Land Securities - Studio Awards 2009

I popped into see Magpie's new studio in Shoreditch last week (it's a nice light studio) and was given a copy of a very nice job they've produced for Land Securities.

This publication catalogues the selection and work of three artists that have been selected and sponsored by Land Securities.

Scott O'Rourke, Petros Chrisostomou and Mike Tuck have been the fortunate recipients of studio space, funding and artistic freedom and this publication documents the show that they put on at the end of a year.

It's a beautifully produced 64pp catalogue (165x245mm) with text printed on Neptune Unique FSC 155gsm. The cover is foiled on a black self coloured black (Sirio, I think)

The three founders of Magpie are Jamie Ellul, David Azurdia and Ben Christie.

The book has been well printed by Gavin Martin Associates, especially given the diverse range of the artists media.

Studio photography is by Paul Grundy and Murray Scott

www.landsecurities.com

www.sw1gallery.co.uk

http://www.magpie-studio.com/

http://www.gavinmartin.co.uk/

An incredible story about paper ...from Space!

In February 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry from space over Texas. Seven astronauts lost their lives and because of the type of altitude and explosion most of the shuttle and contents were simply vaporised.

However, incredibly, paper survived ... and not just any paper, but parts of the personal journal of one of the astronauts, Ilan Ramon from Israel. Amazingly these charred remains floated down to earth and were found two months later in Texas swampland. The highly degraded and damp papers, written in Hebrew, were given to his widow Rona Ramon. She recognised that they were a personal account rather than technical references and they were passed on to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and Forensic science department of the Israel police for preservation and restoration.

Remarkably and in some cases character by character, sections of this remarkable diary have been reconstructed, the process having taken months and months of dedicated work.

To celebrate this miracle, a limited edition of "facsimile" diaries has been produced for the Ramon family in a boxed set which contains a replica notebook incorporating the found and restored sections of the journal and a booklet describing the reconstruction of the Space Diary.

It has been designed and produced by Ornan Rotem and Num Stibbe from Sylph Editions here in the UK. It is not published as a commercial project but as a labour of love as they are friends of the Ramon family.


It is not available for sale as this was very much a private project for the Ramon family but it is a privilege to be able to tell the story and show you the pictures.

It was an amazing job to have been involved with, the story being so fascinating but also incredibly sad as sections of this highly personal journal describe his private feelings about being in Space and how much he is looking forward to being reunited with his family after landing back on Earth.

The project was digitally printed by Good News Press on an Indigo digital press and was printed on Neptune Unique SoftWhite. The facsimile notebook has been bound using nylon cords supplied by NASA which is how the original notebook was bound.

http://www.sylpheditions.com/

http://www.goodnewspress.co.uk/

New ranges from Lagom

I have received two new ranges of Greetings Cards from Lagom.

The (predominantly) blue series called HYGGE are designed by Kelly Hyatt at Lagom and are printed in CMYK plus a special blue and a Gloss UV varnish .

The Monsieur Boudin series (below) is designed by LAB PARTNERS in San Francisco and features a very cute pooch, presumably called Monsieur Boudin! They are published in the UK by Lagom Design.
Both of these new ranges are printed on our uncoated OMNIA range (280gsm) - and for a bit of interesting product info, not only does it have a high bulk and tactile feel but unlike most uncoated products, UV varnish works really well! - if you want to see for yourself, you can always e-mail me and I'll send you an example...

www.lagomdesign.co.uk

Crispin Finn does it again!

I just received some more lovely samples from Anna Fidalgo at Crispin Finn. Silkscreen printed in one colour. Produced for the very talented illustrator, Emma Kelly.

The material used is our (lovely and oh, so competitively priced!) Matrisse 200gsm
I love the "Whilst you were out" note! as well.http://www.crispinfinn.com/
Emma Kelly: info@iliketodrawthings.com

PrintWeek Awards 2009

Last night it was the PrintWeek awards, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. It's a glitzy affair and although I was invited (a big thank you to the wonderful Helen Morris) sadly, I couldn't go.

Anyway, by all accounts it was a great night (probably quite boozy!) ...the results and report of the evening is available on http://www.printweek.com/business/news/946356/PrintWeek-Awards-2009-winners-announced/

The above pic shows NOISE FIVE, Designed by Attik and produced by Evolution Print, winner of "Innovative Printer of the Year"

From the results, there are a few mentions that affect our side of the industry that are worthy of note:

Digital Printer of the Year - Screaming Colour (London) http://www.screamingcolour.com/

Innovative Printer of the Year - Evolution Print (Sheffield) http://www.evolutionprint.co.uk/

Brochure Printer of the Year - Chapter Press (London and Bucks) http://www.chapterpress.co.uk/

Annual Report Printer of the Year - Beacon Press (Sussex) http://www.beaconpress.co.uk/

Well done to all those companies that won Printweek awards - Quality is not dead!

www.printweek.com

The American School in London

This is a beautifully designed and produced "mini" prospectus for The American School in London. Design is by Powell Allen. Copy by Howard Fletcher is combined with some splendid portraits and photography by the wonderful Phil Sayer.

There is a strange thing about this job which I can't explain. I have just measured it to give the dimensions and was very surprised to find it is 150x210 - or in other words pretty much A5! BUT it just doesn't feel like an A5 job at all - if you had asked me before I measured it I would definitely have said it felt squarer, definitely portrait, but certainly squarer. Looking at it now I wonder if I get that feeling because the dustjacket isn't full height, coming in at only 180mm high? ...maybe - we shall never know!

Anyway, the dustjacket (on which the type is beautifully foiled in Orange and Grey) works very cleverly with the cover images.

Inside, the book is divided in sections by age with the text being on smaller "tipped in" sections (180x130mm) - again maybe this adds to the square feeling?

And now for the paper plug! It is printed on our Neptune Unique FSC , with a 300gsm Cover, 135gsm Text and 120gsm tip in leaves.

Print is by Push

http://www.asl.org/

http://www.powellallen.com/

http://www.philipsayerpartnership.com/

http://www.howardfletcher.co.uk/

http://www.push-print.com/

It's Nice That - Issue 2 - out NOW!

Yes, issue 2 of It's Nice That is out now - and if you pre-ordered your copy, you will also have received your Rob Ryan screenprint as well.

There's some amazing stuff in here, far too much to list but my particular favourite is the "camouflage" by Noma Bar (page 90/91).

Production details are all as my post for Issue#1 (25/06/2009) except for the colour of the Colorset on the cover.

Nice one again Alex and Will!

http://www.itsnicethat.com/