Print does have value!

Now, I've not come across many promotional pieces from printing companies in the past that are coveted, let alone put up for sale!  However, a copy of the recently produced photographic book from London print company Push has been put up for auction on e-bay!

This beautifully produced, limited edition book, with photography by Peter Guenzel records the journey of Push's new Heidelberg press from Germany to their factory in London.

Book design is by Studio Thomson. Photography by Peter Guenzel ...and unsurprisingly it's printed by Push on their spanky new press!

You can read more about it on the ebay post:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230752823107?ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:GB:1120

I was fortunate enough to receive my own copy, so I won't be joining in the bidding but it'll be interesting to see how much it goes for!

www.studiothomson.com
www.peterguenzel.com
www.push-print.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 28.02.2012

BERG at St Bride

Following the highly successful Critical Tensions conference last November, St Bride Foundation is pleased to welcome Timo Arnall and friends to a talk about the design studio BERG.

"A growing and significant amount of design work takes place in systems, software and electronics. But these technologies are increasingly abstracted and black-boxed, so how can designers engage with these things meaningfully? How might we be involved in developing, critiquing and reflecting upon complex, opaque and invisible technologies?"

"Over the last four years BERG have produced a series of films exploring and explaining emerging technologies, building models and materials for understanding and invention.

Timo Arnall is creative director at the design studio BERG in London and a research fellow at the Oslo School of Architecture & Design. Timo has been making films, designing digital products, and researching emerging technologies for 15 years"

The lecture is on Wednesday 21 March 2012 at 7pm in the Bridewell Hall, St Bride Foundation London EC4.

The price is a very reasonable £12.00 (concessions for Students and Friends of St Bride Library available). You can book at: http://bergatstbride.eventbrite.co.uk/

PS - just an extra little note from me - if you haven't seen it, these are the guys that have developed the "Little Printer" have a look (and do watch the video!): http://bergcloud.com/littleprinter/

www.berglondon.com

www.stbride.org

Posted by Justin Hobson 24.02.2012

Pretty Green

 There's a really good interview with Dave Uprichard on the new Principal Colour blog about the new 2012 look book for Liam Gallagher’s clothing brand Pretty Green.

It’s inspired by the British music scene of the 60s & 70s, the format is an LP size (that's 12” square!) with a black slipcase to echo a record sleeve - all produced on our Colorset Nero 270gsm with some lovely foiling.

There's no point in me re-writing Amelia Gregory's excellent interview with Dave, so please have a peek for yourself....

http://principalcolour.tumblr.com/post/18125872362/pretty-green-look-book-dave-uprichard-one-big-company

http://www.onebigwebsite.com/

www.principalcolour.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 23.02.2012

Relish the Rib-Tone!

This is a lovely set of menu literature developed for "destination" restaurant, RELISH at the new Radisson Edwardian in Guildford.

Relish's ‘best of British' philosophy makes the most of their fresh produce. Ingredients are honest, of exceptional quality and always in season and the restaurant design, materials, layout and literature have been developed to reflect this.



Our Rib-Tone 2 sided 340gsm which has a natural brown shade and feint rib, was chosen to produce the menus, wine list, cards and bill holder wallets. The identity was printed in three colours, silver, black and a special brown. The wine list and menus are A4 size in a 4pp format, the cards are 85x55mm and the bill holder wallets are A5 portrait with a simple glued pocket.

Art direction for Relish is by Scott Wittman of the Gorgeous Group. The artwork production is by Suzanna Reed of Reedesigns.

Print was handled by Jason Maclaren at Cantate  ...and a couple of extra points worth noting about this project from a printing point of view:   The silver used in the image (wire around jar) is printed in high lustre base silver (www.color-logic.com) which has given an excellent, truly metallic result. The other thing is that the board has been sealed with an "Aquaseal" which is a watermissable triseal varnish, which although not making a noticeable difference to the surface of the paper, will offer some protection against fingermarking in the restaurant environment - good thinking!
...all in all, it's just the perfect choice of material.

www.relish-guildford.com
www.gorgeousgroup.com
www.reedesigns.co.uk
www.cantate.biz

Posted by Justin Hobson 21.02.2012

e-Bay Fashion Outlet

Design for online applications doesn't get too many column inches on this blog as it's mainly about paper based communications, but when the online world turns to print, I get interested!

London based design company, The Grid, created launch materials for eBay's Fashion Outlet in the UK communicating with press, bloggers and across social media channels.

eBay's Fashion Outlet aims to be an accessible experience, to be a fashion destination - not about fashion on the catwalk but about real and attainable style.

So with this in mind, The Grid, working with eBay creative director Andrea Linett, produced a lookbook shooting two well-known fashion bloggers - Sandra Hagelstam & Jennifer Inglis, as the models. Photography is by Damon Heath from Lula mag.

Size is 295x195mm, portrait, saddle stitched. It has a 4pp cover printed on Omnia 320gsm with a 36pp text on Omnia 150gsm. The job was a limited run of 250 copies and was printed digitally on a Xerox 1000. You may have spotted from the pics that there's an 8pp 'dustjacket' - which was litho printed (because the format was too large for digital) which was also printed on Omnia 200gsm - and as you can see from the pic below, the saddle stitching was covered up by a 4mm square "spine" formed on the dustjacket by parallel creases. Very simple and effective.

Creative Director at The Grid is Johnathan Collins and the designer on the project is Lewis Dace. Print is by Bermondsey based printer Scanplus (Dan Cattle). 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/fashion/outlet

www.thegridcreative.com

Jennifer Inglis - Style Crusader blog: http://www.thestylecrusader.org/

Sandra Hagelstam - Five inch and up blog: http://5inchandup.blogspot.com/

Damon Heath Photography:http://damonheath.com/

Print: http://www.scanplus.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 17.02.2012

Picasso and Modern British Art

Pablo Picasso
The Three Dancers 1925
Tate © Succession Picasso/DACS 2011

This Monday I was invited to the press view of this major new exhition at Tate Britain. Unfortunately I was unable to go but it certainly requires a mention here...

"Picasso and Modern British Art explores his extensive legacy and influence on British art, how this played a role in the acceptance of modern art in Britain, alongside the fascinating story of Picasso’s lifelong connections to and affection for this country.

It brings together over 150 spectacular artworks, with over 60 stunning Picassos including sublime paintings from the most remarkable moments in his career, such as Weeping Woman 1937 and The Three Dancers 1925.

Picasso and Modern British Art is the first exhibition to trace Picasso’s rise in Britain as a figure of both controversy and celebrity. From his London visit in 1919, working on the scenery and costumes for Diaghilev’s ballet The Three Cornered Hat; to his post-war reputation and political appearances; leading up to the phenomenally successful 1960 Tate exhibition.

Full of beautiful and inspirational artworks, this exhibition is an unmissable treat and a fascinating insight into how British art became modern"

Pablo Picasso Nude Woman in a Red Armchair 1932
 © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2011. Tate

The exhibition is on from today until 5th July 2012.
...and thanks to the Tate press office for inviting me.

www.tate.org.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson16.02.2012

Mythology from Annoushka

This is one of the teeniest little jobs that I've worked on! It is only 64mm square. It is a piece of literature for boutique jewellery brand, Annoushka. The job is made up of 16 individual leaves in CMYK plus 2 extra leaves of trace paper printed in one colour with the original design illustrations of the jewellery range. The whole thing is held together with a brass rivet on which the pages spin round.

It is printed on our lovely Omnia 120gsm which reproduces the gold and amulets beautifully. The other thing worth pointing out is that when I was discussing the project in the early stages with the designer, I was able to make up a dummy ....because we have a riveting machine in our sample room - how about that!

Designer on the project is Jennifer Campbell-Colquhoun. Printing (...and the tricksy little rivets!) is by Push.

www.annoushka.com

www.push-print.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 15.02.2012