Ken Garland

Photo Credit - unknown

Yesterday, the sad news broke that Ken Garland has passed away. Ken Garland is a designer who has been at the forefront of Britain’s creative culture since graduating in the mid 1950's. His involvement in the CND campaign in the 1960's and his re-drawing of the peace sign made him the driving force behind its visual message. He gained notoriety for writing the ‘First Thing’s First Manifesto’ in 1964, which rallied designers to a mantra of using their talents towards a more meaningful goal, opposing the notion that graphic design is most lucrative when serving the whims of advertising. The manifesto was re-signed and re-launched in 1999. He founded his own agency, Ken Garland & Associates working with a wide variety of clients and most famously, Galt Toys.

Ken was less well known for his photographic work, but that is where our paths crossed. In 2001 Baseline Magazine published a 'baseline edition' an occasional series focusing on a subject more in-depth than in the magazine itself. Titled Metaphors, with a foreward by Robin Kinross, it shows Ken's photographic work from the 1960's up to the millennium. 

At publication, Ken and Wanda hosted a small launch party at their lovely house in Camden Town, which was a particularly jolly occasion.

Size is 345x245mm, portrait. It has a 4pp cover covered with a dustjacket and a 48pp text. 

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"These photographs are not quite what they seem. When combined with the text they become metaphors of the locations - villages, cities, countries even - in which they were found. A few stones; a scattering of coloured tissue; a rope end: all have been allocated a relevance beyond their immediate substance. This may have been the reason why a particular photograph was taken in the first place, or it may have been imposed upon the image subsequently, days, weeks or months after the shot had been made. Originating from places as widely dispersed as Mexico, Ireland, Uzbekistan, Canada, Germany and Bangladesh, these metaphors offer a coherent viewpoint on human behaviour, viewed obliquely for the most part but with compassion and concern for people, not things" Ken Garland

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The text pages are printed on our Marazion Ultra 150gsm. For readers not familiar with Marazion Ultra, 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 (and some which incorporate the word matt in the name, but aren't!)  

From a format point of view, there is one particularly interesting aspect to this publication...

Hans Dieter Reichert, publisher of Baseline magazine wanted to differentiate this publication from the magazine, which was saddle stitched and he really wanted a spine, although cost-wise, perfect binding was more expensive and the photographic spreads really demanded saddle stitching...

I suggested, using a bookjacket, using a heavier than normal material (our Matrisse 200gsm) which is a bulky uncoated material and would take an excellent crease, and would form a nice neat 5mm square spine for the saddle stitched book to sit in ...and the result is perfect!

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4pp cover is on Mandricote (one sided) 250gsm. Bookjacket is on Matrisse 200gsm.

Design of Metaphors is by Ken Garland & hdr Design. It was printed offset litho by Hilo Printing in Essex.

It was an absolute pleasure to have met Ken at the time of this project and subsequently over the years at various events and lunch at the Wynkyn De Worde Society. My condolences and best wishes to Wanda and their family; Ken will be sorely missed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Garland

Posted by Justin Hobson 21.05.2021

Added 27.05.2021

You can read an excellent account of Ken's life by John Cooper here:

https://britainisnocountryforoldmen.blogspot.com/2021/05/britain-says-farewell-to-old-iconoclast.html

Brigade Court Floorplans

Brigade Court is a new residential community in the heart of Borough, London SE1. Set in the former home of the London Fire Brigade, it connects past, present and future through a mix of Grade II listed buildings and the finest contemporary architecture, set around a central courtyard for a traditionally different take on modern living.

The branding and identity for Brigade Court, including online development is by Jack Renwick Studio and this is the Floorplans literature...

Size of the brochure is 388x278mm, portrait and is singer sewn. It has a 4pp cover with a linen embossing from that other well known "Hull based paper merchant"! The 68pp text is printed on Marazion Ultra 115gsm.

Click on images to enlarge

For readers not familiar with Marazion Ultra, 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 (and some which incorporate the word matt in the name, but aren't!) ...but this really is - and if you don't believe me, just ask for a sample!

Reproduction of solid colour is also excellent as you can see from the solid blue above - dead flat and an excellent printed solid - what a result!

Centre spread (above) and detail below showing the singer sewing with the yellow thread which works with the gold hot foil blocking on the outside cover, which in turn is reminiscent of the heritage of the brass helmets that firemen used to wear when this Fire Station was built for the London Fire Brigade.

The brochure is printed CMYK plus the special blue and metallic gold used for headings and in the floorplans below...

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Reproduction of the images is superb, as you can see from the detail image below... 

Marazion Ultra has a good bulk and opacity, so using the 115gsm weight works well, light enough to allow the 68pp text to be singer sewn and flows beautifully in the hand.

Brand identity and design is by Jack Renwick Studio. Their brand idea ‘Traditionally Different’ celebrates the distinctive contrasts of the development. Archival photographs of the firefighters and fire station sit with images of the apartments and local area, creating a series of collages that convey the site’s distinctive marriage of old and new. This project won gold in the Print Design category of  the Drum Awards, which you can read about HERE

Jack Renwick Studio celebrated their 9th birthday last week and with work like this in their portfolio, they have much to celebrate!

The excellent print, repro and finishing is by Gavin Martin Colournet, based in Leyton with Phil Le Monde handling the project.

https://brigadecourt.london/

http://www.jackrenwickstudio.com/

https://www.gavinmartincolournet.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 25.01.2021

Hotel de Russie - Rome

Located between two of Rome’s most picturesque piazzas, Piazza di Spagna and Piazza del Popolo, Hotel de Russie is one of the Eternal City’s most prestigious luxury hotels. An enduring favourite of artists and writers, stars and politicians, Hotel de Russie was dubbed “paradise on earth” by French poet Jean Cocteau in 1917. The hotel incorporates a stunning Mediterranean tiered Secret Garden, with rose bushes, orange trees and mature pine.

This the brochure for the hotel, which follows the new brand identity for Rocco Forte Hotels, created by Pentagram.

Size of the brochure is 266 x 204mm, portrait and is saddle stitched. The cover is an unusual format as there is an 8pp cover with 140mm wide flaps and there is an outer jacket, only 210mm high, also with 140mm flaps. It is the first time I've seen this combination and the effect is superb...

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The materials used for the covers is our Dali range, which is a 'felt-marked' paper with a linear effect and a natural, tactile feel. If you click on the image below, you will be able to see the texture in the paper.

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The cover is on Dali Nero 200gsm and is hot foil blocked in matt white and copper foil. The jacket is printed on Dali, Candido, 160gsm and is litho printed in CMYK on one side only.

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The 16pp text is printed offset litho on our Marazion Ultra 135gsm, chosen because of it's dead matt flatness which would reproduce the interior images well without a glossiness which would detract from the classic look and feel of the hotel.

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The brochure has a beautiful, quality feel and flows in the hand superbly. The combination of photography, materials and quality print makes this a wonderful piece of print.

Design is by Pentagram. The excellent print, repro and finishing is by Gavin Martin Colournet, based in Greenwich, South London.

https://www.roccofortehotels.com/hotels-and-resorts/hotel-de-russie/
https://www.pentagram.com/ 
https://www.gavinmartincolournet.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 08.06.2020

Jobs from the past - Number 120

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. 

Parka London 
Autumn Winter 2015

With 60 years of manufacturing heritage behind the business, in 2013 they launched their own label. PARKA LONDON is a tribute to Alfie Levers, the original founder and his vision. The brand is a celebration of the iconic, timeless military designs fused with contemporary modern styling and fabrics.

This is the AW15 collection lookbook. The cover is printed on the cover material from that other, Hull based, paper merchant! with an image printed on the text material and tipped onto a plate sunk cover. The size is A5 (210x148mm) portrait and is section sewn.

The It's a 36pp text self cover and is printed on our Marazion Ultra 115gsm which gives it that dead matt/flat look but with great reproduction as you can see from the images... 

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The 36pp text rolls nicely and it opens quite flat which is testament to the fact that the weights chosen are correct.  

The art direction is by Muse & Maker and the quality of the direction and photography (by Jon Corrigan) is matched by the exceptional printing by Push.

https://www.parkalondon.com/

https://www.museandmaker.com

http://www.push-print.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.10.2019

Hatch Interiors - Lyon Square

Hatch Interiors is a company which specialises in interiors and furniture for landlords and serves the rental market. London agency 400 to created the Hatch Interiors brand identity a few years ago and this piece of collateral is for a development in Harrow called Lyon Square.

The finished size is 210x118mm and the format is a 12pp roll fold, which folds out to 210x700mm. Hopefully you can see the way it works from the 'birds eye' picture below:

It is printed on our Marazion Ultra 170gsm, chosen because of it's good bulk and printability. At 170gsm it is around 190microns thick, which takes a crease really well but would still fold out well and not feel too rigid - there's always a danger with roll folds in particular that they become too clunky if the weight is too heavy.

It is printed offset litho in CMYK and hot foil blocked with a black gloss foil on the front cover.

To effectively demonstrate the way it works, the pictures below, show how it rolls out page by page...

Opening spread:

 ..folding out to

Click on images to enlarge

 Below shows it fully folded out to the 700mm width

 ...and the below image shows the reverse side:

For readers not familiar with Marazion Ultra, 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 (and some which incorporate the word matt in the name, but aren't!) ...but this really is - and if you don't believe me, please ask for a sample!

 

You can see from the detail shot below, that the reproduction of the interiors is excellent:

Below is a detail showing the hot foil blocking in a gloss black foil on the front cover. 

Art direction and design is by Hatton Garden based consultancy, 400. Creative Director is Paul Dennis, designer on the project is Andrew Pitchford

Print and finishing is by Dylan Hughes at All About Print.

www.hatchinteriors.co.uk
www.400.co.uk

http://www.allaboutprint.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.12.2018