Go and hear about how it's done...

Regular followers of the blog know that I often write about talks or lectures that I think might be an interest to readers of this blog and this is just one of those events...

Next Tuesday (21st April) there is a talk being given by designers Carter Wong. The consultancy was founded by two RCA graduates, Phil Carter and Phil Wong in 1984 and over the last thirty years they have produced a considerable body of work. Two of my favourites is their internationally recognised Heartbrand ice cream identity:

...and their work for Howies

But these are just two projects from their extensive portfolio.

So, if you want to hear about the ups and downs of a design business over the last thirty years and pick up some interesting and useful pointers - GET A TICKET. Don't delay.

The talk is titled '60 minutes in 29' and is next Tuesday 21st April and there are still tickets available on Evenbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/60-minutes-at-29-an-evening-with-carter-wong-design-tickets-16157295907

Tickets are only £15 (concessions available). The talk is being held in the Bridewell Hall at the St Bride Foundation in London EC4 on Tuesday 21st April starting at 7pm. The speakers are Phil Carter, Helena Bland, Chris Bounds, Ian Froome, Martyn Garrod and Nicola Taylor

http://www.sbf.org.uk/events/60-minutes-at-29
http://www.sbf.org.uk/
www.carterwongdesign.com

...interestingly I've been a paper merchant for nearly 30 years and I've never knowingly supplied paper for a Carter Wong project in all that time ...and I still think it's worth you going to hear their talk!

Posted by Justin Hobson 16.04.2015

RCA Alumni 2012

This year the RCA is celebrating 175 years. Originally founded as the Government School of Design, it went through another guise as the National Art Training School before it's elevation to the Royal College of Art.

Current membership of the organisation that represents the Alumni of the Royal College of Art, called AlumniRCA is 5,906. Each year they produce a publication to communicate with and about the Alumni and the current activities/developments at the college.

It is a simple, economical format, easy to use for both mailing and display purposes. The format is a 16pp, closed gatefold. Size is A5 folding out to A2 (420x597mm).

Front Cover:

Opening out to:

Opening out again to:

...and folding out to:

Inside, poster image is made up of two images, titled "End of Term Frolic" Students at the National Art Training School 1894: 

Design is by Europa and the designer on the project is Paul Tisdell. The publication is printed on Omnia 120gsm which was chosen because of the tactile feel and the way it would reproduce the images and most importantly the vivid fluorescent orange - which is superb - almost looks like a silkscreen result. The job was printed and finished by Pureprint.

...and thank you to Patricia for kindly sending me some file copies.

175 brand designed by Research studios (http://www.researchstudios.com/)

www.rca.ac.uk/alumni
www.europaeuropa.co.uk
www.pureprint.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 05.03.2011

RCA Alumni 2010

Current membership of the organisation that represents the Alumni of the Royal College of Art, called AlumniRCA is 5,335. Each year they produce a publication to communicate with and about the Alumni and the current activities/developments at the college.

It is a simple, economical format, easy to use for both mailing and display purposes. The format is a 16pp, closed gatefold. Size is A5 folding out to A2 (420x597mm).

Front Cover:

opening out to...

opening out again to...

folding out to...

Design is by Europa and the designer on the project is Paul Tisdell. The publication is printed on Omnia 120gsm which was chosen because of the tactile feel and the way it would reproduce the images, including the one on the reverse, which is a fantastic photograph by Noemie Goudal  (RCA MA Photography 2010)

The job was printed and finished by Pureprint.

www.rca.ac.uk/alumni
www.europaeuropa.co.uk
www.pureprint.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 22.12.2011

Open Books 1

Yesterday evening I went to a private view at the Royal College of Art of an exhibition and book launch. The subject: To exhibit and to show the book

The aim of Open Books is to collect and highlight some initiatives which opens up minds and give cause for reflection.


“This is a book about exhibitions. The exhibitions are about books. They are also exhibitions about exhibitions of books. This unstable series of relations between form & content & between subject & object unfolds further in many of the books on show in the exhibition Open books. This book about books & about exhibitions about books results in endless repetition. It is a self-reflexive structure playing with infinity. That is why it remains open.”

The picture below shows the exhibition area (sans people!):

...and here is the actual publication, edited and produced by Sophie Demay and Charlotte Cheetham, designed by Sophie Demay and Lola Halifa -Legrand. The book is wiro-bound with a red wire and is 190x135mm, portrait. It is printed in 1 colour on a Risograph machine by Hato Press. The materials used are our Colorset Suede, Indigo 270gsm and a wide selection of our other text materials (the beauty of wiro means that you can use many different materials without being limited by producing in 4pp sections).

 

...and here we all are having a jolly time at the viewing!

The project was sponsored by Laurence King Publishing.

http://www.open-books.tumblr.com/
http://www.rca.ac.uk/
http://www.hatopress.net/
http://www.laurenceking.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 24.02.2011

Jobs from the past - Number 16

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...

RCA Fashion MA - 2004
This is the show catalogue for the graduating students and is a really lovely piece of literature.

It is an extremely conventional A4 size but that's where conventional starts and stops. The cover uses a plain utilitarian board (our Tridon Greyboard 750mics) which is unprinted save for the type which is hot foil blocked in gloss clear foil. The cover boards are mounted on a false cover which reveals a strip of exposed green bookcloth along the spine. This is commonly (but not universally) called 'Sussex Bound'. The text of the whole book is 'French Folded' - this is where the folded edges are on the foredge of the book, as in the picture below:

The material used for the text is our Offenbach Bible in 60gsm and this piece is a triumph of print (especially fleshtone reproduction) and print finishing. It has 100pp or printed sides (which I would normally describe as 100 x 4pp french folded sections) - this actually makes 200pp but because the other side is unprinted and the ends are bound, each 4pp = 2pp. It's a bit tricky but if you think about it, it makes sense. French folding with a material like Offenbach Bible feels fantastic because the weight of the material lets the pages flop and flow beautifully.

Design and concept was by Larissa Nowicki. Photography by Helga Steppan. The superb repro, printing and finishing was by a company called Trichrom, which sadly doesn't exist anymore. However David Holyday, who produced much of this work for the RCA including this job is still producing print on a consultancy basis. [d.holyday@googlemail.com]

http://www.rca.ac.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 01.02.2011

RCA - MA Fashion

Over the years I have been lucky enough to have been involved in several of the catalogues for the RCA MA Fashion course. One particularly memorable job was the 2004 catalogue, the text of which was all on Offenbach Bible 50gsm, made up entirely of French Folded sections.


This year's catalogue is also exceptional. It is a 290x215mm format. It is "swiss bound" [for those of you who are unfamiliar, this is where the text block is section sewn and glued. Then binding tape is applied around the spine and then this text "block" is glued/bound into the inside back cover by a strip of glue running parallel to the spine. The spine of the actual cover is therefore "freestanding" and not glued to the cover so opens and sits completely flat] which is a lovely finish and brings a material/textile feel to the binding.


The book is cleverley divided into five sections using bright divider spreads- MW-WW-MK-WK-AF (Menswear, Womenswear... etc).

Design is by Mark El-khatib (mark.el-khatib@network.rca.ac.uk)


The superb repro and printing is by David Holyday
d.holyday@googlemail.com

...and now for the paper! The paper used for this project is StarFine White - 300gsm for the cover and 130gsm for the text. The colour reproduction is fantastic - although it goes without saying that it is as much to do with the originals and the repro treatment as it is with the paper!

http://www.rca.ac.uk/