Monday, 1 March 2010

Jobs from the Past - Number 6

Regular followers 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 and here's one from twelve years ago.
Marmalade - A book for photographer, Robin Broadbent

This job was instigated by the then newly formed design company Browns in 1998. The original founders, Graham Taylor, Jonathan Ellery and Mike Turner set up after leaving Addison and although much of their business was corporate publishing for annual reports, they had a desire to publish some of their own, more creative and artistic, projects and this was amongst the very first of these projects. This is a tradition which continues today (http://www.brownseditions.com/)

The subject is stark black and white compositions of shapes and substances photographed in England, Scotland, Malaysia and Italy by the contemporary photographer Robin Broadbent. There is no text, just a listing of locations.

It is a casebound book and the size is 215x155mm. The text is printed Tritone - Black and two greys, with one "tipped in" section which is a 4 colour surprise! It has a 68pp text printed on our Millennium Real Silk 150gsm which has been made to look super glossy with an extremely high gloss machine varnish (not a horrible UV varnish!) on the image areas. The end papers and cover paper is printed on Neptune Unique 120gsm. The publishing initiative was a project that all three partners worked on but the Creative Director on this project was Mike Turner.
and now for the four colour surprise ...marmalade!
The book is a "proper" book, published by Browns together with an International Standard Book Number (ISBN: 0953373002)

The printer on the project was The Pale Green Press and the job was handled by Managing Director, Ben Craze. Sadly (like many printers of the day) they went bankrupt but re-emerged (surprise!) as Special Blue but again went bankrupt again a few years later.

So where are they all now? Jonathan Ellery remains at Browns. Mike Turner left Browns and set up his own practice called Em-Project. Graham Taylor crossed the atlantic to establish a Browns studio in New York in 2003 and he is now Creative Director at The Protean Corporation in the US. The photographer Robin Broadbent has also moved stateside and now lives and works in New York.
http://www.brownsdesign.com/
http://www.robinbroadbent.com/
http://www.em-project.com/
http://www.theproteancorp.com/
Posted by Justin Hobson

Friday, 26 February 2010

Discover Young Hackney...

This is a leaflet that doesn't feel like a leaflet!

This piece of literature has been produced for Hackney Council's Cultural Development Team to promote the Youth, Arts and Culture Festival.

The 32pp broadsheet is A6 in size and printed using all specials, Fluro Red, Fluro Yello, Hackney Special Green and Black which is unusual but gives a fantastically vivid effect.

It is printed on Omnia 120gsm which works really well with Fluro colours, making them look really vibrant

Design and Art Direction is by Linda Byrne. Illustration is by Will Barras. Print is by Jigsaw Colour in Rotherhithe.

Thank you Linda for sending me a copy and the lovely note:
www.hackney.gov.uk/dyh
http://www.alphabetical-order.co.uk/
http://www.willbarras.com/
http://www.jigsawcolour.co.uk/

Thursday, 25 February 2010

House Style!

This is one of those great jobs that you pick up which just has an amazing sense of fun.

This is a brochure for the House of Illustration, the function of which is to enrole membership and donations for the new House of Illustration Gallery instigated by Quentin Blake.

The size of the brochure is 260x200mm and it uses our Modigliani Candido 260gsm, which has a "feltmark" texture similar to that of a watercolour paper, so right from the start the material works with the subject.

The illustrated type is by the talented and prolific Marion Deuchars and is used to great effect throughout the 12pp brochure.
However the real surprise comes in the centre spread when a "pop-up" house appears ...fantastic!
The project was designed by BOB Design. Creative Directors on the project were Alexis Burgess and Mireille Burkhardt. Designer and housebuilder on the project was Matt Price. Below is a picture of Matt "burning the midnight oil" building the houses.
and thank you for the lovely letter...

Tuesday, 23 February 2010

Neil Tinson Studio #2

This is the second in the series of self promotional pieces from Neil Tinson Studio who are based in Cornwall (see previous post 11.9.2009)

It is A2 size folding to A5, printed in two special colours.It is printed on our Clervaux [1 sided] 110gsm which is uncoated but smooth one side and toothy (roughish) on the reverse.
If you've never heard of it, that's because it's in a range of one, therefore we don't have a swatch or anything like that I'm afraid but if you'd like to see a Clervaux sample - drop me a line...
http://www.neiltinson.co.uk/

Friday, 19 February 2010

Charlotte Building W1

This is a lovely example of a casebound book with a paper over board (hardback) cover.

The book was comissioned by property developers Derwent PLC. Design is by Made Thought.

As you will see from the spreads below they have used white mannequins in the empty buildings to great effect. Art direction is superb. Sorry I don't know who the photographer is. The black foil blocking on the cover is very effective.

Size of the book is 210x260mm with a 36pp text.

The book is produced using our Omnia 150gsm which gives it easily enough bulk for a 8mm spine (which you really need for a casebound book). This project has had a heavy "sealer" varnish put all over the sheet which gives it an unusual reflective, slightly pearlescent, finish as opposed to the normal flat, matt tactile finish that Omnia has - an unusual treatment which is effective with the images used in this job.

The job was printed by Team Impression based in Leeds and thank you to Simon Bucktrout for sending us a copy.

http://www.charlottebuildingw1.com/
http://www.madethought.com/
http://www.team-impression.com/

Thursday, 18 February 2010

Ultrabold No7

I have just received my copy of the Autumn edition of Ultrabold magazine, which is the Journal of the St Bride Library - if you don't know about St. Brides - see http://www.stbride.org/

In the past Fenner Paper have supported this publication (by supplying discounted material) although sadly this sponsorship has now come to an end. However this latest edition is certainly worth a mention.

The publication is designed by Simon Loxley and is published by the Friends of St Brides. In this issue, there is a very interesting article by Kath Tudball and Julia Woollams from Johnson Banks about the new "Save the Children" identity (spread below)
There is also a fascinating article about Yulia Brodsakya's designs using the rather forgotten art of "paper rolling" or "quilling" for The Guardian.

Print is sponsored by Principal Colour.
The journal is a 40pp self cover, 190x265mm Portrait and is printed on StarFine White 130gsm

It's worth mentioning that this publication is free to friends of St Bride - so why not look into joining - might be cheaper than just buying the books!

http://www.stbride.org/
http://www.johnsonbanks.co.uk/
http://www.artyulia.com/
http://www.principalcolour.co.uk/

Tuesday, 16 February 2010

Mantisworld Ethical T Shirts

Now to many of you this might look like a normal saddle stitched lookbook, but as with most of the projects I work on there's a bit more to it!

Astroman (a design company based in London) wanted a "tactile" material that had more of an uncoated feel but that wouldn't let down the brightness of the colours. The factory that makes these clothes is in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and they use 100% certified organic cotton and are a pioneer in ethical manufacturing. The reproduction of the vivid African colours was an important part of the brief. Importantly this catalogue is mailed out internationally, so postal weight was an overidding consideration.

The eventual choice of materials combined the tactile Omnia as a cover but only in 200gsm (which is very bulky) with our lightweight Marazion Ultra in 90gsm which might sound very light but it works extremely well and also means that an extra saving could be made because it could be saddle stitched as opposed to perfect bound.

Here are some spreads:
The job is 4pp cover with a 72pp text and the size is 200x260mm and for your interest, the job weighed just over 200grams which kept it well within the desired postage band.
Print was by Principal Colour.
Designed by Astroman. Creative Director on the project was Doug Hurcombe. Designer on the project was Katerina Karamallaki and thank you for the lovely note...