What is ...a Crow's foot?



What is ...Number 4

Regular followers of this blog will know that in the middle of the month, I publish a "What is ....? post. The article covers various aspects of paper, printing and finishing in greater depth. However, many of these subjects are complex, so these posts are only intended to be a brief introduction to the topic.

 

What is ...a crow's foot (in printing)?

Crow's feet

When the term "crow's foot" is thrown into a print related conversation, it leaves many who haven't been immersed in printing terminology baffled. Most people have heard of the term "crow's feet" applying to those narrow lines around the outside corners of your eyes which becomes more prominent as you grow older (don't worry, I haven't started writing a beauty hints blog!)

In the world of print and print finishing, the term "Crow's foot" refers to the creasing that you can get on a folded sheet which looks rather ugly, as the picture below: 

showing detail



A real crow's foot

Needless to say, the term is derived from the shape and pattern of a Crow's foot, a Crow, unlike some other birds, having a three toes. The problem of this ugly creasing appears to be caused by two factors which can either happen individually or in tandem. Firstly, there is the distortion caused by folding paper on itself and on itself again and again etc. The problem is that paper roughly doubles in size with each fold and this makes it harder to bend and results in the distortion (creases) on the inside sheets.

 

This effect happens whether paper is folded by hand or by machine. The second factor that causes or more particularly accentuates the "rippling" generally making more creases is mechanical folding. The increase in the creases is caused by air escaping, as it has nowhere to go (-readers familiar with printed sections being folded for binding will know that a rough perforation is made along the fold to allow the air to escape).

 

So, as you can see, this is clearly a problem - although it is one of those issues which generally rears it's ugly head when you are least expecting it! Many people think by using a lightweight material, such as our Offenbach Bible in 40, 50, 60gsm it will solve the problem - sadly the lighter weight material won't solve the problem on it's own!

 

How to get round it? - if producing an item which requires folding down, the best thing is to concertina one way and then concertina the other way. This means that the paper is never folded on itself and on itself again. It reduces the stress, prevents distortion and means that you never see a crow's foot! There are many examples of this already on the blog, here's a couple of perfect examples by NB:Studio and Studio8: http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/d-new-blood-2010.html, http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/shop-london.html

 

However, I can also show you a perfect example of just how not to do it! This folded down poster is a project for D&AD. Unfortunately there is no design or printer credit, so I can't reveal who was responsible, but it's the perfect example of a great idea but executed with lack of thought and poor production!

A5, portrait in size, reveals this amazing spectacle on the first spread...

close up detail

I'm sure that because of the quantity that would have been printed, the likelihood is that it would have been machine folded as this looks like the creasing that happens when air is trapped. The point is that it could still be machine folded but in a concertina which would have prevented this unsightly effect:

The whole poster:

...as many of my school teachers would have said about me ..."could have done better"!

Posted by Justin Hobson 15.04.2014

Peter Doig - No Foreign Lands

This is the literature and private view invitation for a major exhibition titled 'No Foreign Lands' devoted to one of Scotland's most internationally-renowned artists working today Peter Doig. Works from the last ten years were shown in this first major exhibition in the country of his birth held at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh, last year.  

The invitations are printed on our Omnia 320gsm duplexed to make 640gsm ...and as you can see, beautifully reproduces the detail of the scene in Trinidad. This invitation is a 2pp, portrait, A5 (210x148mm) format and is printed offset litho.

 

To go with the show, there is a superb 8pp concertina leaflet, size 235x170mm printed on our Omnia 120gsm.

The colour reproduction is strong and vivid and the whole publication has a matt, tactile look and feel which works perfectly with the artwork. 

...for interest, here is a close-up of the duplexed invitation which is around 1mm thick:

The invitation is printed in one colour (blue) on the reverse and the name DOIG is hot foil blocked in matt white foil. Omnia foils beautifully as it has a high bulk and flattens out leaving the foiled type, smooth and slightly de-bossed.

You can read more about the exhibition here:
http://www.nationalgalleries.org/whatson/exhibitions/peter-doig/

Design and Art direction is by Freytag Anderson, a Glasgow based studio run by creative partners Daniel Freytag and Greig Anderson.

Printing is by J. Thompson Colour Printers in Glasgow

www.nationalgalleries.org
www.freytaganderson.com
http://www.jtcp.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.04.2014

Hermès - petit h

Studio Toogood were commissioned by Hermès to launch petit h – a new take on the iconic Hermès brand. The entire ground floor of the flagship Bond Street store was dedicated to a custom-designed Studio Toogood interior including a series of sculptural displays in glossy leather and resin. The widows in the Bond Street showroom displayed scaled up craftsmen's tools in linear neon.

You can read more about the project here: http://studiotoogood.com/work/interiors/herm-s-

Part of the project included some graphic materials which were produced in collaboration with freelance designer Tom Watt (Field Projects). The literature includes an invitation and a poster. In accordance with the campaign theme, photograms of the products and the tools used to create them were created which was used as the imagery for the publications.

The poster is A1 size (841x594mm) and printed in CMYK on our Offenbach Bible 60gsm and the result is simply beautiful. The subject combines beautifully with the lightness and slight translucency of the material.

The invitations are A5 portrait (210x148mm) and are printed on our Omnia 320gsm. This has reproduced the richness of the red and black image perfectly.

Below is a picture of the original Photograms made by Tom Watt with photographic printer Brian Dowling.

 

Creative director at Studio Toogood is Faye Toogood. Tom Watt is a freelance art director (Field Projects). The invitations and posters are printed by Robert Young at R.Young & Son based in Croydon.
http://uk.hermes.com/

www.studiotoogood.com

www.field-projects.com

http://www.ryoungprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 08.04.2014

The Power of Creativity

This is a limited edition poster produced by Johnson Banks. Originally produced for the D&AD 50 Auction, the original posters were 2 huge giclée prints.

In JB's own words "This project stems from a brief to design a D&AD Annual Cover on the theme of ‘The Power of Creativity’. Rather than show examples of creativity, the poster collects 99 examples from the last 500 years and describes each of them. The ideas cover all areas of art, design, architecture, film-making, product design and invention, and describes breakthroughs from those as well known as Einstein and Jobs, to the almost-forgotten names that invented the postage stamp"

To make them available to a wider audience, they have produced a limited edition of 200 copies. It’s printed offset litho in 3 colours and the size is 1000x666mm.

The posters have been produced on our Omnia 200gsm, so that it has a tactile uncoated feel (and not a glossy/coated look) but reproduces exquisitely with a rich, rich black which makes the reversed out type really pop out.

The posters are printed by Gavin Martin Colournet, beautifully ...and as you can see from the picture below, they also made a nice job of packing them!

They are available to purchase from the studio here:

http://johnsonbanks.co.uk/shop/power-of-creativity-poster/

 

www.johnsonbanks.co.uk

www.gavinmartincolournet.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 04.04.2104





Jobs from the past - Number 54

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...



The Republic of Letters - Winter 2009

News from The Republic of Letters is a literary broadsheet. This is issue 20,  published jointly by The Republic of Letters and Sylph Editions. The journal was founded in 1997 by writers Saul Bellow and Keith Botsford, with each issue consisting of texts from both new and established authors. These vary from full-length novellas to short texts and poetry. Edited by Keith Botsford.

The size is 300x235mm, portrait and is a 24pp self-cover. The publication is all printed offset litho in one colour only (black) on our Offenbach Bible 60gsm...

Click on images to enlarge

...and it looks and feels absolutely gorgeous - it flops and folds in a delightful way when handling the publication.

Click on images to enlarge

There are many posts on this blog, showing work printed on Offenbach Bible which has lots of four colour, solid colours and really demanding printing. Arguably, this job, with black type printed both sides, is exactly what the Offenbach Bible is produced for. Genuine bible papers, are produced with exceptional opacity, good strength and archival quality. This publication shows just how good the opacity is and is just as demanding as many jobs which are covered in colour and images. The type looks exquisite - surely the combination of the typeface, the printing and the paper.

There are superb illustrations throughout the magazine by Izhar Cohen, detail below...

The project is designed and art directed by Ornan Rotem and Num Stibbe at Sylph Editions.

Print production was by Print Station and the job was printed (and very neatly finished) by Typecast Colour in Paddock Wood, Kent.

http://www.sylpheditions.com/
http://izharcohen.com/
http://www.typecast.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.04.2014

Parliamentary Select Committee

I can now report that yesterday I was privileged to have appeared before MP's at the Houses of Parliament before a  sub-committee for Culture Media and Sport.

The committee wanted to hear from people in the industry about the effect of digital communications on the paper industry and I was invited because I'm on the board of  the Alliance for Paper Related Industry Legislation (APRIL).

It was an interesting and somewhat overwhelming experience but nevertheless, a great honour.

The hearing was chaired by Flora Pilo, the Welsh MP for Rialofpol and below is the official picture - I'm the one on the far right with my left hand up (...had to be an official photo as "selfies" aren't allowed!)

I appeared alongside Joe Kerr, the Managing Director of print company Polar Foil and Haime Jester, consultant from paper industry research specialists Head Heaven Buoy (HHB)

As this is only a minor sub-committee, the notes in Hansard (parliament's own publishing house) will not appear until later in the month and I'm not permitted to discuss the hearing until publication, but the report being compiled by online editors, Opal Firlo, should make for interesting reading - I'll let you know when it's published.

www.parliament.uk/

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/hansard/



Posted by Justin Hobson 01.04.2014

Caesarstone - Design Inspirations

This is a striking look-book for stone company Caesarstone, a brand that is an innovative pioneer of quartz surfaces. They collaborated with trend forecasters FranklinTill to edit and design this inaugural publication which shows a curated selection of stones and materials and the possibilities for the future.

The book is a casebound (hardback) book, which is "Quarter bound" (that is the way to describe the bookcloth which wraps around the spine). Size of the publication is 280x220mm, portrait and has a 64pp text. The cover paper is printed CMYK on Omnia 150gsm and is hot foil blocked in matt grey foil with a Colorado cloth in grey around the spine. The text is also printed on Omnia throughout.

The slightly unusual thing to mention about the text is that it is sewn in sections, but each section is made up using 12pp of Omnia 150gsm with a 4pp section on 200gsm wrapped around the 12pp, making a 16pp section in total. The purpose of the heavier 4pp weight is to provide "divider" sections, on which colour palette is printed. The other thing to add is the 200gsm pages are printed CMYK plus a gloss UV varnish over the colour palette areas (below)

Omnia was chosen for this project because the nature of the stone surfaces required a tactile material, without any loss of detail in the reproduction. As you can see from these pictures, there's loads of ink going down and it looks great on the Omnia, reproducing bright vibrant colours as well and keeping all the detail in the darker images, especially the smaller detail shots below ...and of course, Omnia is one of the very few papers with an uncoated look and feel that you can successfully use with UV varnish in one pass and get a great result.

This is an exquisitely produced piece of literature, the design, photography, print and binding being of the highest quality.

The research, editing and design is by FranklinTill. Creative directors are Kate Franklin and Caroline Till and the designers on the project are Laura Gordon and Graham Tait.

The superb print is by Push, handled by Danny Kirk.

 

www.caesarstone.com

www.franklintill.com

http://www.push-print.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 28.03.2014