Jobs from the past - Number 146

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...

Nougat Preview S/S 2005
This is one of those simple pieces of print which is just exquisite. It is the preview piece produced to excite fashion buyers and to let them know at which fashion shows around the globe they will be showing the new collection. From that point of view, it can simply be described as a piece of 'direct mail' but that term is generally applied in a derogatory way and really doesn't do justice to this project.

It is simply a 6pp creased and folded card. Deceptively square, it's actually 150x140mm, portrait. It is printed in one colour on the outside and CMYK on the inside.

So what is it exactly that I find so special about this job? It was one of the first ever pieces to use Omnia and what is amazing is the way it feels so beautifully tactile and uncoated and then the way it reveals the amazing images inside. The outside cover is a continuous vignette as a halftone going from 0 to 100%. This is ingenious as it graduates in a crisp even way across the front cover - the even-ness in part, due to the way the Omnia prints and retains the integrity of the monotone.

The cover opens to reveal part of a stunning image plus reversed out type on a great solid, which is, of course, the continued solid from the front and back cover. Printed on Omnia White 280gsm.

 ...and then opening the right hand page reveals the image in all it's glory:

Below you can see the way the continuous vignette works from Zero to 100% 

 and here is a detail showing the subtlety of the tint:

This project together with the Nougat look-books at this time were designed by BOB Design. The creative partners at BOB were Alexis Burgess, Mireille Burkhardt and Kieran O'Connor. Lexi now runs his own studio in East London, Burgess Studio.

The excellent printing was by Principal Colour based in Paddock Wood in Kent. It's also worth pointing out that this job isn't "sealed, varnished or coated" in any way and this is the main reason that it feels so good - you can actually feel the paper and the ink. Since the time this was printed (2005) there has been a trend to install presses with coaters and most pieces of printed literature are smeared with a coating or sealer which (although making the printer's lives easier) betrays the feel of the paper ...and (what a lot of printers fail to mention) it discolours with age - now that's definitely something worth thinking about!

http://www.nougatlondon.co.uk/
www.bobdesign.co.uk
www.burgess-studio.co.uk
www.principalcolour.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 04.01.2022

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 142

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 projects from years gone by and this is from 2009.

Misfits - Channel 4 November 2009

This is a promotional Zine produced by Channel 4 to promote their series called Misfits, which is about five young outsiders on Community Service who get caught in a strange storm and discover that they have developed superpowers. This Zine was published as a promotional item before the premier which was aired on Thursday 12th November 2009.

I got a call from Alice Tonge at Channel 4 Creative who briefed me along with Keeley Pratt about the project wanted to produce a publication as close to a Zine as possible. The design and illustration can create the look but the materials are thing that clinch it!

Size is 260 x 165mm and it has a 4pp cover and a 24pp text.

Above you can see the high gloss cover - and this is where the Zine magic happens, because Astralux being a 'Cast Coated' paper it has a high gloss surface one side and is uncoated on the reverse, so you get the juxtaposition of the high gloss coated with the toothy uncoated reverse (printed purple) as I hope you will be able to see in the image below...

The cover is printed on a lightweight 170gsm Astralux 1 sided. Inside front spread...

The text is printed in CMYK, offset litho 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, reprocing the illustrations and flat cover with the zine look and feel...

Centre spread...

The 24pp text just rolls and flops like a Zine would do on a lightweight paper 

This is the perfect facsimile of a Zine. It's one of those projects I look back on and feel that the end result hit the brief perfectly. Art direction and design is in house by 4 Creative with Alice Tonge as creative director and Keeley Pratt as producer. Print production is by Tag Worldwide and the print and finishing is by Principal Colour based in Paddock Wood, Kent.

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/misfits

http://www.principalcolour.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson .02.09.2021

PMC Notes #12

Based in London’s Bedford Square, the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art is an educational charity that champions new ways of understanding British art history and culture. The Centre was founded in 1970 by the art collector and philanthropist Paul Mellon. It is part of Yale University and a partner to the Yale Centre for British Art. 

PMC Notes is the the Centre's newsletter...

Size is A5, 210x148mm portrait and is saddle stitched. 4pp cover and 28pp text.

It is printed on our Pergraphica Natural Rough, 150gsm for the cover and 100gsm for the text. The natural shade is just perfect to work with the style of publication and images used.

As you can see above, the lightweight materials flow really well in the hand and as you can see in the image below, the centre spread with a really heavy CMYK image, which has printed superbly.

The below image shows the superbly finished saddle stitching, nice neat and flat...

Design is by Baillie Card and Harriet Fisher. Printing is by Principal Colour with Steve Kirkham handling the project. A really superb piece of design and print. 

https://www.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk/

http://www.principalcolour.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 20.07.2021

Jobs from the past - Number 136

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 2003.

The Fourth Estate Catalogue 

January-June 2003

The Fourth Estate is a publishers that many people will be familiar with. Founded by Victoria Barnsley in 1984, Fourth Estate built a reputation as one of the most innovative and eclectic imprints in the industry, with a reputation for publishing a wide variety of critically-acclaimed and beautifully-produced titles including many prize winning authors (Booker, Orange etc).

One of the things that made the Fourth Estate stand out from the crowd was their catalogues - they were simply amazing pieces of design and print! I was lucky enough to work on a few different catalogues in the late 90's and early 2000's. Every single one was different and brilliant. Good designers were commissioned, Bogue & Hopgood, Instinct, Pentagram, Rose Design, Frost, Neville Brody, Tom Hingston to name a few. In line with their reputation for publishing unconventional yet innovative titles, the design of the catalogue was equally eclectic.

The design and art direction is by Vince Frost with the superb illustrations by Marion Deuchars. This is a very special project where the creative direction, excellent execution of the images and high production values all come together.

The illustrations by Marion Deuchars were created using Carbon Paper. If you aren't familiar with carbon paper, it is the original way to make a copy on a typewriter, the impression from the top copy being made on an underneath sheet. So these wonderful illustrations are already second generation copies.

The size of the book is 225x160mm, portrait. It has an 4pp cover and a 88pp text and is printed on on our Redeem 100% Recycled 315gsm cover and 130gsm text.

The book is printed one colour, halftone, throughout and it is printed with all the imperfections that the carbon paper produces as you can see from the detail image below...

Most of the images are just illustrated on the left hand side but some of the pages are illustrated across the spread.

Pages 61-80 include just listings:

...and pages 81-87 is the backlist:

Below shows the 8mm spine with the neat perfect binding.

The 88pp text flows well and the pages turn nicely in the hand.

The covers and inside cover spreads are made using scans of the carbon paper used by Marion, which are composite images and look great.

Design and art direction is by Vince Frost. Illustrations by Marion Deuchars. Printing is by Principal Colour in Kent.

So, where is everybody now?.... Victoria Barnsley, founder of Fourth Estate, joined Harper Collins as CEO and Publisher in 2000 when it acquired her company, leaving in 2013. Marion Deuchars is a very popular illustrator and has recently published some instructional art books. Vince Frost left for the sunnier climate of Australia around eighteen years ago and runs Frost* in Sydney. Principal Colour are in Paddock Wood in Kent and Fenner Paper? ...yep, we're still here! 

https://www.4thestate.co.uk/

https://www.frostcollective.com.au/

https://www.mariondeuchars.com/

http://www.principalcolour.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.03.2021

Community Clothing 04

Founded by British Fashion Designer Patrick Grant, Community Clothing is a social enterprise with a simple mission - to make excellent quality affordable clothes for men and women, to create great jobs for skilled workers and by doing this help to restore real pride in Britain’s textile communities. They do this by working with under utilised UK factories during their quiet periods, which is a great concept.

This is Community Clothing's look-book and catalogue CC4 and it is an absolutely superb publication, wonderful art direction, photography and printing. I wrote about the previous publication CC3, last year.

The size is 315x210mm, portrait and is a 32pp self cover which flops and rolls really nicely in the hand....

Click on images to enlarge

The publication is printed on our Shiro Echo, White 80gsm which is 100% Recycled and also carries the FSC Recycled classification. 

Shiro Echo is available in two shades; there is a white shade (which is a natural/off white) which is a bit like a newsprint/newspaper shade and a Bright White shade.

The publication is printed offset litho in CMYK throughout. The colour is bright and vibrant and the image reproduction is excellent as I hope you can see - bear in mind it's printed on an 80gsm 100% Recycled!

Below is a detail image which shows the excellent image quality - note the excellent fleshtone reproduction.

Click on images to enlarge

The below spread explains the mission and the locations in the UK where the 28 factories are located.

Design is by Moving Brands. Printing is by Principal Colour. A really superb piece of design and print.

https://communityclothing.co.uk/

https://www.movingbrands.com/

http://www.principalcolour.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 15.12.2020