Beatrice Warde Memorial Lecture 2017

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 Elizabeth Ellis and David Marshall from The Counter Press. They will talk about founding a private press and design studio rediscovering the joy of designing and making purely for pleasure, and the importance of learning to slow down. They’ll be discussing their work, influences and the challenges of balancing self-initiated side projects with the demands of commercial work.

Despite the very traditional methods and equipment, they aren’t complete luddites and continue to work with a growing list of clients who appreciate craft and attention to detail but require more modern means, allowing them to combine a love of letterpress with their branding background. The projects and approaches might be varied – from rebranding the iconic London restaurant Bibendum to a new publishing imprint.

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

The talk is on November 2nd at 7pm and there are still tickets available on Billetto:
https://billetto.co.uk/e/the-beatrice-warde-memorial-lecture-the-counter-press-elizabeth-ellis-david-marshall-tickets-209852

Tickets are only £12.50 (concessions available). The talk is being held in the Bridewell Hall at the St Bride Foundation in London EC4 on Thursday 2nd November starting at 7pm.

http://www.sbf.org.uk/
http://www.sbf.org.uk/events/the-beatrice-warde-memorial-lecture-the-counter-press-elizabeth-ellis-and-david-marshall
http://www.thecounterpress.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 19.10.2017

The 3rd St Bride Foundation Wayzgoose

Yesterday, I had a table at the St Bride Foundation WAYZGOOSE. This is a term (unfamiliar to most people) that used to refer to an annual holiday in a printworks 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.

Over twenty five different tables displaying and selling everything from lead type to tabletop presses and printed examples of work.

Here is the table that I was allocated, where, as 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, cards sold by weight - 25 pence per 100 grams.

I'm pictured with the very helpful Andrew Long, a final year student at Central St Martin's who kindly helped me unload the van and set up the stall - he's looking for placements and work - I recommend him, he's a hard worker - you can find him at and.long@me.com

I served at my 'paper stall' from 11am to 4pm  ...and by the end of the day I had raised £210, all donated to the St Bride Foundation.

My neighbours on the table next to me were Caslon. Many readers will be familiar with the typeface, Caslon, first cast by William Caslon in the 16th century. The firm is still run by the Caslon family and today, they supply machinery, inks, powders and the ever popular Adana printing press.

They letterpress printed some cards on our exuberant So ..Silk, Beauty Pink 350gsm and they look amazing.

My thanks to Mick Clayton for inviting me and to all the staff and friends at St Bride.

http://www.sbf.org.uk/
http://www.caslon.co.uk/html/_adana_letterpress___.html

Posted by Justin Hobson 22.05.2017

St Bride Foundation Wayzgoose

The Annual St Bride Foundation Wayzgoose takes place next Sunday - 21st May

Wayzgoose is a term (unfamiliar to most 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 last year:

http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/the-annual-st-bride-foundation-wayzgoose.html

 

http://www.sbf.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 12.05.2017

The annual St Bride Foundation Wayzgoose

On Sunday I had a table at the St Bride Foundation WAYZGOOSE. This is a term (unfamiliar to most people) that used to refer to an annual holiday in a printworks 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's Wayzgoose was a kind of letterpress 'bring a buy' sale.

There were over twenty different tables displaying and selling everything from lead type to tabletop presses, books and printed examples of work.

Here is the table that I was allocated, where, as last year, I adopted a "throw it all on the table" approach! I took lots of offcuts and discontinued paper and board items. All paper, cards sold by weight - 20 pence per 100 grams.

I served at my 'paper stall' from 11am to 4pm  ...and by the end of the day I had raised £140, all donated to the St Bride Foundation

My neighbours on the table opposite was Caslon. Many readers will be familiar with the typeface, Caslon, first cast by William Caslon in the 16th century. The firm is still run by the Caslon family and there were three generations represented at St Brides on Sunday, pictured below. Today, they supply machinery, inks, powders and the ever popular Adana printing press.

One of the amazing presses on their display is this 'business card' size printing press which is absolutely delightful

My thanks to Mick Clayton for inviting me and to all the staff and friends of St Brides.

http://www.sbf.org.uk/

http://www.caslon.co.uk/html/_adana_letterpress___.html

Posted by Justin Hobson 17.05.2016

St Bride Student lecture

Yesterday, I attended a lecture day at St Bride's put on for students which was funded by the Wynkyn de Worde Society Charitable Trust. The speakers at the event were Alistair Hall (from We Made This), Sharon King-Chai (an author-illustrator and book designer) and Chris Bounds (from Carter Wong design). There were around a hundred students from universities around the country. I spoke to some from Kingston, University of the Creative Arts and University of Reading.

Alistair Hall gave a special insight into the way that the Ministry of Stories initiative started followed with an amusing set of anecdotes about the Hoxton Street Monster Supplies - truly this is an example of where design has helped changed people's lives for the better - over a thousand children helped with writing every year.  

Sharon King-Chai spoke about her career, from her arrival in the UK to getting work experience, her work designing album covers and her transition into the world of publishing. One slide in particular struck a note with me ...be nice

Doesn't matter who you are - being nice is the right thing. Even when you have to say NO, you can still do it nicely.

I took a few printed examples to show, to inspire students about the quality print work that is out there and what can be achieved.

It was a very interesting day and I'm sure the students that were there found it inspiring and useful. The print workshop was also open which gave people the opportunity to print some letterpress keepsakes to take home.

If you would like to stir the greymatter, how about going to the Type Tuesday event this evening, run by Eye magazine? The archive evening is hosted by Paul Barnes and there are half a dozen speakers talking about their favourite items found in St Brides. You can read about it here: http://www.eyemagazine.com/blog/post/type-tuesday-archive-night-with-paul-barnes and you can buy tickets from Eventbrite - only £12.00. Go on, get out and feed the brain!

http://www.sbf.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 08.03.2016

St Bride Foundation Wayzgoose

On Sunday I had a table at the St Bride Foundation WAYZGOOSE. This is a term (unfamiliar to most people) that used to refer to an annual holiday in a printworks 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's Wayzgoose was a kind of letterpress 'bring a buy' sale.

Over twenty different tables displaying and selling everything from lead type to tabletop presses and printed examples of work.

Here is the table that I was allocated, where I adopted a "throw it all on the table" approach! I took lots of offcuts and discontinued paper and board items. All paper, cards and envelopes were sold by weight - 20 pence per 100 grams.




...and I raised £125, donated to the St Bride Foundation.

My neighbours on the table opposite was Caslon. Many readers will be familiar with the typeface, Caslon, first cast by William Caslon in the 16th century. The firm is still run by the Caslon family and there were three generations represented at St Brides on Sunday, pictured below. Today, they supply machinery, inks, powders and the ever popular Adana printing press.

Three generations of the Caslon family. http://www.caslon.co.uk/

My thanks to Mick Clayton for inviting me and to all the staff and friends of St Brides.

 

...and I mustn't forget to thank Zillah Curtis at St Brides, who has recently taken up wood engraving. Zillah created this beautiful commemorative Wayzgoose, goose, which she printed on Shiro Alga Carta and kindly presented it to me on Sunday. Thank you Zillah.

If you missed out this year, make a note in your diary for next May, as it is sure to become an annual event.

http://www.sbf.org.uk/

http://www.caslon.co.uk/html/_adana_letterpress___.html

Posted by Justin Hobson 20.05.2015

Wayzgoose

Why not come along...

It's this Sunday and I'll be there!

http://www.sbf.org.uk/events/st-bride-fundraising-wayzgoose

Posted by Justin Hobson 12.05.2015

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

Workshop evening

Last week, I organised for a small group of designers from a variety of different studios to spend the evening in the print workshop at the St Bride Foundation.

 

There were about twenty of us in all and after a briefing by the technicians, Mick, Bob and Peter, the group were encouraged to have a go at setting type, inking up and printing.

For those not familiar with the St Bride Foundation, it was established in 1891 to fulfil social needs in the Fleet Street printing area. Facilities included a library, baths and a swimming pool (as hygiene was poor) and a printing school which was the forerunner of the LCP. Nowadays, this historic building houses a world renowned printing library with a large letterpress collection, a community theatre space, a bar, print workshop and meeting & conference rooms.

  

As well as printing, wood engraver, Peter Smith demonstrated lino-cutting and many people had a go. Peter had selected an engraving which was divided into 12 pieces which were individually cut by different people over the course of the evening.

At the end of the evening the pieces were re-assembled into the image and then placed on the Vandercook proofing press, below:

The superb printed result was printed on Shiro Alga Carta, Ivory 250gsm and it's just beautiful!

In the Layton Room there was an exhibition on display by Designer Bookbinders. The exhibition shows 58 bindings, spanning the career of Trevor Jones (1931-2012), a founder member of Designer Bookbinders. Jeanette Koch from the society was on hand to talk about the exhibition and his work.
http://www.designerbookbinders.org.uk/

It was a really fun evening, where everyone got a chance to have a go and join in. We had some food and a few drinks laid on and most of us made it to the Bridewell Bar downstairs afterwards!

My thanks to all the staff and friends at the St Bride Foundation with special thanks to Mick Clayton, Peter Smith and Bob Richardson who made the evening really good fun.

www.sbf.org.uk

http://peterssmith.weebly.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 09.04.2015

Ladybird By Design - a talk at St Brides

Now who hasn't got a soft spot for Ladybird books? - well certainly those of us who are a certain age! A new book titled Ladybird By Design has just been published last week by Penguin and the author, Lawrence Zeegen, is giving a talk at St Brides in London on Tuesday 24th March.

Lawrence Zeegen is the Dean of the School of Design at London College of Communication and Professor of Illustration at the University of the Arts, London.

For one hundred years, Ladybird books have delighted children, their parents, grandparents and teachers alike, taking readers on a journey of discovery and enlightenment. Affordable and accessible, Ladybird books hold a significant and affectionate place in the collective psyche of the nation, conjuring up, through written word and illustration, life in Britain in more innocent times. The success of Ladybird was as much due to clever format and compelling design, as it was the quality of the writing, presenting a portrait of the time through the use of specifically commissioned illustration. Unparalleled in their perfectly observed attention to detail and unique sense of place, Ladybird’s full-colour, full-page illustrations were often created by well-known illustrators such as Charles Tunnicliffe, Harry Wingfield, Martin Aitchison, Eric Winter, Robert Lumley, John Berry and Robert Ayton.

Lawrence Zeegen has co-curated an exhibition at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill which opened in January and portrays a unique slice of Britain’s social and design history, as seen through the eyes of Ladybird. http://www.dlwp.com/event/ladybird-by-design

Tickets are just £15.00 (concessions available). Great value and you can book here:
http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ladybird-by-design-tickets-15299349767?aff=erelexporg

Don't be a stranger to these events, grab a ticket, go along and stimulate the grey matter ...!
http://www.sbf.org.uk/events/ladybird-by-design

Photographs: © Ladybird Books Ltd

Posted by Justin Hobson 09.03.2015

The arrival of the Dürer Press in London

This is a particularly fascinating project, which if you have any interest in History, you'll be interested in....

Here's the copy which I have lifted from the Dürer press website:
 No records remain of the machine Johann Gutenberg used to print the first books with moveable type. The question of what this press and other early presses were like has occupied the minds of generations of historians. It can never be definitively answered. The person who has probably come closest to a reasonable reconstruction of a very early press is Alan May, a man who has both the knowledge of a print historian and the technical skills of a craftsman. Alan used these abilities to acclaimed effect in 2008 when a television production company gave him the chance to construct a press to print a facsimile page from Gutenberg’s 42-line Bible of the 1450s. The process of research, design and construction of the press was a key feature of The machine that made us, the resulting documentary presented by Stephen Fry.

Following from the construction of this press and from a well-known sketch of a printing press made, probably from memory, by the artist Albrecht Dürer in 1511, Alan made a number of observations about the way presses probably developed from the very first examples. When the Dürer Press Group commissioned a new working press from Alan in 2014, his insights led to a machine that can either be used as a ‘one-pull’ press, as we believe Gutenberg’s was, or as a ‘two-pull’ press. The two-pull configuration is shown in Dürer’s sketch and gives greater output by allowing two pages of a book to be printed without taking the paper out of the press and putting it back in again. It is probable that older, one-pull, presses were modified in this way to give the printer a considerable boost from a machine that would be costly to replace. www.duererpress.co.uk

The press, handmade by Alan May in Summer 2014.

The press has been given a home in the print workshop at the St Bride Foundation in London and there was a launch event on Wednesday 12th November. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, but here are some pictures of the recent installation of the "new press"!

There aren't many printers in London who can claim to have a 500 year old press, let alone a brand new model!

www.duererpress.co.uk
www.sbf.org.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 24.11.2014

From Q to M – three centuries of typewriter art

There is a talk at the St Brides Foundation which should be absolutely superb and you should know about!

Barrie Tullett is Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design at the Lincoln School of Art and Design, and cofounder of The Caseroom Press, an independent publisher of artists' books based in Lincoln and Edinburgh. As a freelance graphic designer, his clients have included Canongate Books, Princeton University Press and Penguin Books, amongst others. He has recently published a book titled "Typewriter Art: A Modern Anthology" and he will guide the audience through three centuries of typewriter art

Image courtesy of Laurence King

Special guest Keira Rathbone will be live typing throughout the evening demonstrating how this most rigorous and unforgiving of machines still inspires today. Keira Rathbone’s unique art explores the often forgotten creative tool the typewriter. Her works involve using a typewriter as a drawing and mark making instrument, a discipline that has evolved over a ten year period to create works as stunningly complex as they are beautiful and absorbing. Works and performances are developed from many sources; live events, people and architecture prove that the typewriter is a valid and provocative medium that challenges our perceptions of technology and the creative process.

Image courtesy of Laurence King

Copies of Typewriter Art: A Modern Anthology by Barrie Tullet, published by Laurence King, will be available to purchase on the evening at £19.95 each.

Image courtesy of Laurence King

The talk is on Wednesday 24 September 2014 at 7pm

Don't put it off - book a ticket now - Tickets £15.00 • Friends of St Bride Library £12.50 • Students (bring NUS card) £10.00

You can book your ticket here:

http://www.sbf.org.uk/from-q-to-m

 

www.barrieagogo.co.uk

www.keirarathbone.com
http://www.sbf.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 08.09.2014