SWD - Design for the Arts

SWD is a graphic design company based in London. They have a wide and varied client base and their work covers an extensive range of disciplines. This piece of literature is one of a series of promotional pieces - and this one is particularly aimed at 'Design for the Arts' where they have  broad experience.

Printed offset Litho in CMYK plus a special pale green. It's printed on Omnia 120gsm, which gives it a lovely tactile feel but the images have reproduced superbly. Finished size of the piece is 140mm square.

Folding out to 420mm...

and out again...

to reveal the centre spread - an image promoting The Rabbit Hole at the Hampstead Theatre.

Below image shows the reverse of the mailer.

Design is of course by SWD, Creative Director is Shaun Webb. Printing is by Chadbon Printing.

https://www.swd.uk.com/

https://chrischadbonprinting.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 21.10.2022

Today is James Bond Day

Global James Bond Day is celebrated on the date of the premier of the first Bond movie Dr. No, which premiered on October 5th, 1962...

What better time to review these superb invitations produced for Skyfall, printed on our Sumo and Omnia...

SKYFALL 2012

The James Bond franchise is a global phenomenon and one which over the years has made those involved in the production and marketing a lot of money. However many people may not remember that due to the recession, Bond film number 23 (as Skyfall was then known) was put on hold in 2010 due to lack of cash. Having originally meant to be released in 2011, it was eventually released in October 2012.

Film Premieres of this scale demand lavish and expensive invitations and collateral. In quality terms they must live up to and possibly exceed, the expectations of the forthcoming film.

Below is a small 4pp wallet (with pocket) which is 180mmx107mm, printed offset litho in CMYK plus a gold special colour on Omnia 280gsm with the ticket printed CMYK and hot foil blocked in metallic gold foil on Omnia 280gsm duplexed to 560gsm.  

Click on images to enlarge

The ticket is also hot foil blocked on the reverse.

The launch of this type of film requires several events and these represent tickets for the screenings at The Royal Albert Hall, the Odeon Leicester Square and the after show party at the Tate. As you will notice from the reverse of the wallet (below) the litho printed gold actually looks gold! ..this is a feature of Omnia and where is scores over ordinary uncoated papers.

Below is the ticket for the Odeon Leicester Square which is 99x210mm, Landscape.

The ticket is printed in CMYK plus gloss black foil, which you can hopefully see in the picture below.

This ticket which is also printed on Omnia 280gsm is mounted on our Sumo 2000microns which makes the invitation 2.5mm thick!

Printing is by Identity Print, based in Paddock Wood, Kent and they made a superb job of it - colour reproduction and solids are superb - the hot foil blocking is perfectly executed (Identity are one of the few printers to have hot foil blocking facilities 'in-house')

http://www.identityprint.co.uk/
https://www.007.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 05.10.2022

Jobs from the past - Number 155

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 2012...

Irrational Marks: Bacon and Rembrandt - 2012

Irrational Marks: Bacon and Rembrandt was an exhibition hosted by Savile Row gallery, Ordovas and was concerned with the influences of Rembrandt's self-portraits on Francis Bacon's own self-portraits.

Here's the description of the idea by the designer of the book: "Bacon kept a number of documents and source images relating to Rembrandt's work in his studio. The cover image is one of those working documents on show in the exhibition. Covered in paint from his studio, folded and creased, it represents both artists who lived three hundred years apart. The typography draws you into the eyes, something which Bacon refers to in his acknowledgement of the influence of Rembrandt on his work. The red lettering on the cover along with the red endpapers give a spark of energy and echo the life which is present in both the artists' works."

The size of the book is 240x310mm, portrait and is section sewn, casebound in a paper over board cover. The end-papers are our Colorset Bright Red 120gsm. The 88pp text is divided between two papers. The majority of the book with both editorial content and images is printed on our our Omnia 150gsm which works brilliantly with both the reproduction of the oil paintings and the mono photography (below).

The remainder of the text showing the finished works is on 170gsm silk coated paper.

Design and art direction is by Sinéad Madden and it really is a beautifully designed book. Sinéad also created the exhibition identity, invitations, signage and advertising.

 

Faultless print and finishing is by Pureprint.

https://www.ordovasart.com/

https://sineadmadden.co.uk/

https://www.pureprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.10.2022

Wichelstowe

Wichelstowe is a development by Swindon Borough Council, south of Swindon Old Town. Bell Integrated were commissioned to develop the Wichelstowe place brand, guidelines, messaging, literature and collateral, followed by a site-level sub brand including naming Canalside for a number of mixed use parcels sitting alongside the Wilts Berks Canal. This is the sales brochure for Canalside.

Size of the publication is 265x210mm, portrait with a 4pp cover on Omnia 320gsm and a 12pp text on Omnia 150gsm. 

Click on images to enlarge

The material chosen for the publication is our Omnia. This material has a high bulk, required as effectively this is only a 20pp brochure. The photography has reproduced brilliantly on the Omnia, with the combination of exterior and interior photography and fleshtones..

A really nice feature is the singer sewn binding, which you can see here on both the exterior and interior of the publication.

Click on images to enlarge

Even though the 150gsm text paper is bulky, it still rolls and flows nicely in the hand without feeling too stiff and rigid.

Art direction and design is by Bell Integrated. You can read more about the whole project here: https://www.bell-integrated.co.uk/portfolio/wichelstowe/. Printed offset litho throughout. The excellent print, repro and finishing is by Gavin Martin based in London

https://www.bell-integrated.co.uk/
https://www.gavinmartin.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 09.08.2022

Gorse - Simone Rocha

Simone Rocha was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1986. In 2008 she graduated with a BA in Fashion from The NCAD in Dublin followed by an MA from Central Saint Martins in 2010. Simone debuted at London Fashion Week in September 2010 and her collections can be found in some of the most prestigious stockists in the world.

This year at the British Fashion Awards Simone received the “British Womenswear Designer Award” as well as the 2016 Harper’s Bazaar Designer of Year Award.

This publication is a limited edition book produced in collaboration with photographer Colin Dodgson in Ireland. Titled "Gorse", the scale is a luxuriously large 303x420mm, landscape format, which flops and rolls beautifully.

Front Cover....

There is lots of white space, a very uncluttered feeling.

Click on images to enlarge

The publication is printed offset litho on our Omnia White 120gsm, the result is superb. The look and feel of the whole publication is very uncoated and tactile but there is absolutely no loss of detail in the images.The feeling of space continues with many unprinted pages...

It is bound using three hole sewing in a red thread. Actually this has two rows of three hole sewing. Below is the centre spread, showing the binding on the inside. 

Detail showing the binding (inside)...

Below pic shows detail of the three hole sewing on the spine:

So successful was this publication that many of the images were used as campaign imagery in titles such as Dazed and Confused, The Gentlewoman and Self Service.

Design is by Simmonds. Print production, including the binding is by Pureprint.

https://simonerocha.com/
http://www.simmondsltd.com/
https://www.pureprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 26.07.2022

Preen Home

Preen By Thornton Bregazzi was founded in 1996 by Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi, built on an aesthetic of darkly romantic and effortlessly modern, juxtaposing the masculine with feminine and mixing of hard and soft. Their debut collection at London Fashion Week for Spring Summer 2001 established the brand’s essence of punkish sensibilities with vintage elements and hand crafted details

Preen by Thornton Bregazzi has now expanded to include Preen Home – an opulent offering of soft furnishings

Size of the brochure is 330x240mm, portrait and is singer sewn. The text material chosen was our Omnia, which would beautifully reproduce the photography with the delicate patterns and dark colours superbly - without forgetting the fleshtones ...and it looks wonderful! There is a 4pp cover on Omnia 200gsm and 16pp text on 120gsm.

Click on images to enlarge

Unlike many of the look-books featured on this blog, which are printed offset litho, this has been digitally printed on an HP Indigo press. The colours are strong and punchy and the whole publication has a matt, tactile look and feel - in fact I can honestly say, every bit as good as litho!

Although Omnia was never originally developed for digital, we now keep it as a stock item with "sapphire treatment". This treatment is often applied to more unusual papers and provides a "key" so that the inks (which are different to litho inks) work on the paper surface. The great thing is the job just doesn't look and feel like a digital job. Below is a detail shot showing the excellent fleshtone reproduction.

Click on images to enlarge

Below shows the detail of the red thread used on the singer sewing - just beautiful!

Omnia is a very bulky paper, and the 200gsm cover just works perfectly with the format and the singer sewing

The art direction is by Mark and Chris Thomson and the quality of the direction and photography (by Ash Reynolds) is matched by the exceptional digital print by Screaming Colour.
https://preenbythorntonbregazzi.com/
https://studiothomson.com/
https://www.screamingcolour.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 08.07.2022