Dowling Duncan

Dowling|Duncan are anything but a conventional design company. The company was born out of the desire of two former work colleagues wishing to work together and the result is a pooling of resources by the two principals, John Dowling and Rob Duncan on either sides of the Atlantic.

The literature below is their first piece of promotional print in what has been a momentous year for the two D's. Not only have they celebrated their first year, but they have also opened a New York office in the Chrysler building. They now have offices in San Francisco, New York and Newark (UK).

The below piece is a simple 12pp folded affair in which the 8pp concertina folds into the last 4pp forming the cover. Size is 155mm x 220mm.

One side is almost entirely image based (pics above) while the other side is mailnly in black, demonstrating the marks and identities that they have completed (pic below)

The job is printed on our Omnia 200gsm which works just perfectly as the creasing and small (3mm) spine which enable the concertina to sit squarely in the cover is just right. Printing is offset litho in four colours and the printer is Gavin Martin. It was printed before they opened the New York office, so here's hoping for a re-print!

...and thanks to John and Rob for their note

http://dowlingduncan.com/

www.gavinmartin.co.uk

Halo 9

This is the latest issue of Halo which is the Central St Martins magazine for business published by University of the Arts London.

Central St Martins Innovation is an interesting concept, as part of the university which works with over 300 businesses.

This magazine is an interesting read; articles about Science and Art being reunited, CSM Students working with the Paralympic GB team (narrative environments) and of course a description of the new Central St Martins 64 acre (!) campus at Kings Cross.

The magazine itself is 210x270mm, portrait, saddle stitched with a 4pp cover and a 32pp text. The cover is an uncoated offset (250gsm?) and the text is printed on our Marazion Ultra 115gsm giving the publication a substantial feel without making it feel like a brochure.

Editor is Dani Salvadori, Director of Enterprise and Innovation at CSM. Printing is by Chapter Press.

 

www.csm.arts.ac.uk

www.chapterpress.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 08.06.2011

University of Portsmouth - Showtime 2011

Showtime 2011 Summer exhibition poster/identity

This is a lovely set of literature which forms the identity, invitation, posters and information about the shows. There is an A1 folding to A4 poster/invite printed on Offenbach Bible 50gsm and an A5 invitation card.

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:

"The identity of the poster etc. plays upon the polysemy of the word Showtime. Time to put on a show; The point in time that has arrived to show work; Showing the time that has been invested in work and study through the public exhibition.

Bespoke lettering/type was created that used the metaphor of the opening door as this was also a time of departure from study to the wider world etc. This also represented the number one of the individual and eleven for the year of the show. Show and 2011 are represented as time in the form of a digital clock-like composition.

The reverse of the poster uses an algorithm based upon the screen angles of the colours used to create unique 'interactions' representative of each students unique contribution in terms of time and the work they show.

The Offenbach Bible Paper 50gsm used, also allows the front and back of the poster to interact * showing through * connections at the individual level contributing to the whole.

Poster (Reverse)

Front of the A5 Invitation is printed on Redeem 100% Recycled 315gsm:

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

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

The show is on this week at the Eldon Building at University of Portsmouth - get down there now!

www.port.ac.uk

www.ccichannel.port.as.uk

www.ls-printing.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 07.06.2011

Jobs from the past - Number 20

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...

V&A  1998-2001 Report

This is the triennial report of the board of trustees published in 2001 under the title: Inspiration and Knowledge, this report is very much aimed at answering the question "what is the V&A for?" 

It is a conventional A4 landscape size. The perfect bound document is made up of a 4pp cover, 34pp text and a seperate 4pp dustjacket. The highlight of the piece is the use of the V&A logo which is die cut out of the dustjacket behind which is the image of a tapestry (Neptune and Cupid plead for the lovers -Mortlake). The bold use of the now iconic V&A logo (Designed by Pentagram - Alan Fletcher 1989) is striking and purposeful.

The spreads use a different colour for each of the subjects covered in the report - all of which are deliberately kept to one right hand page, each working with an appropriately striking image on the left hand page. 

The review is printed on our Concorde Pure Silk which is a triple coated silk. Cover is on 350gsm, text on 170gsm and the dustjacket on 200gsm. At 200gsm, it's heavier than one would normally use for a dustjacket but it needs to be that heavy to work with the large die-cut logo.

Design was by London based studio HGV and creative director on the project was Pierre Vermeir. Editor was Jeremy Myerson. Sadly, after 21 years  HGV closed it's doors in 2009, when Pierre Vermeir took a position as creative director at an agency in Bangkok. Pierre passed the HGV legacy and his clients to senior designer, Tommy Taylor who formed Alphabetical and who still works with many of the former HGV clients.

Print was by Gavin Martin, who as regular blog readers will know are still producing excellent work and also working on V&A projects - see previous post: http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2011/01/v-and-me.html

www.vam.ac.uk
www.alphabeticalstudio.com
www.gavinmartin.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.06.2011

Fitriani

This is a simple but beautifully produced piece of literature for luxury Knighstbridge womenswear boutique Fitriani.

It's a 6pp A5, portrait, concertina piece, produced for the press to show their range called "Petal". Art direction and photography is superb. The Fitriani logotype is hot foil blocked in matt black foil on the front cover. It is printed on Omnia 280gsm which allows the detail of these limited edition dresses to be seen and look stunning.

Design and Art Direction is by Dalziel+Pow. They were approached to refresh the store environment and create photographic campaigns for 2011 and this publication is just part of the brand repositioning. Designer on the project is Ashley Hodges.

The piece was printed by Team Impression in Leeds. Although this is a simple piece, it's often the simple jobs which don't get the attention to detail. This is well creased, folded square which is just perfect.

...and thanks to Simon Bucktrout at Team for sending through the file copies.

www.fitriani.com
www.dalziel-pow.co.uk
www.team-impression.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 31.05.2011

ISTD 2011 awards - hurry!

The ISTD awards deadline has been extended until Tuesday 31 May. You need to register by the end of this date and your work MUST arrive with Poke by 2 June.

The ISTD Awards celebrate the best in typography from around the world. Entries can come from any design discipline and should have used typography as an integral part of the design solution. The winning work will be featured on the ISTD website and in the ISTD 2011 Awards publication.

For further information visit: www.istd.org.uk/awards

Posted by Justin Hobson 26.05.2011

Whistles Invite AW2011

Here's an invitation with a real difference ...it's really thick!

This is the invitation to the launch of the Whistles Autumn/Winter 2011 collection at Claridges. It is produced using three of our materials! The face is hot foil blocked in a pigmented green foil on our Colorset, Crimson 270gsm. This has then been pasted onto our Vale Board which is 2000micron (2mm) thick and then is finished with Astralux Black 250gsm which has been pasted on the reverse.

...and the most beautiful touch of all is the 2½mm thick board has been sprayed in green to match the foil - really beautiful.

Below pic shows black reverse:

So there you have it. A three ply sandwich which is beatifully finished, has lots of impact, style and solidity!

Design is by Simmonds. Foiling and finishing is by Gavin Martin and it's been beatifully done.

http://www.whistles.co.uk/

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

Posted by Justin Hobson 24.05.2011