Printing Bike Project

This is a really interesting project I just had to tell you about.

Nick Hand is a graphic designer based in the west of England and has appeared on this blog previously with his work for Howies and the Do Lectures. More recently he's turned his hand to being a letterpress printer and established an open access letterpress project called The Letterpress Collective, which I wrote about earlier in the year:
http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/the-letterpress-collective.html

His latest project is a Printing Bike!

Adana 8x5

Through being neighbours at Centrespace workshops in Bristol, Nick and bicycle maker Robin Mather hatched an audacious plan to build a printing bike capable of carrying an Adana 8x5 printing press, together with inks, paper and type. When the bike has been completed, Nick will ride it through the south of England, France and Germany to Mainz, which is where Johannes Gutenberg invented printing with moveable type in 1440. Along the way he will be collaborating with artists, writers and poets, who will describe the journey in illustration and word ...and of course, Nick will also be printing and sending back some print - mainly potscards, I imagine.

The project has been fully funded through Kickstarter and you can see the campaign, together with the excellent film (by Emma Lazenby)
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1298088718/the-printing-bike-project

The bike is being built right now and Nick will be setting off in September. Good luck and safe printcycling!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1298088718/the-printing-bike-project
www.theletterpresscollective.org
http://www.departmentofsmallworks.co.uk/
Robin Mather: http://apracticalguide.wordpress.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 06.08.2014

Jobs from the past - Number 58

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...

Nougat Preview S/S 2005
This is one of those simple pieces of print which is just exquisite. It is the preview piece produced to excite fashion buyers and to let them know at which fashion shows around the globe they will be showing the new collection. From that point of view, it can simply be described as a piece of 'direct mail' but that term is generally applied in a derogatory way and really doesn't do justice to this project.

It is simply a 6pp creased and folded card. Deceptively square, it's actually 150x140mm, portrait. It is printed in one colour on the outside and CMYK on the inside.

So what is it exactly that I find so special about this job? It was one of the first ever pieces to use Omnia and what is amazing is the way it feels so beautifully tactile and uncoated and then the way it reveals the amazing images inside. The outside cover is a continuous vignette as a halftone going from 0 to 100%. This is ingenious as it graduates in a crisp even way across the front cover - the even-ness in part, due to the way the Omnia prints and retains the integrity of the monotone.

The cover opens to reveal part of a stunning image plus reversed out type on a great solid, which is, of course, the continued solid from the front and back cover. Printed on Omnia White 280gsm.

 ...and then opening the right hand page reveals the image in all it's glory:

Below you can see the way the continuous vignette works from Zero to 100% 

 and here is a detail showing the subtlety of the tint:

This project together with the Nougat look-books at this time were designed by BOB Design. The creative partners at BOB were Alexis Burgess, Mireille Burkhardt and Kieran O'Connor. Lexi now runs his own studio in East London, Burgess Studio.

The excellent printing was by Principal Colour based in Paddock Wood in Kent. It's also worth pointing out that this job isn't "sealed, varnished or coated" in any way and this is the main reason that it feels so good - you can actually feel the paper and the ink. Since the time this was printed (2005) there has been a trend to install presses with coaters and most pieces of printed literature are smeared with a coating or sealer which (although making the printer's lives easier) betrays the feel of the paper ...and (what a lot of printers fail to mention) it discolours with age - now that's definitely something worth thinking about!

http://www.nougatlondon.co.uk/
www.bobdesign.co.uk
www.burgess-studio.co.uk
www.principalcolour.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 04.08.2014

Hatch Interiors

Hatch Interiors is a company which specialises in interiors and furniture for landlords and serves the rental market. Established over 15 years ago, Hatch commissioned London agency 400 to create a new Hatch Interiors brand identity. This brochure is their first piece of print with the new identity and forms a key part of their new suite of marketing materials.

David Coates, designer on the project at 400, wrote the following words: 'Hatch wanted their new brochure to demonstrate a confidence, elegance and sophistication that truly reflects the values of the company and the products and services that they provide. 400 therefore used a combination of Starfine and Marazion Ultra papers, with fore-shortened pages for the inside spreads and a black foil blocked cover to give the identity and brochure the desired impact.'

Size of the brochure is 210x148mm (A5 portrait) and is saddle stitched.

As you can see from the 'birds eye' picture above, the brochure has five short pages which allow text information to interact and overlay the photography of the interiors.

There is a 4pp cover on a dark grey board from that other Hull based, paper merchant! The text is 16pp on Marazion Ultra 150gsm combined with 12pp on StarFine Natural 115gsm - most of which are short pages, except one (below). The Marazion Ultra is printed offset litho in CMYK and the StarFine Natural is printed Offset litho in just one special pantone grey.

Marazion Ultra on left - StarFine Natural on right

It is a beautiful project with lovely well considered production values which give the publication a confident quality. Nice touches, such as the black wire used for the saddle stitching, works superbly with the hot foil blocked cover with a gloss black foil.

Art direction and design is by Hatton Garden based consultancy, 400. Creative Director is Paul Dennis, designer on the project is David Coates.

Print and finishing is by London printer Push.

www.hatchinteriors.co.uk
www.400.co.uk
www.push-print.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 31.07.2014

Glug Brighton 2014

The other Friday, it was another Glug Brighton networking event organised by Bighton based agencies, Crush and Agency Rush. The evening brings creative types together for a few drinks and a natter it attracts all sorts, including animators, designers, illustrators and many others in the Brighton area. - a great way to spend a Friday night!

Speakers include Rapha Racing, Pixelpyros, Si Scott, State of Play Games and Live art events. The Circus Street Market venue is quite large to fill but as you can see from the pics below, it certainly was full! 

There was also "live Screen-printing" by Gary Parselle of The Private Press, a Brighton based screen-printing company who printed a limited edition print designed by Ben Javens for Glug which were given out for free on the night. The prints were produced on our Redeem 100% Recycled 315gsm.

Ben Javens' illustration

Anyway, sadly I couldn't be there but it certainly sounds like a great evening was had by all - thanks to Emma Robertson for the pictures. Photography is by Colin Clay.

So if you live/work in the Brighton area - sign up with meetup now and watch out for the next  GLUG!
www.meetup.com/glugbrighton/

GLUG events were founded in London and now happen at various locations. London events are organised with Studio Output and Made Studio, so look out there as well.

http://www.glugevents.com/talks/
www.crushed.co.uk
www.theprivatepress.org
http://www.agencyrush.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 29.07.2014

Mastercraft Union

This is the lookbook for the launch collection of clothing brand MasterCraft Union. The collection includes hand-made denim from Japan together with leather from Tuscany. The hand-woven denim is from a family-run mill in Okayama and is finished in the mountains of Shimane. Every season new artisan products will be added from the best master craftsmen around the world.

The publication is a 16pp self cover printed on our Offenbach Bible 60gsm, the lightweight paper works with the Japanese heritage associated with the brand. The size is A5 (210x148mm) portrait and is saddle stitched.

Printed offset litho in CMYK

The booklet is inserted in a 'transparency' bag which completes the retro look and feel of the publication.

Another lovely touch is the use of the black wire stitching.

Art direction and design is by JJ Marshall Associates. Creative Director is Jethro Marshall.

Excellent print and finishing is by Robert Young at R.Young & Son.

www.mastercraftunion.com

http://jjmarshallassociates.com/

http://www.ryoungprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 24.07.2014

Esme Winter Stationery

Esme Winter is a London-based designer partnership creating lifestyle accessories and stationery. Esme, working with Richard Sanderson produce items that are crafted with hand-binding, weaving and beautiful print. You can see their work here: http://www.esmewinter.co.uk/

They have recently printed their own stationery items on our lovely Flora Giglio 160gsm (paper) and 350gsm for the board. Flora is a 50% recycled paper (and FSC accredited) with natural, deliberately visible, inclusions & fibres - looks just great with this simple, classical use of type.  

 

The bespoke envelopes are 255x190mm (which I guess fit the notebooks they produce) and are produced on 160gsm, as are the compliment slips which are A6 (148x105mm) and the business cards are traditional 85x55mm on the 350gsm

The elongated cards (170x55mm) which could double up as compliments cards and bookmarks are also on 350gsm and are printed on the reverse in a variety of their 'trademark' designs.

Printed offset litho by Whitechapel based Aldgate Press.

Thanks to Richard and Esme for taking the time to send me some file copies of the various items and their lovely note. Just another excellent example of the correct choice of paper enhancing design.

http://www.esmewinter.co.uk/
http://www.aldgatepress.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 22.07.2014

What is ...3 hole sewn?

What is ...Number 7
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 ...3 Hole Sewn?

Three hole sewn is a binding technique which goes back to the earliest days of printing and binding. It is a highly effective and strong binding method which can give a project a 'crafted' look and feel and by using a coloured thread it can add a further dimension to a piece of printed literature.

Three hole sewn projects have appeared often enough on this blog so that many of the pictures here are from posts on this blog:

http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/the-marshes.html

Effectively this is a process which can be done entirely by hand - you quite literally just need a needle and thread (ideally a thicker 'twine' like thread). The picture below demonstrates the way it works - from the inside of the book you go out of the middle hole, up to the top hole in and along the inside and out of the middle hole again, down to the bottom hole and up to the middle again and tie a knot ...simple! 

Some binderies have adapted a sewing machine so that it can be produced as a 'hand operated, machine process'. In common with other binding methods where binding is through the spine, it's produced over a 'saddle' - so the book sits on an upturned V.

A stack of 'three hole sewn' brochures

The below picture shows a dummy made using red thread and using two 'banks' of three hole sewing. this is worth considering on publications with a longer spine - over A4 for example. The reason for this is that some movement of text pages can occur if it's only held, relatively speaking, in the middle.

Picture shows inside (below) and outside (above)

Below is a project using yellow thread and two 'banks' of three hole sewing.


http://www.sylpheditions.com/

Below is another project, where there is a smaller A5 section bound in the centre spread, so the 3 hole sewing (2 x banks) is not centred and is offset towards the foot.



http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2013/02/gardens-by-bay_12.html

One thing to bear in mind are that it is a binding method more suited to publications with less pages - depending on the materials used - 32pp is probably about the limit.

Posted by justin Hobson 18.07.2014