The Modern House

Now hold onto your hat! ...this is simply my favourite job from last year - I've been keeping it up my sleeve, so I can write about it at length! 

Established by Albert Hill and Matt Gibberd in 2004,The Modern House is the UK’s foremost estate agency for houses and apartments of outstanding design and they have a passion for modern architecture.

This is their company brochure (titled "The Art of Selling Architecture") which sets out to explain who they are, what they do and how they do it, illustrated with 4 case studies and it does it brilliantly!

The Size of the brochure is 240x330mm, portrait, perfect bound. There is a 4pp cover which is on Omnia 200gsm  - this might seem lightweight but Omnia is very bulky and this opens well and doesn't disrupt the flow. The first and last pages are also on Omnia (120gsm) - printed to work with the cover working as end papers - the below pic shows inside front cover L/H and pg 1of text on R/H.

The images used for the cover and endpapers are from a series by artist Heidi Specker, called "IM GARTEN"  (http://www.heidispecker.de/books/imgarten/)

Now the reason that this job is more than a bit of a treat, is that after the lovely images on the cover and endpapers ...which let's face it, couldn't be anything less like a brochure for an Estate Agent, we go into a beautifully simple 2 colour section printed in black and red using amazing images of modernist buildings, simply reproduced as halftones with type in Futura.

The first section gives an overview of the company and the way they work. It's an 8pp section with a very "mono" feel and is printed on our Colorset Light Grey 120gsm which is subtly grey, giving it a rough and raw feel reflecting the fact that many of the structures that they work with are formed from concrete.

After the raw feel of the first 8pp we come to the middle 16pp which show 4 case studies of properties that they have marketed: Space House, Mildmay Park, Woodstock Studios and the iconic High & Over. The amazing architectural photography has reproduced brilliantly on our Omnia 120gsm whilst not losing the tactility that the mono section has already set - and certainly not coming across as a "glossy estate agent brochure"...

After the case study section, there is a further 8pp mono section (black and a blue special) about the people in the company, what their customers and the press say about them finishing off with Heidi Specker's images on the endpaper and cover. 

So why do I like this brochure so much? (...apart from it being on our paper!) - well, the materials used work so well with the design - the number of sections and size (8/16pp sections of 340x240mm) mean that it's maximised the use of the printing press and paper format and that it's so simple and reflects what the company does so well -

and it has some lovely touches - for example, the use of the grey as the text material and the design of the outside cover which has horizontal strips of gloss varnish applied - a machine varnish (not a UV varnish) which are deliberately subtle (see pic. on right)

Art direction and design is by Tom Watt and James Reid at Field Projects. Print production is by Push in London.

Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus school is quoted as saying "Only work which is the product of inner compulsion can have spiritual meaning" personally, I think that this piece is that type of work.

www.themodernhouse.net

http://field-projects.com/

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

Posted by Justin Hobson 26.03.2012

Miss Selfridge

...just the cover makes the difference!

Here's a job that is well worth a look, because of the way the cover is used to add to the quality and feel of the whole project.

This is the Autumn Winter lookbook for Miss Selfridge. The size of the job is A4 Portrait and is saddle stitched. What makes a particular difference to this piece of literature is the way in which Omnia 200gsm has been used for the cover to give it a more tactile engaging feel, but not just as a 4pp cover ...it is the the cover and the first and last 2pp of text - so 8pp in total. The effect is very noticeable and because of the way the colour is printed accross the spread it works as an "endpaper" as you would find in a traditional casebound book. The text is on a house gloss coated sheet, as the budget dictated. The cover gives it a quality feel and keeps it miles away from the naff "glossy" brochures which are often produced for fashion companies - the cover sets the tone and feel for the whole publication:

Cover:

Inside cover spread, printed in a turquoise special with pink fluorescent type:

Inside spread (l/h on Omnia- r/h on gloss):

Outside back cover:

Design is by Loretta Martinelli at Miss Selfridge. Print is by Screaming Colour.

...and thanks to Loretta for the file copies and the lovely note (and yes, the colour is amazing)...

www.missselfridge.com

http://www.screamingcolour.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 22.03.2012

Colorset is a Social paper...

This is a lovely use of our Colorset 100% Recycled range: Stationery literature for London agency, Social.

Social is an agency with a really broad range of work, from branding, print, events and digital for diverse clients, such as Universal Music, The Waldorf Hotel, Heart FM  and animation work for WWF.

The compliment slips (below) actually pay a compliment to the receiver! ...which is pretty novel for a compliment slip.

The compliment cards 210x99mm, produced using Colorset Ash 270gsm which are simply hot foil blocked in matt yellow foil (Foilco Ref: 609)

The business cards (55x84mm) are Duplexed using Colorset Dark Grey 270gsm and Ash 270gsm with the same colour hot foiled 'Social' logo and details.

...and unbeknown to me was that they were also producing their 10th anniversary brochure and they liked the Colorset so much, they used Colorset Solar 270gsm on the 4pp cover of the 190x297mm publication, hot foiled blocked in metallic silver foil.

Designer on the job is Neil Edmundson. Print and hot foil blocking (which it's worth pointing out is done in house) is by Identity in Paddock Wood.

...and thanks to Neil for the lovely note. Since he did this project, he has re-located to Newcastle, establishing his own studio, Edmundson Design. Best wishes for the future to Neil.

www.welcometosocial.com

www.edmundsondesign.com
www.identityprint.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 19.03.2012

What's cooking ?

What's cooking? Famous designers on food is a book that's just been produced by the publishers of Baseline magazine. It contains a collection of stories, memories and recipes revealed by a wide range of internationally renowned designers. On many of the pages there are one-off illustrations, designs and photographs by the contibutors.

Among those featured are Wim Crouwel, Zandra Rhodes, Wally Olins, Michael Wolff, Steven Heller, Alan Kitching, Len Deighton, Ken Garland, Martin Lambie-Nairn, George Tscherny, Arnold Schwartzman, Marion Deuchars, Margaret Calvert, Paula Scher and the late Alan Fletcher ( ...and many more besides)

Size 220 x 165mm and has 100 text pages in full colour. Sadly not printed on our paper, but I thought you might be interested anyway! ...a bit late for Mothering Sunday but birthdays are never far away!

The price is  £15. You can pre-order your copy now on: www.baselinemagazine.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 16.03.2012

HP Indigo unveils B2

Hewlett Packard have announced that they will be launching a B2 format sheetfed, HP Indigo digital printing press this year.

The New HP Indigo 10000 model is just one model of the new 750mm-wide Indigo presses aimed at a range of sectors, including commercial print. The new press will be capable of printing up to seven-colours, and up to 4,600 sheets an hour.

Now why is this of interest to readers of this blog...?
Well, up until now, digital printing has been constrained by format - that is to say that the largest printable sheet was around an A3+ size. By and large this has been fine for the smaller run applications but causes a major problem with finishing/binding - because you can make only 4pp A4 sections. With the new format, 8pp A4 sections and A3 4pp sections are all possible, making larger format digitally printed books and brochures a reality.

This new machine/format really will change things....

You can read more:
http://www.printweek.com/bulletin/printweekdailybulletin/article/1121818/hp-unveils-b2-sheetfed-indigo-part-drupa-product-line-up/

Posted by Justin Hobson 14.03.2012

Wrangler - Heavy Soul

Every season, Blue Bell links up with an American artist. This Spring/Summer, the association is with sculptor and motorcycle collector, Jeff Decker. The landscape of Springville in Utah and his work provide the backdrop for the images in the collection.

The cover is printed in a solid gold metallic and has this most superbly detailed debossing.



The images show everything from the landscape to the casting of his sculptures (above) and of course the denim workwear (all made in the USA). Size is A5 portrait. It's "singer sewn" with an 8pp cover on Omnia 280gsm and 44pp text on Omnia 120gsm. Needless to say, as you can see from the images, they look great on the Omnia, reproducing bright vibrant colour together with the darker monochromatic images as well, keeping all the detail in the dark areas (it's just my opinion- but I would say that!)

The art direction is by Mark and Chris Thomson - yet another superb piece of art direction. Photography is by Boo George. The exceptional printing (debossing and finishing) is by Push.

www.bluebelljeans.com

www.jeffdeckerstudio.com

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

Posted by Justin Hobson 12.03.2012

...a very expensive piece of paper!

This week, a rare "wanted" poster for Charles II has been sold for just over £33,000 at an auction in Shropshire. The poster offers a reward of £1,000 for the capture of the king, who had escaped after the battle of Worcester in 1651.

Issued by Oliver Cromwell's parliament, the poster calls for "the discovery and apprehending of Charles Stuart and other traitors, his adherents and abettors".

Apparently for a piece of paper that is over 350 years old, it is in surprisingly good condition.

Rather sadly I have been unable to find out anything further about where the (handmade) paper was made. Anyway, I think it's still quite interesting and is a reminder that paper does have a permanence that many people forget!

I could suggest that the poster had been printed on our lovely Offenbach Bible, but that wouldn't be true - although it is worth pointing out that Offenbach Bible has archival qualities  - it's acid free, rosin free and alum free.

£33K might seem like a lot of money for this poster but it's cheap in comparison with the book that sold for over £7million! (see previous post below)
http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2010/12/worlds-most-expensive-book-sells-for.html

Posted by Justin Hobson 09.03.2012