Showing posts with label Midas Press. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Midas Press. Show all posts

Monday, 3 October 2016

Jobs from the past - Number 84

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 here's one from 2007.

Barclays Silver Incentive 2007

This project was produced for Barclays Financial Planning in 2007, just one year before the financial crash in 2008. This is an internal promotion sent to financial advisors with an incentive that if they hit a certain target, they would get a luxurious weekend away in Venice. This rather lavish internal promotional item is designed to look like a medieval map....
The size of the map is A1 size (594x420mm) folding to A4. It folds in such a way that it creates a gatefold, so that an imitation wax seal is applied to seal the document.
Detail of the seal, which is a simplified version of the Barclays eagle.
The below image shows the map closed, half open and then fully open...
The map is printed on our Flora Avorio 130gsm. Flora is a  it is a part recycled paper (with FSC accreditation) with natural, deliberately visible, inclusions and fibres. It has a tactile, rough feel and has a character which was just perfect to reproduce this old map.
Click on images to enlarge
The below image shows the reverse of the map, complete with aged water stains and wear marks.
Below are details of the map, which gives you an idea of the inclusions in the paper.

An interesting little adjunct to this story is that Flora is manufactured by an Italian paper mill called Cordenons, which is based close to Venice. In the 15th Century a group of Gutenberg's pupils established themselves in Venice and from then on, the centre of the Venetian empire became one of the most important areas for printing and publishing in Europe. By the 18th century, the records of the Senate of the Doges of Venice show there is documentary evidence of the manufacturer 'Cartiere Di Cordenons' noting the high esteem in which the mill was held. It has been widely known as "the paper mill of the Doges" since then and the winged Lion of Venice is still proudly the company's motif.
It's an excellent use of the right paper for the right job. You could have printed all the specks and flecks along with the aged look onto a white sheet of paper but it would never have had the impact or dramatic feel as this piece has achieved.
 
Design was 'in house' at Barclays Bank. Printing is Offset Litho in CMYK and it was printed by The Midas Press, who went bust in 2011 and who I wrote about here.
 
The project was handled by David Crompton at Midas Press, who sent me some copies and I still have his kind note.
David Crompton is now at Dayfold Printers in Dorset.
Posted by Justin Hobson 03.10.2016

Thursday, 4 February 2010

Midas Press goes bankrupt!

OK, get ready for a rant!

It turns out that Midas Press effectively “went bust” last week and yes, that means we (at Fenner Paper) like many other suppliers, won’t get our outstanding invoices paid and we are thousands of pounds out of pocket. Unfortunately that is one of the many risks of being in business.

Sadly this is an all too common occurrence in the printing industry but what really gets people upset is when the printer involved simply tells their customers (which will be many of you reading this blog) that they have "re-branded" or had a "management buy-out". What they will fail to mention is that they have shafted their creditors and literally walked away from their debts. This act in itself is unfair, but then life isn't fair - what is completely unjust is that they can just carry on trading as Midas Press (now PLC) with their customers (you) being completely oblivious as to what has happened.

So just to be clear, MIDAS PRESS HAS GONE BUST, but they are still taking on jobs and trading as Midas Press!
Please THINK AGAIN before supporting this type of phoenix company. How can you trust people who do things like this? According to the Printweek blog, apparently Midas Press have taken Paperlinx (the group who owns Robert Horne, Paperco and Howard Smith) for over £400,000!

If any of you want to see the kind of vitriol that goes with this type of appalling behaviour, have a look at the following links, especially the comments on the Printweek site!

...end of rant