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...
Duke Special Songbook 2 - November 2011
Duke Special is a songwriter and performer based in Belfast. A songwriter with a romantic style and a warm, distinctly accented voice, he has distinctive long dreadlocks, eyeliner and outfits he describes as "hobo chic". His live performances have a theatrical style inspired by Vaudeville and music hall, and often incorporate 78s played on an old-fashioned gramophone, or sound effects from a transistor radio.
(
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Special)
This songbook was published in 2011 by
Duke Special and contains the words and music to 30 of his songs.
The book is 297x215mm, portrait and is limp bound, however it's deliberately designed to look like a songbook from the past, in fact almost to look like just the text that may have come separated from a casebound book. It has an 88pp text and has a 2pp tipped on cover with "exposed binding" which has been beautifully executed, as you can see below. The spine is 8mm deep.
To compliment the aged feeling, the papers used throughout are our Shiro Echo, White 100gsm for text and 250gsm for the cover. This paper has a neutral white shade, not cream, and it works perfectly with the text and pencil illustrations. It is printed offset litho throughout, two special colours on the cover and one colour black, throughout the text.
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| Inside spread |
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| Click on images to enlarge |
The below image shows the yellow coloured thread used for the binding.
Design is by Sparks Studio based in London. Creative partners are Gary McIlwaine and Michael Gough. Artwork and illustration is by
Tim Millen based in Belfast.
I still have the nice note from Gary at Sparks Studio, who kindly sent me this file copy.
The Songbook was printed in Belfast by an unusually named printer called Northern Whig Limited. The Northern Whig was originally one of Ireland's oldest newspapers, founded in 1824. The Whig published continuously until the paper closed in 1963 and afterwards, continued as a commercial printer. Unfortunately the firm ceased trading in February 2012.
You can buy your own copy of the Songbook here:
http://www.dukespecial.com/memorabilia/item/songbook_volume_2
http://www.dukespecial.com/
https://www.sparks-studio.com/
http://www.timmillen.com/
Posted by Justin Hobson 02.02.2016
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