1996

This is beautifully produced report produced by the Historic Royal Palaces in 1996. It has a fantastic, tactile quality and the design makes the most of the rich subject matter which the palaces have at their disposal. Based at Hampton Court Palace and originally managed by the William Morris Company, the studio now plays an integral part of the conservation efforts of the HRP.

Size of the brochure is 297x210mm portrait and is perfect bound with a 4mm spine. It has a 4pp cover with a mixture of text papers, combining an uncoated feltmark paper with a high gloss 'real art' paper. The cover features a 55mm square cut out which allows the detail from the 'Departure of Abraham' tapestry from 1540 to show through.

The paper used for the cover is Dali Neve 240gsm on the cover and a combination of Dali Neve 160gsm and Concorde Pure Brilliance 135gsm for the text.

One of the things that makes this a really special publication is the choice of materials used. From a range of different papers shown to the client, the feedback was that "Dali is the paper which most represents the tactility and weave of cloth". I recall that Dali was selected over other linen embossed papers, which were regarded as far too 'Faux'

You can see from these pictures showing the close up detail, how well the detail of the tapestry reproduces and how the subtle feltmark pattern is both tactile and visual conveying the image of woven cloth.

The image reproduction of the high gloss coated paper (Concorde Pure Brilliance 135gsm) is superb - remember, this was in the days when a transparency was scanned, colour separations made and film produced before plates were made - nothing digital going on here! ...and the result is superb. This piece of print looks so fresh and outshines many pieces of print that I pick up and handle today.

Design is by Big Active www.bigactive.com. The designer who worked on the project was Mark Watkins. In 2001 Mark left Big Active moving to Derbyshire, where he established his own studio called LUCK.

 

The job was printed by a company called Penshurst Press based in Tunbridge Wells. Sadly the company is no longer around, however Alan Flack and Martin Darby who worked at there (and produced this job) went on to form their own printing company called Principal Colour and their work still features on this blog from time to time.

Just one final thing I've noticed - due to the mixture of text pages it has been perfect bound rather than section sewn (and PUR was only for longer runs in those days) - well, it is holding together perfectly, with no sign of degradation - not bad for nearly 20 years old!

http://conservation100.hrp.org.uk/about/
www.bigactive.com
www.thisisluck.com
http://www.principalcolour.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 03.11.2014

Blog goes to print...

This is a very interesting job for many reasons. This is a paper edition of a blog and is titled 'otherhistories' - extracts from the blog.

In August 2009 photographer Christoper King was commissioned by the Historic Royal Palaces to be photographer in residence at the Tower of London for eight months.

During this time he wrote a blog and this simply printed piece of literature has been produced to accompany the blog and show his achievements in a physical publication.

The job is a 36pp self cover and the size is 190x250mm portrait and is saddle stitched. It is printed in one colour only (black) so all the images are halftone and look really effective on the Redeem 100% Recycled 130gsm - black and white images on a 'neutral' shade uncoated aften look better than those on a high white sheet. 

This really is a very simple but effective job. I believe it does everything it set out to do whilst being on a very 'realistic' budget! Design is by Steve Burgess.

http://thelightofmanydays.wordpress.com/

http://www.otherhistories.com/

http://www.hrp.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 14.06.2010

Historic Royal Palaces #2

This is the second edition of the publication for internal communication at the Historic Royal Palaces. It follows the same "newspaper" format of 430x280mm. This issue is only 8pp, loose bound and is concertina'd into thirds.

The excellent illustration work is by David Foldvari (http://www.davidfoldvari.co.uk/)

It is printed on our Redeem 100% Recycled 130gsm. Although this publication is a small run of less than 1000 and produced entirely for internal distribution, it is an excellent example of a well designed piece of internal communication.

Design is by Steve Burgess
Print is by BKT Print management.
http://www.hrp.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson

Newsletter with a history

This is the new publication for internal communication at the Historic Royal Palaces. It has been designed in a newspaper format but not as a broadsheet which is sometimes difficult to handle, so it is an unusual but easy to handle size of 430x280mm. It is only 12pp and loose bound, so it is concertina'd into thirds which makes it much easier to distribute.

It is printed on our Redeem 100% Recycled 100gsm which adds to the "newspaper" like feel but as you can see from the centre spread below which shows the "scientific" work of the "Royal ceremonial dress collection" the paper doesn't disapoint!
Although this publication is a small run of less than 1000 and produced entirely for internal distribution, it is an excellent example of well designed and thoughtfully produced literature working really well to engage the audience.

Design is by Steve Burgess

Print is by BKT Print management.

http://www.hrp.org.uk/