Season 02 Paris

This is issue 02 of SEASON  - a cross between a fashion magazine and a football zine. This new publication reveals the preferences and rituals of fashion and football fans. Their perspectives on the world’s most popular sport are explored in thoughtful and intimate ways, focusing on why these fans care and what they wear.

Featuring interviews, essays, photography and more from up-and-coming creatives, SEASON aims to kick off a dialogue acknowledging how modern football and fashion play into each other. Issue 02 is looking back to Euro 2016 through the eyes of the Parisian female fan.

Size is 240x165mm, portrait (very economical format on a B1 press). It uses lightweight materials sympathetic to the feel of a zine. It has a 4pp cover on 130gsm and a 72pp text on 100gsm. Both cover and text is on our Redeem 100% Recycled 100gsm and is printed offset litho. The paper is a neutral white shade gives the publication a 'newspapery' feel which really works with the images and zine design. 

Many of the spreads which are purely type work particularly well with the paper - the neutral white just works with black type superbly.

Click on images to enlarge

Another lovely touch is the use of holographic hot foil blocking for the title header.

At 76pp it is at the limit of saddle stitching - only because it can get a bit "gappy" in the middle. In my opinion this is acceptable, but were the gap or gape to get much larger, I think it would start to look a bit ugly.

As it is, the zine just flows beautifully. Pages turn easily and is an excellent example where the design, the print and the paper work in synergy. It has a wonderful quality about it - a really interesting, well put together piece of literature.

...and a zine wouldn't be complete without a sheet of football stickers!

Season is published by Felicia Pennant. The designer is Natalie Doto. Production and print is by Ricky Aldred at VR Print. A superbly produced magazine.

http://www.season-zine.com/
https://www.instagram.com/season_zine/
http://www.vrdigital.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 05.01.2017

Jobs from the past - Number 87

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.

This month's piece is particularly poignant, as yesterday the death of John Berger was announced. John Berger was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize. He is most widely known for writing and presenting his 1972 BBC series on art criticism titled "Ways of Seeing" together with his accompanying book. It is probably fair to say that Ways of Seeing turned the traditional art world upside down. 

Meanwhile - John Berger 2008

Drawing by Paul Davis

Drawbridge Books published an essay of John Berger's called Meanwhile. This short essay attempts to look at our historical age as we live it. Through words he searches for and finds a figurative image to serve as a landmark. "The landmark I've found is that of prison.”

I would describe this as a booklet or pamphlet style publication is a small format 210x124mm, portrait and is saddle stitched. It has a 4pp cover on our Colorset Natural 270gsm and 16pp text on Colorset Natural 120gsm (Colorset is 100% Recycled).

Click on images to enlarge

It is very simply printed, offset litho. The cover is printed in two colours only, red and black, while the text is black only.

The booklet is saddle stitched, in keeping with the simple illustration, design and typography. Printing is by Green-On printers.

The booklet was published by Drawbridge Books. The editor is Bigna Pfenninger. The designer is Stephen Coates and the managing editor is Mark Reynolds.

The Drawbridge was an independent quarterly of thought, wit and reflection giving equal focus to literature and visual arts, published in London from 2006 to 2013.

www.thedrawbridge.org.uk
www.greenonlimited.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 03.01.2017

2016 Christmas Card by S-T

Thank you to everyone who has kindly sent me cards this festive season. I've received a wide selection of really lovely designs and beautifully produced cards, not all on our paper, of course! ...but many are.

Click on images to enlarge

This one particular card, I did think I would write about, because not only is it printed on our Colorset Crimson 270gsm (100% Recycled) but it is printed in an unconventional way. The card is designed by London based studio, Design by St. Titled "Who will you be this Christmas?" it is an infographic flow diagram which is very funny and well written. 

The finished size of the card is A6 (105x148mm) and it is an 8pp concertina format.
 The card is printed in just one colour - white. The result is fantastically effective and I looked at it to see how it has been achieved:

 Was it matt hot foil blocking? Silkscreen? HP Indigo digital white?
...Nope, none of the above!
In fact, it is printed by a Scottish printer called Kestrel Press based in Irvine. They have a digital press which is toner based and this is the result - in just one pass! The result is truly superb and as I discovered from speaking to Graeme Ferguson at Kestrel, achieved at a much more economical price in comparison with the processes I listed above.

Click on images to enlarge

Creative Partners at Design by St are Steve Fenn and Tom Pollard.

http://www.designbyst.com/
http://www.kestrelpress.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 29.12.2016

Simone Rocha - Gorse

Simone Rocha was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1986. In 2008 she graduated with a BA in Fashion from The NCAD in Dublin followed by an MA from Central Saint Martins in 2010. Simone debuted at London Fashion Week in September 2010 and her collections can be found in some of the most prestigious stockists in the world.

This year at the British Fashion Awards Simone received the “British Womenswear Designer Award” as well as the 2016 Harper’s Bazaar Designer of Year Award.

This publication is a limited edition book produced in collaboration with photographer Colin Dodgson in Ireland. Titled "Gorse", the scale is a luxuriously large 303x420mm, landscape format, which flops and rolls beautifully.

Front Cover....

There is lots of white space, a very uncluttered feeling.

Click on images to enlarge

The publication is printed offset litho on our Omnia White 120gsm, the result is superb. The look and feel of the whole publication is very uncoated and tactile but there is absolutely no loss of detail in the images.The feeling of space continues with many unprinted pages...

It is bound using three hole sewing in a red thread. Actually this has two rows of three hole sewing. Below is the centre spread, showing the binding on the inside. 

Detail showing the binding (inside)...

Below pic shows detail of the three hole sewing on the spine:

So successful was this publication that many of the images were used as campaign imagery in titles such as Dazed and Confused, The Gentlewoman and Self Service.

Design is by Simmonds. Print production, including the binding is by Pureprint.

http://simonerocha.com/
http://www.simmondsltd.com/
http://www.pureprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 27.12.2016

Patternise 3-D model Christmas Card

A Christmas card that is also a 3-D model!

Patternise is a company based in Uckfield, East Sussex, who specialise in offering creative design and laser-cutting services. They work with a wide range of clients across the UK - managing large volume projects for major corporates and Visual Merchandisers to smaller projects for individuals and weddings ...and this is their lovely Christmas card:

The card is an A5 (148x210mm) tent format and hot foil blocked and digitally printed (HP Indigo) on our Stardream Crystal 285gsm from Gruppo Cordenons. As you can see from the image above, there is a self assembly push out reindeer model, which is superb!

Image showing the inside of the card...

Click on images to enlarge

Patternise use state of the art laser cutters from Trotec and they specialise in cutting “clean” materials such as fine papers, cards, acrylics and plastics (PP/PET). One of the things that particularly impressed me about this card is that the type and signatures are not printed, they are laser engraved. This is a fantastic process and can add a completely different dimension to printed literature.

The card is produced using their brand new "super pulsed" Trotec galvo system (GS1000), which enables extremely high-speed laser cutting and high volume paper finishing. Using this system they are able to cut many 1000's of sheets within very quick time-frames, which would be impossible with conventional lasers. This whole card was cut and engraved in 24 seconds!

I urge you to watch this quick video showing the laser process - it's only one minute long:

Reverse of the card, which shows the unprinted Stardream Crystal with it's superb pearlescent shimmer....

 ..and here is the Reindeer that I made:

Patternise are based in Uckfield, East Sussex. This is a lovely card, a brilliant promotional item and a fantastic example of the creative uses of lasercutting and laser engraving and of course our Stardream board as well! With thanks to the team at Patternise.

www.patternise.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 22.12.2016

Alexander McQueen Gift Guide - Winter

The Alexander McQueen brand was founded by designer Alexander McQueen in 1992 and is now part of the international Gucci group. The creative director is Sarah Burton and this publication is the Winter gift guide.

Size is 270x210mm, portrait and is section sewn. The cover is printed on an uncoated cover board (sadly I don't know which one) and the 36pp text is printed on our Marazion Ultra 150gsm.



Click on images to enlarge

The text is printed offset litho in CMYK on our Marazion Ultra 150gsm. The Marazion Ultra was chosen mainly because of it's matt flatness which would reproduce the interior images well without a glossiness which would detract from the images. A simple, effective choice of materials.

A thumbnail guide on inside back pages...

A particular favourite of mine is the "Knuckle Box" clutch bag! but then Alexander McQueen originally earned the reputation of being "the hooligan of English fashion"

..see detail below:

Art direction and design is in house at Alexander McQueen. The printing and production is by Identity Print, based in Paddock Wood in Kent.

http://www.alexandermcqueen.com/gb
http://www.identityprint.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 20.12.2016

Fenner Paper 2017 Diary

If you are a wonderful customer and therefore a deserving user of our papers! ... you should have already received your new 2017 diary in the post. Here's a sneak preview, if you haven't yet received it.

 As in previous years, the diary is 230x162mm, portrait and retains the popular 'month to view' format. The cover board is printed offset in CMYK on Crush Corn 250gsm.

The 40pp text is simply printed in one colour, offset litho, on our lovely Offenbach Bible 60gsm, which has a superb opacity and a good writing surface making this an ideal paper for a diary or notebook.

 

The cover is designed by FranklinTill Studio celebrating the maker movement and using a palette of colours forecasted for the year.

Inside back cover

My thanks to FranklinTill for the inspired cover.

Posted by Justin Hobson 15.12..2016