The Sublime Feminine

Maryam Eisler is a London based photographer and author. Her photographic work, the crux of which is centred around the Sublime Feminine thematics, has been sought in different places and environmental spaces, a personal journey of sorts during which she has tried to trace and visually revitalize this energy, embodied in the female form, as set against the grandeur of nature. Eisler is represented by Tristan Hoare in London and Harper’s Books in New York.

The size of the book is 240x165mm, portrait. The 4pp limp cover, which is beautifully hot foil blocked, houses the 'swiss bound' text. 

Swiss Binding is where the text is mounted onto the inside back cover with the front cover and freestanding spine. The below image shows the inside front cover, inside spine and page one of text with the binding tape covering the spine.

There is an introduction by Maryam Eisler together with an essay by Hannah Barry.

The 100pp text is printed on our Omnia 150gsm which gives it that dead matt, tactile feel but with great reproduction. All printed offset litho throughout. The piece has a fantastic feel - solid flat areas of colour work amazingly well - it is difficult for me to say too much more about it - see the images below, they speak for the job...

Click on images to enlarge

The book is 'section sewn' - you can see the thread in this section break pictured below.

...and here we go for a bit of a plug! - As you can see from the images, there is lots of colour and images with dark areas - loads of ink going down and it looks great on the Omnia, reproducing flat colours superbly whilst retaining that all important detail in the dark areas (in my opinion- but I would say that wouldn't I?)

It goes without saying that the paper is just one aspect and if the quality of the images or the repro and the printing was not equally as superb, then the finished article would not be as amazing. The superlative printing is by Boss Print and you may remember reading on this blog that they won the category for the best catalogue design at the British Book Design and Production Awards in 2017 with another project for this same photographer. Below is a detail image showing the superb reproduction of the mono images.

The images are printed offset litho in two blacks (as a duotone) plus a yellow tint integrated with the images. The solid flat colours are all specials....

The section sewn and singer sewing makes the book flow easily in the hand.

Below image shows the detail of the section sewing. The Swiss Binding was completed in-house at Boss Print.

The book design is by Roger Fawcett-Tang of Struktur Design. It is beautifully printed and finished by Boss Print who are based in West London.

https://www.maryameisler.com/

http://www.struktur.co.uk/

https://www.bossprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 17.02.2021

Searching for Eve...

This is an catalogue for an exhibition of work by Maryam Eisler titled "Searching For Eve in the American West".

Eisler photographed female models within the desert surrounds. As the academic, editor and writer Anthony Downey has written in his essay in the exhibition’s accompanying catalogue, this approach ‘answered the need to understand the discombobulating landscape through the reassuring presence of human figures. In its isolated and sparsely inhabited environs, the region is perhaps almost too much to experience on one’s own.’ Eisler is not the first photographer to be inspired by this wild landscape – others include Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. Indeed, a statement made by Weston might equally apply to Eisler’s inspiration: ‘The camera should be used for a recording of life, for rendering the very substance and quintessence of the things itself, whether it be polished steel or palpitating flesh.'

Now this is already a pretty special project having won the category for the best catalogue design at the British Book Design and Production Awards last year

The size of the catalogue is 395x260mm, portrait. The binding is a hybrid mixture of "swiss binding" and singer sewing, so the text is bound and glued to the inside back cover, enabling the text to sit nice and flat.

 

Detail showing the cloth tape along the spine: 

 

Introduction by Maryam Eisler, followed by an Essay by Anthony Downey:

The 44pp text is printed on our Omnia 150gsm which gives it that dead matt, tactile feel but with great reproduction. All printed offset litho throughout. The piece has a fantastic feel - solid flat areas of colour work amazingly well - it is difficult for me to say too much more about it - see the images below, they speak for the job...

A wonderful collection of solid colours, all printed as specials

The images are printed in two blacks (as duotones) plus a yellow special integrated with the image, the result of which is superb, as I hope you can tell from the images....

...and here we go for a bit of a plug!  - As you can see from the above images above, there is lots of colour and images with dark areas - loads of ink going down and it looks great on the Omnia, reproducing flat colours superbly whilst retaining that all important detail in the dark areas (in my opinion- but I would say that wouldn't I?)

Centre Spread with the singer sewn binding:

Detail of singer sewn threads:



Catalogue design is by Roger Fawcett-Tang of Struktur Design. It is beautifully printed and finished by Boss Print who are based in Acton, West London ...interestingly they are one of the few printers I know of who have "singer sewing" in house!

As I mentioned it won the award for best catalogue at the BBD&PA awards, which you can read about here:



https://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2017/11/british-book-design-production-awards.html

 

https://www.maryameisler.com/
http://www.struktur.co.uk/
https://www.bossprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 12.07.2018



British Book Design & Production Awards 2017

Yesterday evening,  I was lucky enough to be at the British Book Design and Production Awards which is hosted and run by the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) at London's Millennium Hotel in Mayfair. A very lavish and swish occasion.

I was kindly invited by Fenton Smith and Bonnie Lo from London print company BOSS, who were also one of the sponsors and printed the awards catalogue.

 

On arrival, the nominated entries were all out on display and it was a truly wonderful array of books and catalogues. 

The evening was opened by Charles Jarrold, Chief Executive of the BPIF...

 ...a gathering of over 200 people from the world of publishing, print and design - and a few paper people in there as well!

It was particularly lovely that a project which I was involved with won the category for Exhibition catalogues.

The project is called "Searching For Eve in the American West" by photographer Maryam Eisler. It is designed by Roger Fawcett-Tang of Struktur Design and it was beautifully printed by Boss Print.

 ...and here is the team that made the book possible on stage, collecting the award from the compere Jenny Éclair.

I can just give you a teaser of what this award winning catalogue is like...

Click on images to enlarge

It is exquisitely printed offset litho throughout on Omnia 150gsm, using tritones, but I shall write about this project at length in the future.

It was a great evening - good company and food and my thanks go to BOSS for inviting me and many other old friends on the table too.

https://www.bossprint.com/

http://www.britishprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 17.11.2017