Summer Show 2013



Now is the time when many readers of this blog will be receiving invitations to degree shows from all corners of the country. Here is a particularly lovely and inspired example for the University of Portsmouth.

Below is the A1 poster (841x594mm) printed in CMYK, one side only, on Redeem 100% Recycled 130gsm.

...then to make the invitations, the material on the run was changed to Redeem 100% Recycled 315gsm and the run completed. The reverse of the board was then printed in one colour forming 16 x A5 invitations with CMYK on the reverse of the invite - a smart idea! 

Reverse of the A5 Invitations

The design is by  Michael Harkins, who is a senior Lecturer in Graphic Design and the course leader of the MA Graphic Design at the University of Portsmouth. Given the complexity of the design, I asked Mike to write some words to explain the project:

Often my work plays with complex ideas found within the design problem itself, yet this is something for the viewer to find within the work, not something obvious initially.

The idea really came from thinking about 2013 as a number in itself. For many people the date could be seen as a portentous one, unlucky, lucky, superstitious etc. This led me to think about what it is when we read into numbers as individuals, we often bring our own meanings/readings.

The numbers within the date are also the first in the sequence of natural, ordinal or cardinal numbers. 2013 is also the first time these numbers appear together in a year date since 1320, so quite special in that sense. They also form the idea of a countdown 3,2,1,0 to the show. As in the ordered sequence 0123, we arrive at 3, the number of years students commit to their degree programmes, culminating in the show.

So really the numbers become celebratory and playful. The use of the CMYK adds to this idea of playfulness in terms of interaction of form and colour. It also gets us, the viewer to bring about our own readings of the numbers. 

The invitations extend the playfulness by dividing the colour composition into 16 parts, each one producing a unique composition in itself, something we take time to view, enjoy, contemplate.

Posters on display behind glass

Printing is by L&S Printing based in Worthing, West Sussex and a beautiful job they've made of it.

...and thanks to Mike for sending me some file copies and a note (written on the printed reverse of the A5 invitation):

The preview is tomorrow evening at the Eldon Building at University of Portsmouth and the show is open from 3-14 June.

www.port.ac.uk

www.ccichannel.port.as.uk

www.ls-printing.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 30.05.2013

Trust New Art

This is a piece of literature for an interesting experiment run by the Arts Council. The basic idea is to select works from the Arts Council collection and place them in various National Trust properties enabling visitors to encounter contemporary pieces that they may not ordinarily be exposed to.  

This book is 210x130mm, portrait and shows some of the artworks and the sites at which the work is being displayed together with an essay by Colin Wiggins. It has an 8pp cover with 115mm flaps and a 32pp text and is saddle stitched. It is printed on our StarFine white 300gsm cover and 150gsm text. Printed CMYK throughout with hot foil blocking in metallic silver foil on the outside cover.

The below pic shows the extent of the full flaps.

The publication is designed by Catherine Nippe, who is a Swiss/German graphic designer who has been running her studio in London since 2006. Print is by Principal Colour who are based in Paddock Wood, Kent.

www.artscouncilcollection.org.uk
www.cnippe.com
www.principalcolour.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 28.05.2013

Beat 5



I've been fortunate enough to have been involved in every issue of the Beat series published by illustration agency Heart. Although the size has remained constant, every issue has been quite different whilst providing an exquisite showcase for their illustrators (...as an example, Beat 4 was designed by Angus Hyland's team at  Pentagram and is a fully illustrated edition the Rime of the Ancient Mariner http://www.heartagency.com/beat/4)

Beat 5 is described as a 'double issue' (at 148pp, it is twice the size of previous editions) and as with previous issues it showcases the work of each artist with words providing an insight into their working methods, inspiration, idiosyncrasies and foibles. Beat 5 is edited by Helen Osborne.

http://www.heartagency.com/artist/LaraHarwood/gallery/1

 

http://www.heartagency.com/artist/JimmyTurrell/gallery/1

http://www.heartagency.com/artist/TomGauld/gallery/1

http://www.heartagency.com/artist/AdamSimpson/gallery/1

 

The size of the publication is 330x235mm, portrait and is section sewn. The 4pp cover is on our Matrisse 350gsm, which is incredibly bulky, uncoated and tactile (really suits the illustration by Lara Harwood). The 148pp text is printed on Neptune Unique FSC 135gsm and looks truly amazing! Neptune is smooth uncoated with a dazzlingly white shade and the illustrations have reproduced amazingly (in no small way, due to the printer as well). 

http://www.heartagency.com/artist/MarionDeuchars/gallery/1

http://www.heartagency.com/artist/EdaAkaltun/gallery/1

http://www.heartagency.com/artist/RoderickMills/gallery/1

http://www.heartagency.com/artist/JosieJammet/gallery/1

http://www.heartagency.com/artist/DarrelRees/gallery/1

The beautifully crafted and considered design is by Jason Godfrey of Godfrey Design. Print production and repro is by David Holyday and the printing, which really is exceptional, is by Gavin Martin Colournet.

 

www.heartagency.com

http://www.godfreydesign.co.uk/

d.holyday@googlemail.com

http://www.gavinmartincolournet.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 23.05.2013

Clerkenwell Design Week

Today is the start of Clerkenwell Design Week and I popped in today, to have a quick shufti. Now in it's 4th year, it's firmly established as one of the London design community's favourite events and it's growing every year.

 
It takes place all over the Clerkenwell and Smithfield area and combines exhibitions with talks and with showrooms. For the first time ever, they've also introduced some pop up pavilions.

I particularly noted the origami flowers outside the Secret Gin  Garden
http://www.gingarden.com/#8ac/custom_plain

You better get down there - it's only on until Thursday...
http://www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com/

Mother of Pearl

 

Maia Norman is the Creative Director at Mother of Pearl and each season, she works with an acclaimed artist. Previous collaborators include Polly Morgan, Francesco Simeti, Gary Hume, Fiona Banner, Keith Tyson, Jim Lambie, Matt Collishaw and Carsten Holler. This last season, Amy Powney, the head designer at Mother of Pearl collaborated with New York based artist Fred Tomaselli to produce their collection and this is their beautifully produced lookbook.

The size is 260 x 185mm, portrait, perfect bound with an 8pp cover and a 40pp text. It is printed on our Omnia and has a 8pp cover on 280gsm and a 40pp text on 150gsm. Omnia is an extremely bulky sheet, so this has a solid, chunky, feel. It is printed offset litho, CMYK throughout, with the small M monogram being hoy foil blocked in gold foil on the outside front cover.

...and here we go for the plug about the paper! - As you can see from the images, there is lots of colour and detail in the images with CMYK dark areas - loads of ink going down and it looks great on the Omnia, reproducing bright vibrant colours as well and keeping all the detail in the darker images, epecially the little detail shots below...

Original design concept is by William Hall with the artwork being produced 'in house' at Mother of Pearl. Photography is by Robert Wyatt.

The superb print is by Push ...and thanks to Danny Kirk at Push for sending me some file copies.


http://www.motherofpearl.co.uk/
www.williamhall.co.uk
www.robertwyatt.net
http://www.push-print.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 17.05.2013

365



This is a piece of CSR literature produced by Deutsche Bank who now have a system of regional newspapers showing how their global strategy is being applied at a local level by the bank and its people. The system has been developed by Studio 2br to extend its CSR communications beyond the normal production of a yearly report.

It is a 12pp format with a finished size of 470x315mm 'endorsement folded' to 235x315mm. The layout, content and photography makes this publication eminently readable, to the point that I found myself reading it (which can't be said about every file copy I receive!).

 

The material used is our Enviro-Tech 80gsm, which is 100% Recycled with good opacity and whiteness and was chosen both for this (because of the format) and it's environmental credentials.

Design is by Studio 2br. Creative Director on the project was David Shalam and the designers are Daniel Hayes and Dave Young. Print is by London based printer The Colourhouse.

If only all pieces of corporate literature could look as good as this...

www.db.co/uk

http://www.2br.com/
www.thecolourhouse.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 15.05.2013

Progressive Greetings 2013

Here's some pretty exciting news from Fenner Paper - we're exhibiting at our first 'trade show' at an exhibition called Progressive Greetings or "PG Live" as it's known. It's a show aimed at the greeting card industry and is is being held at the Business Design Centre in Islington on the 14th &15th May and here's the picture of our stand which I was helping to set up today.

 

We have a modest little stand of 3metres x 2 metres and we're showing our boards that are especially suitable for greetings cards and as you can see from the display below, we now have quite a few!

 

...as well as an AV presentation showing the way that our paper is stored, packed and blank cards are converted, we also took along a whole pallet of paper (...one of our new ranges, but more about that some other time!).

Our stand is designed by Vincent Design and thanks to Nick and Claire for all their help and support. If you are a designer or publisher of greeting cards, please do come along and we look forward to welcoming you - we're on stand 663.

www.progressivegreetingslive.com
http://www.vincentdesign.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 13.05.2013