Pentagram Papers 48

Pentagram Papers are an anthology of documents, cataloguing areas of interest of the partners behind the world renowned design firm, Pentagram. They are produced to be given to clients and colleagues of the firm and have been produced since 1975. The quirky booklets cover a range of curious, entertaining, stimulating, provocative and occasionally controversial points of view.

This is the latest edition, produced by one of the most recently appointed partners in the London office, Luke Powell. The title of this edition is "Long Lens, Wide Angle" and the subject is the Magnum photography cooperative, founded in 1947.

Size is 210x140mm, portrait with an 8pp cover and 48pp text.

The text pages are printed on Omnia 150gsm and it is a great example of just how well this paper prints, having said that, images such as these would look pretty good on anything! The high bulk of Omnia gives this 48pp publication a respectable 6mm spine.

Click on images to enlarge

Omnia was chosen is because it would beautifully reproduce the wide variety of very different images and feel special - with the reproduction that you would expect on a silk or gloss but with a natural tactile uncoated feel.

I must make a special mention about the printing, which is exceptional. Print is by Boss Print, based in West London and it is is printed offset litho using their Vivid Colour™ process. This colour technique has been combined in this project with the mono images being printed in duotone using two blacks (see above) and as you will see from the detail image below, the colour reproduction is superb.

The publication is section sewn in 12pp sections as you can see above and the thread used is black coloured thread which coordinates with the cover (below image).

The cover is printed on an embossed coverboard from that well known "Hull-based" paper merchant! ...and I must point out that it is printed black litho onto a white board with the type and keylines reversed out - but what about the black edge? I hear you ask. Well, the cover has been colour edged black, so there is no white edge. Great attention to detail by the printer Boss Print.

Design for this edition is by Luke Powell's team at Pentagram. This is a really special piece of print. Beg or steal a copy if you can...!

https://www.magnumphotos.com/
https://www.pentagram.com/
https://www.bossprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.02.2020

Jobs from the past - Number 113

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. This project is from the year 2000.

RIBA - The Value of Architecture
This book published under the 'RIBA Future Studies' banner. They published a series of papers and this one 'Context and current thinking' is written by Eric Loe. It examines how economic models have developed over time to define the boundaries of cost and value in building.

The book is A5 (210x148mm) size, portrait. It is section sewn giving it a 7mm spine. The book has a 4pp cover printed on our Matrisse 280gsm and a 62pp text on our Matrisse 160gsm.

The book is printed offset litho in just two colours throughout.

There are few images, which are just reproduced as halftones and the design of the publication is one of typographic clarity.

Image showing the section sewn binding (7mm spine)

Cover photography is by Richard Learoyd. Design is by Cartlidge Levene ...and as I think you can appreciate from the images, this is a very beautiful piece of typographic design.

You can read the document here:
https://docplayer.net/28035983-The-value-of-architecture-context-and-current-thinking-eric-loe-ribafuture-studies.html

The book was printed by Principal Colour, who are still based in Paddock Wood in Kent.

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

Posted by Justin Hobson 04.03.2018

10 Park Drive

10 Park Drive is a residential development in Canary Wharf, London E14. This exquisite building is designed by award winning architects, Stanton Williams. The development includes 74 studios, 115 one-bedroom apartments, 141 two-bedroom apartments and 15 three-bedroom apartments, is anticipated to complete in 2019. Award winning interiors firm, Make Architects, has ensured the lobby and apartments are unique in appearance, yet exquisite in design and quality.

This superlative promotional brochure gives a flavour of the development, showing the interiors, surrounding area, lifestyle and floorplans etc. 

The size of the brochure is 340x240mm, portrait in a limp bound cover. With a 102pp text, this makes a spine of 12mm thickness, which is a substantial book size.

It is 'section sewn' in 8pp sections as you can see above.

The cover is hot foil blocked on a Cool Grey, linen embossed 350gsm board from that other well known Hull based paper merchant! It has a full flap on the inside front cover (above pic)

The text is printed on our Omnia 150gsm. Reproduction is superb whilst still having an excellent bulk with a tactile and engaging feel. Printed offset litho throughout.

Click on images to enlarge

The striking commissioned photography has reproduced brilliantly on the Omnia whilst not losing the tactility and natural uncoated feel that was required. The look and feel is a confident piece of literature, not some "glossy property brochure"...

There is a section spread with throwouts left and right to show the panoramic images.

...opening out to:

Section dividers are all bright and vivid

The superb art direction and design is by London based graphic and digital design group Socrates Communications.

The excellent print quality and finishing is by Kingsley Print and Design, based in Egham in Surrey. Sales Director is Bradley Vaughan. It's the first time that a piece of their work has appeared on this blog and if this project is indicative of the quality of their work, I'm sure there will be many more pieces of their work on this blog in the future!

http://group.canarywharf.com/
http://socratesint.com/
http://www.kingsleyprint.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 21.03.2017

Balvac 80th Anniversary

The use of concrete doesn't sound like the most exciting of subjects, but this book is about exactly that and it is a fascinating story.

Established in 1933, Balvac is a leading specialist contractor undertaking repair, strengthening, refurbishment and protection of civil and building structures throughout the UK. Their work includes road and rail bridges, tunnels, highways, marine structures, power stations, water treatment works, multi-storey car parks, residential and commercial buildings, and heritage structures. They are now part of the Balfour Beatty group.

Click on images to enlarge

The size of the publication is 245x180mm, portrait. The cover is printed on our Colorset Light Grey 350gsm, with a 56pp text printed on Omnia 150gsm

Designer on the project is Paul Grogan whilst at Manchester agency Make Complex Simple. The piece is profiled on his website as "a design project to make concrete sexy". Paul goes on to say... "It was a graphic designers dream. All this amazing source material to play with. The only problem was there was just too much to play with. The after wading through countless stories, news clippings and slides, we were finally able to agree a budget and page plan. The stories include the famous Summit tunnel fire in Lancashire, secret bank buildings, and a stolen dogs ear!"

The cover is beautifully blind embossed and it works perfectly with the black binding tape around the spine.

The cover has 135mm wide flaps on the inside front and back covers, which covers up the embossing on the inside. It also gives a "limp bound" publication, such as this, a "bookier" feel.

Below shows detail of the black binding tape around the spine.

The book is organised into spreads which tell a particular story, either of the company

...of a product, this is about Gunite

or of particular projects

Click on images to enlarge



The text is printed offset litho on Omnia, which looks and feels just beautiful. It perfectly shows the images, illustrating the stories - lots of detail and excellent reproduction and great solids - no patchiness or mottle. It is totally in sympathy with the rough concrete interiors - tactile and engaging.

The binding is section sewn and below shows the detail:

The publication is made from just the right weights, it flows in the hand and the pages turn over easily.

Photography is by Claire Wood Photography. Printing and finishing is by Galloways Printers in Poynton. You can read more about this project here:

http://www.thinkdesignagency.co.uk/a-design-project-to-make-concrete-sexy/

www.balvac.co.uk

http://www.thinkdesignagency.co.uk/

http://www.galloways.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 31.01.2017