Run & Achieve

Run & Achieve is the creation of Lily Mo, an Edinburgh jewellery designer. They are bracelets for half-marathon and marathon runners with the distances engraved – each bracelet is handmade in Edinburgh using sterling silver and cord that is water resistant.

This elegant packaging was designed and produced by Evgenia Kochkina, based in Edinburgh and is a brilliant piece of packaging design.

Click on images to enlarge

The card is 95mm square and is letterpress printed in two colours - a metallic silver halftone and dark orange and dark orange on the reverse. It is printed on our Matrisse 350gsm, which is very bulky, and is then duplexed making this 700gsm and 1mm thick. There are die cut notches for the cord to sit in and the cards are also 'round cornered'. The card gets inserted into a wallet (115mm square) made from Matrisse 350gsm which is letterpress printed in the same two colours on one side only.

If you click on the image to enlarge the picture, you'll be able to see the coarse screen of the halftone in silver - wonderfully effective use of halftone and letterpress.

You can read more about the project here:
https://www.facebook.com/stoneberrypress#

Design, print and production is by Evgenia Kochkina at Stoneberry Press in Edinburgh. Her email says "I only discovered Matrisse qualities during this job. Very elegant paper and good for colours!"

This is a very simple, elegantly produced packaging solution ..and with the perfect paper!
http://lilymo.co.uk/
http://stoneberrypress.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 21.07.2015

What is ...The Blue Angel Mark?

What is ...Number 19

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 ...The Blue Angel Mark?

The Blue Angel (Der Blaue Engel) is a German certification for products and services that have environmentally friendly aspects. The Blue Angel mark is the oldest ecolabel in the world, and it covers some 10,000 products in some 80 product categories!

The reason that I thought I would draw people's attention to it, is that here in the UK, it is hardly known about or recognised, whereas on mainland Europe it is both highly visible on products and very highly regarded.

It was originally conceived and put in place by the government of the former West Germany and has been awarded since 1978. The Environmental Label Jury (Jury Umweltzeichen) is an independent, decision-making body for the Blue Angel and includes representatives from environmental and consumer associations, trade unions, industry, the trade, crafts, local authorities, academia, the media, churches, young people and the German federal states. As a result, it isn't open to political interference, industry pressure groups or vested interests, either from industry or the fanatical green groups. This is the reason that I rate the scheme so highly and it annoys me that the UK government has never had the guts to put such an independent system in place in the UK - equally it's a shame that there isn't a pan European system.

The award of the Blue Angel is preceded by a review of the entire life cycle of the products. Such review considers as many aspects of environmental and health protection as possible for the respective product. Subsequently, the criteria limit or rule out those environmental impacts which are considered to be the most important impacts for the respective product. The Basic Award Criteria for a product are specified for each product group and they are all published

The Blue Angel covers a wide range of different products including paints, gardening products, construction, electronics and many more, including paper and board.

We carry products which have been awarded the Blue Angel mark (including our Colorset range) but because of the lack of recognition in the UK, it hasn't been worth becoming a stakeholder, in the way that we hold FSC accreditation for example.

You can read more about the scheme here:
https://www.blauer-engel.de/en/our-label-environment

Posted by Justin Hobson 17.07.2015

Dalziel and Pow - A Year in Review

Every year Dalziel and Pow produce a yearbook to examine and appraise the company's work over the previous year. This would be a big ask for most companies, let alone one that has such a varied and diverse portfolio of work, over just a period of one year. Producing a book like this every year not only shows a commitment to the work that they have produced for clients but is also an historical record, which is an increasingly important factor in these days of electronic on-line impermanence!

This book is just a peerless production. The subject matter and images are superb and the creative direction, design, print production and binding make the publication absolutely superlative. In the beginning is their company statement and you can't get a clearer, or brighter image!

http://www.dalziel-pow.com/news/brand-new-company-book

Size of the book is 305x245mm, portrait, with a limp bound, 4pp cover and a 104pp text. It is printed on our lovely Omnia 320gsm (cover) and 150gsm (text). The pantone special (fluoro) yellow, is flat, matt and tactile just like you would want it and with a real intensity of colour.

Click on images to enlarge

I hope the images will do the talking...

...and here we go for the plug about the paper!  - As you can see from the images here, there is loads of colour and images with CMYK dark areas - lots of ink going down and it looks great on the Omnia, reproducing bright vibrant colours as well and the lighter more subtle tones as well, whilst retaining all that detail in those dark areas (in my opinion- but I would say that wouldn't I?)

Included within the 104pp page count are the first and last pages which have both been printed in the special pantone yellow which form 'end papers'.

An important feature that makes all the difference to this publication is the binding. It is a square backed limp bound book but the binding type that is used is called OTAbinding. This is a method of bookbinding that offers an elegant binding solution with advantages over conventional soft cover binding. One of the main advantages is that it lays flatter than a conventional section sewn book. It mimics the construction of a case bound book, so the spine of the text is free from the cover (see image below). It is this that results in the text and whole book laying flatter.

You can read more about it here:http://www.diamondprintservices.com/bookbinding-otabookbinding.php

The only visible difference between conventional binding and Otabound is the second crease (see above). Omnia 150gsm is very bulky paper, so the 104pp text gives the book a spine of 12mm.

Creative direction and design is by Dalziel and Pow. The main designers on the project are Kane Davis and Robin Gillard. One would expect their own book to be excellent and this publication is simply exceptional.

 

The book was printed by Team Impression in Leeds and just from the print point of view alone, it is superlative. The images are strikingly consistent and the finishing and binding are exemplary. A truly outstanding piece of print work. 

...and thanks to Simon Bucktrout at Team Impression for kindly sending me over some file copies.

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

Posted by Justin Hobson 16.07.2015

Summer Club Cocktails

Dirty Martini  is an exclusive chain of seven London cocktail bars. As their name might suggest, they have a bespoke range of Martinis and signature cocktails.

The bars all have glamorous interiors and some of London’s best DJs regularly perform live sets at the bars.

This is the Summer Cocktails menu offering five exclusive and reasonably priced cocktails. The summer promotion is called Summerclub.

The simple 4pp menu is very simply printed in one colour, offset litho on our Stardream Gold 285gsm. Size is 160x90mm, portrait. Stardream is a mica coated board with a pearlescent/metallic finish.

Very kindly, Jason Maclaren at Cantate sent me file copies. I asked him to write a couple of paragraphs to explain the project...

"My client wanted to promote a drinks promotion and had no idea what paper to use, initially the brief was an ‘orange’ look, with black foil and a short text section. After looking at various finishes, combined with the problems in procuring material held at a paper mill in Italy (a 7 day delay) it was finally settled to use a more cost effective material called Stardream Gold, held in the UK by Fenner Paper ...and almost 60% cheaper than an alternative board from Bavaria!

A simple choice of paper adds gravitas to an important brand, this brand has used exquisite papers / finishes for its main menu. Having used fully oxidising inks, the sheets were movable 24 hours later allowing delivery 24 hours after this, in time for the launch. Having a knowledge of papers available, combined with simple planning, and simple technical research enabled a fast turnaround. It proves that relationships with your paper suppliers helps you to provide a solution for your clients."   Jason Maclaren, Cantate 

This is a project which is simple, from an "ink on paper" point of view has been well creased - something that is often overlooked. As you can see from the image below, a nice crisp well creased fold.

 

Print is by Cantate, a division of the John Good Group and thanks to Jason Maclaren at Cantate for sending me file copies and for his insight into the reasons for using this board.

http://dirtymartini.uk.com/

http://www.cantatecommunications.com/
http://www.cordenons.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 14.07.2015

MCU SS2015

This is the lookbook for Spring|Summer 2015 collection for clothing brand MasterCraft Union. The collection majors on hand-woven denim from a family-run mill in Okayama and is finished in the mountains of Shimane. This season they have introduced MCU Paper Denim, which is constructed of exclusive fabric, using traditionally milled Japanese paper within the weave of the denim!

The whole publication (making this a 'self-cover') is printed on our Offenbach Bible 60gsm, the lightweight paper works with the Japanese heritage associated with the brand. The size is just sub A5 (210x145mm) portrait.

The text of the whole book is 'French Folded' - this is where the folded edges are on the foredge of the book, as in the picture below:

Click on images to enlarge

As a result of choosing Offenbach Bible 60gsm, this piece of literature feels totally special - a fantastic piece of print reproduction and print finishing. It has 22pp or printed sides (which I would normally describe as 22 x 4pp french folded sections) - this actually makes 44pp but because the other side is unprinted and the open ends are bound, therefore each 4pp = 2pp. It's a bit tricky but if you think about it, it makes sense. French folding with a material like Offenbach Bible feels fantastic because the weight of the material lets the pages flop and flow beautifully, as you can see from the spreads below

 ...you can see the way the text pages rolling and flopping over, flowing superbly.

The binding is 'stab stitching'. This is where the staple (or wire) stabs through the whole text of the publication, unlike saddle stitching, where the staple goes through the spine and turns over in the centre spread. Below shows the stab stitched spine.

Another lovely touch is the white wire used for the staples:

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

Excellent print and finishing is by Principal Colour.

www.mastercraftunion.com

http://jjmarshallassociates.com/

www.principalcolour.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.07.2015

Daily Observations

Last week, I was invited to a private view for photographer Mark Sanders at Protein Studios in EC2. Curated by Studio Small, the occasion also celebrated their tenth birthday. Daily Observations is an exhibition drawn from images from the daily diary of Mark Sanders, which has been compressed to just 45 images for this show. 

 

Many of the actual diaries are out on display in cases.

Hard to believe that it was ten years ago that David Hitner and Guy Marshall joined forces to start their own studio and this was a great way to celebrate.   

...and of course I must mention one of the sponsors, which was another paper company! Antalis generously donated the paper for the 48pp exhibition publication (below), but sadly no one from Antalis turned up!

The book has been beautifully printed by Team Impression in Leeds and has been finished in true notebook style with an embossed cover, round corners, section sewing and pasted end papers. The superb finishing is by Diamond Print Services.

http://marksanders.co.uk/
http://www.studiosmall.com/
http://www.team-impression.com/
http://darling-creative.com/mark-sanders-3/

Posted by Justin Hobson 09.07.2015

Finchtail - Tablet Stand

It's rare that I get to write an article that covers both product design, identity and packaging design. The Finchtail Tablet Stand is the brainchild of Martin Woodhouse. Having come up with the concept, Martin developed the stand, which is manufactured out of corrugated cardboard - the idea being cheap to buy and sustainably made - which is in stark contrast to the sleek glass and metal technology that it’s designed to support.

Here is the actual product:

...and this is how it supports a tablet:

Martin approached Exeter based design studio Believe in to consult on the identity, branding and packaging and below is the end result:

The size of the pack is 83x138x7mm. The outer carton is produced using our Colorset, Deep Orange 270gsm, a 100% recycled board in keeping with the sustainable aims of the product. The mill that makes Colorset has the 'Blue Angel' certification for this product, which is one of the most recognised and highly regarded environmental labels recognised throughout Europe.The box is UV Litho printed in two colours, black and white, as you can see from the images the UV litho white has worked very well indeed.

Believe in, created a hieroglyph identity for Finchtail, which can be applied to this and future products. Below is an image showing the product and the supporting collateral:

The carton has been superbly designed and beautifully produced. It has been well scored, creased and perforated. Perfectly square and just right - zip perf is perfection!

Product design and innovation is is by Martin Woodhouse at Finchtail. Brand creation and packaging design is by Believe in. Creative director is Blair Thomson.

 

The Tablet Stand is available for retail distribution and if you want to pick one up, you can find it for sale at the Design Museum shop.

 

http://finchtail.com/

http://www.believein.net/

http://www.believein.net/#work/showcase/finchtail-brand-packaging/

 Posted by Justin Hobson 07.07.2015