Picpus #22

Picpus is a free magazine edited by Charles Asprey and Simon Grant. It carries articles from the art world, with a particular interest in historical curiosities, overlooked artists, arts and politics and is distributed through a selection of specialised art bookshops, galleries and libraries.

The format of Picpus is a folded down broadsheet, measuring 594x420mm (A1 size) which folds down to a 32pp A6 (105x148mm) finished size.

Click on images to enlarge

Picpus is printed quarterly and this is issue 22 issue published in Autumn last year in memory of Karsten Schubert, publisher and gallerist (1961-2019). It is an edition of 4000 copies. Below shows the broadsheet folded out flat...

...and the reverse side

Picpus is printed on Redeem 100% Recycled 80gsm and is printed offset litho, CMYK on both sides and as you can see from the detail image below the print result is excellent.

Design is by Studio Ard and is printed by Push Print, who have printed every issue since it's inception. The publication is held together with a small round sticker with serrated middle, holding it flat.

http://www.charlesasprey.london/picpus-press.html
http://www.ard.works/
http://www.push-print.com/ 

Posted by Justin Hobson 15.06.2020

The Weeping Cufflinks

This is the latest poetry publication from Tom Sharp and is described as "a capitalist folk-horror cautionary tale in the manner of a Jacobean pamphlet". It is designed and woodcut illustrated by Katherina Tudball. This is their third creative collaboration and a part of the Faery Fellers project.

Size is 230x145mm, portrait and is a 24pp self cover printed on our Redeem 100% Recycled 100gsm.

Click on images to enlarge

Below is centre spread. The binding is three hole sewn, in keeping with a style of binding that would have been familiar even in the 17th century ...before the invention of staples!

The below image shows the binding, using natural thread

Redeem 100% Recycled is a neutral white shade and is just perfect for this publication - many designers might have just used a cream paper, but this is just the right paper and really works superbly with the wonderful type and woodcut.

Detail of the woodcuts...

Click on images to enlarge

The below image shows the external image of the three hole sewing,

The printing, finishing and binding is by Boss Print who are based in Acton, West London. The edition is 1000 copies and you can buy a copy here.

https://www.thepoetryofitall.com/
https://www.faeryfellers.com/
https://www.bossprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 28.04.2020

Jobs from the past - Number 125

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 publication is from 2002.

sweet

In 2002, two very well known art directors collaborated to market themselves as Sweet. Vince Frost and Balwant Ahira have different backgrounds but paired up to deliver a united package to clients and this broadsheet 'newspaper' style offering was their superbly produced promotional piece...

Sweet is an A1 (594x420mm) size publication folding out to a massive 594x840mm, which is what was needed to make give these amazing spreads room to breathe - spreads from The Independent, The Guardian, Nova etc...  

Click on images to enlarge

The centre spread is their 'pitch' (copy by Michael Watts) printed solid red and looks amazing.

It is printed on our Redeem 100% Recycled 100gsm which is has a neutral white shade which gives the publication a 'newspaper' feel which really suits the editorial work that is being shown and which prints amazingly, as I hope these images show...

It is a 16pp publication and is unbound.

Above and below you can see the 4x4pp sections spread out with the outside back cover cover:

It is printed offset litho in two colours (yes, just 2 colours!) offset litho by Principal Colour - which means that these mono images are just produced as halftones - and don't they look fab?

Click on images to enlarge

...just to give you a sense of scale, the below image shows the publication open next to a 1 metre rule - the scale is big!

Design and art direction is by Vince Frost and Balwant Ahira.

So, where is everybody now?....

Vince Frost left for the sunnier climate of Australia around seventeen years ago and runs Frost* in Sydney. Balwant Ahira is an independent creative director. Principal Colour are in Paddock Wood in Kent and Fenner Paper? ...yep, we're still here!

http://www.frostdesign.com.au/

http://www.studioahira.com/

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

Posted by Justin Hobson 03.03,2020

The SPAB Approach

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings was founded by William Morris in 1877. The organisation was established in response to the work of Victorian architects whose enthusiasm for harmful restoration caused irreparable damage. Today the SPAB encourages excellence in new design to enrich and complement the built historic environment. They train new generations of architectural professionals and building craftspeople to shape this landscape with sensitivity and skill, and play a statutory role as adviser to local planning authorities.

This beautifully designed publication serves as the introduction to the society and gives insight into the historical background, conservation philosophy and is the first major manifesto publication.

Size is 240x190mm, portrait and is saddle stitched. The 4pp cover is on Colorset Natural 170gsm with a 24pp text on Redeem 100% Recycled 100gsm.

Click on images to enlarge

Redeem 100% Recycled is a neutral white shade and really works with the subject matter, both with the images and most importantly, the pages which are purely type...

Click on images to enlarge

Spine is neatly creased and saddle stitched. The booklet is printed offset litho by Herald Graphics who are based in Reading.

The cover printed on Colorset Natural 170gsm has a wonderful image of a wood engraving printed on the outside and this really works with the tactility of the 100% Recycled paper...

A really lovely feature is the debossed 'plate sunk' panel in the cover, which I hope you can make out in the image below.

It's a lovely touch that perfectly finishes this superbly crafted publication. Graphic design and typography is by Sara Chapman at the letter g.

https://www.spab.org.uk/

https://www.letterg.co.uk/

http://www.heraldgraphics.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 24.02.2020

Picpus

Picpus is a free magazine edited by Charles Asprey and Simon Grant. It carries articles from the art world, with a particular interest in historical curiosities, overlooked artists, arts and politics and is distributed through a selection of specialised art bookshops, galleries and libraries. 

The format of Picpus is a folded down broadsheet, measuring 594x420mm (A1 size) which folds down to a 32pp A6 (105x148mm) finished size. 

Click on images to enlarge

Picpus is printed quarterly and there have been 22 issues so far, this issue is a reprint of issue #1 with a special cover by Christian Flamm in a limited edition of 1000 copies only.

Below shows the broadsheet folded out...

...and the reverse side:

Picpus is printed on Redeem 100% Recycled 80gsm and is printed offset litho, CMYK one side and one colour (black) on the reverse. Design is by Alfonso Iacurci and is printed by Push Print based in London.

http://www.charlesasprey.london/picpus-press.html
http://www.push-print.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 21.10.2019

Victorian Blogging ...an exhibition

Yesterday evening, the opening event for the exhibition titled Victorian Blogging opened at the Conway Hall.

Conway Hall is the oldest surviving freethought organisation in the world. The only surviving ethical surviving ethical society in the world, it is named in honour of Moncure Daniel Conway (1832 – 1907), anti-slavery advocate, out-spoken supporter of free thought and biographer of Thomas Paine.

The exhibition is about the humble Pamphlet, the original type of blog. Since the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century, pamphlets have been used for a variety of purposes – from reports of meetings and court cases to reproducing political speeches, from spreading religious messages to spreading gossip and tall stories – but their great strength lies in the weaponry of their words for political and social protest. Where previously the political elite had been able to easily keep information from the masses, pamphlets opened access to ‘ordinary people’, enabling them to begin to criticise their political and religious masters and demand involvement in the decisions that affected their daily lives.

This exhibition will showcases the key campaigns, movements and agitators represented in Conway Hall Library’s nineteenth-century pamphlet collection. It is part of the Conway Hall's National Lottery Heritage Funded project to digitise the pamphlets and make them freely available online.

This is the publication that accompanies the exhibition. It's an 18pp concertina folded publication, size is 104 x 146mm, folding out to 308 x 438mm.

It is digitally printed on our Redeem 100% Recycled 100gsm and as you can see, the result is superb. The paper is uncoated with a neutral white shade giving the publication a feel which really works with the subject and is sympathetic with the period.

Design is by Gareth Humphreys. Digital printing is by Typecast Colour in Paddock Wood.

You can read more about the exhibition which runs until the end of January here:
https://conwayhall.org.uk/event/victorian-blogging-the-pamphleteers-who-dared-to-dream-of-a-better-world/

https://conwayhall.org.uk/

http://www.typecast.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 13.09.2019

Brucker - Type Specimen Book

Since 1998 Jeremy Tankard Typography has been designing award-winning type and producing typographic solutions for clients across the world. His latest typeface is called Brucker and through it's robust presence, is designed to create an aggravated and expressive text image. The family has 4 weights in 2 styles all with a disjointed baseline and charged rhythm.

The size of the booklet is around A5, but what is hard to show here in the images is that the foredge is trimmed asymmetrically as I hope you can see in the detail image below...

Click on images to enlarge

Size of the book is 210x140mm, portrait going down to a minimum width of 125mm at it's narrowest point, the asymmetry of the foredge emphasising the disjointed baseline and charged rhythm of the typeface itself.

The publication is a 16pp 'self-cover' printed on our Redeem 100% Recycled. This paper has a warm off-white tone which softened the glare that high whites often have and worked perfectly with the ox-blood brown and minty turquoise palette used.

Printed in three colours, offset litho by Langham Press in Cambridge. They also worked out the best way to work out how to produce the asymmetrical edge. The booklet is saddle stitched.

This is a really superb piece of print. Simple, effective and using an interesting technique (asymetric foredge) to create a difference and relate to the actual subject of the publication ALSO...how lovely to see a project NOT in CMYK!

https://typography.net/
https://www.langhampress.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 14.08.2019