Fenner Paper Diary 2025

If you are a user of the Fenner Paper ranges and therefore one of our wonderful customers, you may well have already received one of our wonderful new 2025 diaries... 

The cover has been designed by Carol Kemp using drawn lettering and brush calligraphy. In a career of over 30 years, Carol has produced lettering for over 800 books and logos for numerous brands worldwide

The 4pp cover is printed on our Creative Print, Diamond 270gsm using an HP Indigo digital press. The 40pp text is printed in one colour, on our lovely Offenbach Bible 60gsm, which has a superb opacity and a good writing surface making this an ideal paper for a diary or notebook.

The diary has been put together by long term collaborator and friend David Coates using typefaces from Buy Fonts Save Lives that raises money to support Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support.

As in previous years, the diary is 230x162mm, portrait and retains the popular 'month to view' format.

Buy Fonts Save Lives sells typefaces to raise money to support Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support. 100% of the proceeds go to the charities and to date, over £150,000 has been raised!

Founded by Paul Harpin in memory of his niece Laura who sadly died from cancer, aged just 26. We’re delighted to support and help promote the initiative with our diaries. Any purchases of the fonts help to raise vital funds that literally save lives.

If you are one of our worthy clients (!), you should be receiving one of our diaries in the post. If you want to make sure you are in our address book, drop me an email: justin@fennerpaper.co.uk. For people who aren't customers, they are available to buy through the St Bride Foundation here:

https://stbridelibrary.bigcartel.com/product/fenner-paper-diary-2025

Posted by Justin Hobson 13.12.2024

St Bride Foundation Design Conclave 2024

On Saturday it was the Design Conclave at the St Bride Foundation. Nine fantastic speakers and a whole day of thinking outside the lines...

It all began at 10.30...

https://www.instagram.com/danieljames.photographic/

https://www.instagram.com/danieljames.photographic/

The online audience reached far and wide from Ipswich to Texas to Paris - a truly global event.

https://www.instagram.com/danieljames.photographic/

Here are just a couple of the words received so far from attendees which resonates with how everyone on the day felt: 

‘It was absolutely inspiring listening to all the amazing speakers and learning about their creative journey, how they got to where they are now, and how each of them created their own unique space in the industry. It was also really great getting to talk to them afterwards and connect with the other creatives in the room.’

‘I loved how the speakers were so unafraid of finding their place in work – it seems so freeing.’

‘I just wanted to share my thoughts on yesterday’s event at St Bride Foundation – it was truly amazing! I found it incredibly inspiring, especially Kelli Anderson’s presentation. Please keep organising events like this! :)’

https://www.instagram.com/danieljames.photographic/

‘Thank you so much for organising such a brilliant event! I felt so inspired by the speakers and the range of different work . . . It was also super special to hear about the speaker’s own doubts and struggles and how their work helped get them out of challenging points in their lives. I spent the rest of the weekend doing crafts as I felt so motivated to do work just for me!’

‘I have found this event to be very useful in thinking “outside the lines” by hearing all these amazing creatives talk about their processes and creative journeys. It has been amazing finding these creatives – the majority to which I haven't heard of – and seeing their outlooks on how they got where they are. I especially loved Aoife Dooley and Seb Lester’s talks! I have been given a better understanding creating opportunities for yourself by being unique doing the things you love and experimenting, all of which I have been trying to embody in my work.’

Everyone was invited to spend some time in the workshop, which they thoroughly enjoyed...

https://www.instagram.com/danieljames.photographic/

As one of the sponsors of the event, we were invited to have a 'stall' where I showed samples of papers from our ranges as well as printed examples...

Fenner Paper are pleased to be one of the sponsors of this superb event and I had a great day too!

Posted by Justin Hobson 30.09.2024

Outside the Lines – Design Conclave 2024

Do you follow your own path? Are you yearning to break the mould? Do you like to colour outside the lines? We thought so. Pack your pencils and join us for the eagerly awaited St Bride Foundation Design Conclave 2024. In a building housing the machines and artefacts of the history of print and design we come together once again to explore the contemporary and cast a look into the future of our international creative community. 

Catch up with friends and colleagues and listen to this year’s tremendous speakers, traversing a typescape from digital to tangible media, criss-crossing augmented reality, illustration, album sleeves, brand design, zines, paper engineering, food and more than you could possibly imagine . . . 

‘One of the most inspirational design events of the year, always full of wit and wisdom, in the gorgeous surroundings of the unique St Bride Library. Not to be missed!’ Alistair Hall, We Made This ‘A designer’s dream day out.’ Bethany Plummer, Baxter & Bailey ‘An amazing opportunity to make new connections, learn and ignite your creative spark.’ Anna, DutchScot 

Attendees will also be able to explore the letterpress workshop and try their hand at printing. A copy of the conference poster designed by Jon Gray will be given to all in-person attendees. 

Schedule (in-person):

09.45am: Registration

10.30am: Conference Starts and Welcome Introduction 

10.40am: Micaela Alcaino 

11.15am: Charlotte Bartrop 

11.50am: Kate Dawkins 

12.30pm: Lunch 

14.00pm: Introduction 

14.05pm: Aoife Dooley 

14.40pm: Kelli Anderson 

15.15pm: Seb Lester 

15.45pm: Break

16:15pm: Introduction

16.20pm: Tudinh Duong 

16.55pm: Danielle Duncan 

17.30pm: Malcolm Garrett

18.15pm Conference Ends

18.15pm Conference After Party

21.00pm Party Ends

Principal Sponsor:
Sorkin Type

Sponsors:
Fenner Paper and
Fleet Street Quarter

It's all happenning on Saturday 28th September 2024 (and online too). In-person tickets: £80.00, £70.00, £60.00 

Event curation: Becky Chilcott. With special thanks to Sallyanne Theodosiou for the inspiration for this year’s theme ‘Outside the Lines.’

You can book your tickets HERE

https://sbf.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.09.2024

The 2024 Wayzgoose at the St Bride Foundation

Here's a date for your diary... 

The Annual St Bride Foundation Wayzgoose is taking place on Sunday 28th April. Wayzgoose is a term (unfamiliar to many people) that used to refer to an annual holiday in a printworks and was often an away-day to the coast or some other sort of day out, more often than not, paid for by the firm. However, in this instance the St Bride's Wayzgoose is a kind of letterpress 'bring and buy' sale.

There are companies selling type, letterpress accessories, ink and lots of letterpress printed books and cards and the proceeds from the event go towards the St Bride Foundation. Why not come along... ?

For interest, this is what the last Wayzgoose was like: 

https://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-annual-wayzgoose-at-st-bride.html

https://sbf.org.uk/ 

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.04.2024

The annual Wayzgoose at the St Bride Foundation

 The 7th Wayzgoose

Yesterday, I had a stall at the St Bride Foundation WAYZGOOSE. This is a term (unfamiliar to most people) that used to refer to an annual holiday in a print-works and was often an awayday to the coast or some other sort of day out, more often than not, paid for by the firm. In this instance the St Bride Wayzgoose is a kind of letterpress 'bring and buy' sale.

Thirty or so tables displaying and selling many different items - everything from lead type to the Adana tabletop presses (see below picture) from Caslon, to secondhand books and printed examples of work.

Below is the table that I was allocated, where, as with previous years, I adopted a "throw it all on the table" approach! I took lots of offcuts and discontinued paper and board items. All paper and card sold by weight - 40 pence per 100 grams.

I served at my 'paper stall' from 11am to 4pm  ...and by the end of the day I had raised £280, all donated to the St Bride Foundation.

...and here is my beautifully crafted 'Weigh & Pay' signage.by Helen Ingham from the Hi Artz Press - It's now lasted four wayzgooses!

My thanks to all the staff and friends at St Bride's who organised the event.
https://sbf.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 22.05.2023

Hard Work and Dumb Luck: 39 Years of Work and Play

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 happening next week...

Navigating – and surviving – a design career that’s heading into its 40th year can be a challenge. But it’s not without its rewards! Come and listen to the story of Gail Anderson, a type-loving designer who’s moved from book covers to magazines to Broadway theatre to education. Grab your popcorn (and dental floss) – it’s sure to be an interesting ride. 

Gail Anderson is an NYC-based designer, educator, and writer. She is Chair of BFA Design and BFA Advertising at the School of Visual Arts and creative director at Visual Arts Press. Anderson has served as senior art director at Rolling Stone, creative director of design at SpotCo, and as a designer at The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine and Vintage Books. She has taught at SVA for over 30 years and has co-authored 15 books on design, typography, and illustration with Steven Heller.Anderson serves on the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee for the US Postal Service and the advisory boards of Poster House and The One Club for Creativity. She is an AIGA Medalist, the 2018 recipient of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement, and a 2022 Art Directors Club Manship Medallion honoree.

Her work is represented in the Library of Congress’ permanent collection, the Milton Glaser Design Archives, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. www.behance.net/gailycurl5504

Wednesday 3rd May 2023 Online via Zoom Online time (BST): 7:00-8:30pm Online tickets (BST): £4.50, £6.50

Book Tickets HERE 

Posted by Justin Hobson 30.04.2023

The 2023 Wayzgoose at the St Bride Foundation

Here's a date for your diary...

The Annual St Bride Foundation Wayzgoose is taking place on Sunday 21st May. 

Wayzgoose is a term (unfamiliar to many people) that used to refer to an annual holiday in a printworks and was often an away-day to the coast or some other sort of day out, more often than not, paid for by the firm. However, in this instance the St Bride's Wayzgoose is a kind of letterpress 'bring and buy' sale. There are companies selling type, letterpress accessories, ink and lots of letterpress printed books and cards and the proceeds from the event go towards the St Bride Foundation. 

Why not come along... ? For interest, this is what the last Wayzgoose was like: https://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-annual-wayzgoose-at-st-bride.html

https://sbf.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 12.04.2023

The Beatrice Warde Memorial Lecture 2022

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... 

This year's Beatrice Warde Memorial Lecture is being delivered by Nicolas Barker at the St Bride Foundation.

Renowned as ‘The First Lady of Typography’, Nicolas first met Beatrice in the late 1940s. He describes her as a force of nature, and an enthusiast for printing and printers of all types. She wrote several works on the subject, especially supporting British Typographer Stanley Morison. Warde was the best ever sales-person for Monotype, its products and users; and she was known, indeed a by-word, throughout the world of printing and design. As a lone female voice in the male-dominated printing Industry, her success and popularity challenged the idea that being male was a prerequisite for a prosperous career in printing. According to Nicolas, her book, 'The Crystal Goblet' is the best guide to typographic design ever written.

You can read more about the talk HERE

It is both on Zoom and in person, so you don't have to be in London or the South East.

The talk is this Thursday -10 November 2022 St Bride Foundation and Online via Zoom In-person time (GMT): Doors/bar: 18:15 Talk: 19:00-20:30 In-person tickets: £8, £10, £12. Online time (GMT): 19:00-20:30 Online tickets: £3, £5 Book tickets HERE 

Posted by Justin Hobson 08.11.2022

St Bride Wayzgoose this coming Sunday

This coming weekend on Sunday 22nd May it will be the 6th LIVE annual St Bride Foundation WAYZGOOSE (during Covid there have been virtual events). A Wayzgoose is a term (unfamiliar to most people) that used to refer to an annual holiday in a print-works and was often an away-day to the coast or some other sort of day out, more often than not, paid for by the firm. In this instance the St Bride Wayzgoose is a kind of letterpress 'bring and buy' sale.

It is a chance for a large number of people who love printing, letterpress, type (and of course, paper!) to get together, as you can see from a picture below from a previous year...

Every year I run the Fenner Paper stall, where we sell offcuts and leftovers with the money raised donated to the St Bride Foundation. In 2019  we raised a record breaking £357! For interest, this is the way my stall usually looks like...

https://It's open from 11am until 4pm - I look forward to seeing you there!

The poster is printed on our Colorset Lemon 270gsm by the Chapel at the St Bride workshop. 

https://www.sbf.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 16.05.2022

The 6th Wayzgoose at the St Bride Foundation

Here's a date for your diary...

After two years of Covid, the Annual St Bride Foundation Wayzgoose is back! ...taking place on Sunday 22nd May. 

The above flyer is printed letterpress by Andrew Long ( ...on our Colorset (100% Recycled) Lemon 270gsm!)

Wayzgoose is a term (unfamiliar to many people) that used to refer to an annual holiday in a printworks and was often an away-day to the coast or some other sort of day out, more often than not, paid for by the firm.

 However, in this instance the St Bride's Wayzgoose is a kind of letterpress 'bring and buy' sale. There are companies selling type, letterpress accessories, ink and lots of letterpress printed books and cards and the proceeds from the event go towards the St Bride Foundation. Why not come along... ? For interest, this is what it was like for the last Wayzgoose back in pre-covid 2019:

https://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-5th-wayzgoose-at-st-bride-foundation.html

http://www.sbf.org.uk/ 

Posted by Justin Hobson 29.03.2022

Fenner Paper 2022 Diary x4!

If you are a wonderful customer and therefore a deserving user of our papers! ... you will be receiving your new 2022 diary in the next week or so and here's a sneak preview...

Four diaries? Well, just one diary but there are four different covers! ...which one will you get? This year we have collaborated with both the St Bride Foundation and the International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD).This year’s cover was designed by Andrew Long and printed by the St Bride Chapel, St Bride Library’s workshop team.

The diary itself has been designed by David Coates, independent designer and board director of ISTD. The internal pages are typset in Foundry Unie from The Foundry Types. As in previous years, the diary is 230x162mm, portrait and retains the popular 'month to view' format. The 40pp text is simply printed in one colour, offset litho, on our lovely Offenbach Bible 60gsm, which has a superb opacity and a good writing surface making this an ideal paper for a diary or notebook.

The cover is printed in three specialson our NEW PaperWise, made using 100% agricultural waste and completely unbleached. The above shows all four cover designs, front and back covers. The design was inspired by Chaostype, a process invented in the late nineteenth century by Cincinnati printer John Franklin Earhart that relied upon the unpredictable and random qualities of hot lead chaos. Below are some test sheets produced back in the Summer...

Andrew Long together with the four different covers in the St Bride Library workshop...

My thanks to all the collaborators and thanks also to Commercial Type for the use of their Commercial Classics catalogue for use on the cover design. They are recreations of historical typefaces inspired by the punches, matrices, specimens and smoke proofs held at St Bride Library. 

If you are one of our worthy clients (!), you should be receiving one of our diaries in the post but if you would rather have it sent to your home than the office or if you want to make sure you are in our address book, drop me an email: justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

 Posted by Justin Hobson 13.12.2021

Beatrice Warde Memorial Lecture 2021

The 2021 Beatrice Warde Memorial Lecture is being held at the St Bride Foundation in London on Thursday - why don't you go along and stimulate the brain.... 

‘There are bad types and good types, and the whole science and art of typography begins after the first category has been set aside.’ Beatrice Warde 

This is both and online and in-person event and is the fiftieth anniversary of the Beatrice Warde Memorial Lecture. For this special event, they have invited seven designers, type designers and typographers to talk about good types/bad types. 

The speakers are... David Williams, Ellen Lupton, Erik van Blokland, Liron Lavi Turkenich, Martina Flor, Paul Barnes and Tré Seals.

You can book HERE for both online and in person tickets. It's very reasonable and you might learn a lot!

https://www.sbf.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 12.11.2021

St Bride Foundation lecture

Expanding the design canon: fresh perspectives on women in type and publishing

An evening as part of the ‘Women in Type’ Leverhulme Trust & University of Reading research project in celebration of St Bride Library’s 125th year. The lecture is on Zoom and is next Wednesday 10th November 7.00-9.00pm.

This talk will celebrate recent contributions to the field of graphic design history, which seek to shake established narratives to expand the design canon. The panel of speakers will share their thoughts on the imperative to reconsider women’s depiction in received design histories, and will highlight some past and present contributions by women to the fields of type, graphic design and publishing. The evening will also feature the launch of an exciting new website comprising a visualisation of the findings of the 'Women in Type’ Leverhulme Trust funded project.

With speakers Briar Levit, Rathna Ramanathan, Fiona Ross, Alice Savoie, Martha Scotford, Mathieu Triay.

You can book HERE - it's only £5 (plus concessions) so is excellent value for money ...BOOK NOW!

https://www.sbf.org.uk/whats-on/view/expanding-the-design-canon-fresh-perspectives-on-women-in-type-and-publishing/

Posted by Justin Hobson 03.11.2021

Open House Festival London

The 2021 Open House Festival London will take place from 4th – 12th September with a wide range of events and tours taking place across all 33 London boroughs.

The Festival Themes...

Local London will explore community buildings, libraries, local arts, pubs and community public realm, giving Londoners an opportunity to show their pride in the areas and institutions that have influenced their communities 

Global London will explore global architects, global arts and culture as well as globally influencing urban design, allowing an opportunity to put London into the wider cultural landscape of global cities and design 

 

Architecture and Wellbeing will promote mental health and wellbeing with visits to mindful architecture and quiet tours exploring off the beaten track and undiscovered areas. We will be taking advantage of experimental event formats to engage with the city in new ways 

"We’ll also be exploring ideas around the intersection of architecture and food as well as architecture and education to celebrate the reopening of the hospitality industry and the importance of London’s educational sites that have been missed during the pandemic."

One of my favourite buildings in London and one that should be of particular interest to those who work in design, typography and printing is the St Bride Foundation, just round the corner from Fleet Street. Built in 1893 as a printers' institute in the Anglo-Dutch style, with sandstone dressings, steeply pitched tiled roof and gables. Many original features remain including the swimming pool and library and the building is still open for it's original purpose! They are celebrating the125th anniversary of the St. Bride Library right now.

You can read more about it here...

https://openhouselondon.open-city.org.uk/listings/1761

Posted by Justin Hobson 30.08.2021

Letterpress in the Time of Covid

On Monday 12th July you can hear eight speakers share their experiences since the pandemic took told of the world in 2020. They will share what challenges they may have faced, how they have adapted to the way they work – or not – under lockdown, how creative they have felt in this time and what the pandemic and changing world around them has inspired them to produce. From group exhibitions and collaborations to printing daily reflections on the pandemic, this event celebrates the good that has come out of these troubled times.

Speakers include Ane Thon Knutsen, Ben Blount, Naomi Kent, Michelle Yu, New North Press, Peter Gibbons, and more to be announced shortly.

It's Online via Zoom and tickets are a bargain: £3–5

You can book HERE 

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.06.2021

Jan Tschichold and the New Typography

On 29th April you can join author and curator Paul Stirton for an exciting Zoom lecture hosted by the St Bride Foundation. Paul Stirton was curator of the exhibition Jan Tschichold and the New Typography held in New York in 2019 and author of the book of the same title (Yale, 2019). His previous books include“Is Mr. Ruskin Living too Long?”: Selected Writings of E.W. Godwin(Oxford 2005). He is Professor of Modern European Design at the Bard Graduate Center in New York and editor of West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture, published by University of Chicago Press.

During the 1920s Jan Tschichold began corresponding with many emerging graphic designers throughout Europe and the Soviet Union, offering to exchange works or requesting examples of adverts, posters and letterheads. What began as a means of educating himself in the principles of modern design, developed into a comprehensive survey collection of progressive graphics in Europe. Tschichold even referred to it as his “museum”. This collection is now dispersed, but we can recapture the spirit of the heroic period of modernism through Tschichold’s eyes by examining the designs he acquired.

This talk will illuminate works by some leading figures such as ElLissitzky, Kurt Schwitters, Moholy-Nagy and Piet Zwart, as well as lesser known designers like Johannes Molzahn, Walter Dexel and Max Burchartz.

Book Online HERE for an incredibly reasonable £5!

his talk is part of the ‘Celebrating 125 Years of St Bride Library’ lecture series and has kindly been sponsored by: Adobe Commercial Type, Eye Magazine, Eric de Bellaigue, Google, Jerry Wright, Just Another Foundry, Klim Type Foundry, Lexon GB, Creative & Innovative Print, Mayor of London, Medioto - Graphics & Animation, Peter Longland, R-Typography, Type By, Usborne Publishing and The Wynkyn de Worde Charitable Trust who have sponsored students and recent graduates across the UK to attend this lecture.

https://www.sbf.org.uk/whats-on/view/jan-tschichold-and-the-new-typography/

Posted by Justin Hobson 19.04.2021