Workshop Fun

Last week, I organised for a small group from The Partners to spend the evening in the print workshop at the St Bride Foundation. There were about twenty of us in all and after an introduction and briefing by Michael Clayton the group were encouraged to have a go at setting type, inking up and printing.

For those not familiar with the St Bride Foundation, it was established in 1891 to fulfil social needs in the Fleet Street printing area. Facilities included a library, baths and a swimming pool (as hygiene was poor) and a printing school which was the forerunner of the LCP. Nowadays, this historic building houses a world renowned printing library with a large letterpress collection, a community theatre space, a bar, print workshop, meeting and conference rooms. It is still located in the original building, just off Fleet Street.

As well as printing, Andrew Long demonstrated lino-cutting and most people had a go. As the name suggests, this technique is actually engraving into a piece of floor linoleum, which is then inked and used to print from. The results can be amazing! ...you can see the concentration at the lino cutting bench below:

Andrew, selected one of Stanley Donwood’s London Flood prints. The engraving which was divided into 15 pieces which were then individually cut by different people over the course of the evening. I even had a go and this was my section (as you can see, I initialled it with a cheeky J!)

At the end of the evening the pieces were assembled and below, you can see Marc Spicer printing the result: 

...and here he is holding up the finished result:

Below is the comparison with the original on the right hand side

You might have spotted there is a head floating in the river which looks like me! Thanks to Nick Eagleton's lino cutting skills, he used his piece of lino to produce a likeness of me, which he also used to print me a card below

You can read a far more erudite version of the evening on The Partners blog written by Marc: http://www.the-partners.com/blog/2017/8/11/letter-heads

It was a really fun evening, where everyone got a chance to have a go and join in. We had some food and a few drinks laid on at St Bride's and a few of us even made it to The Old Bell on Fleet Street afterwards!

My thanks to all the staff and friends at the St Bride Foundation with special thanks to Mick Clayton, Andrew Long and Bob Richardson who made the evening really good fun.

I just wanted to note that Peter Smith who is resident wood engraver at St Bride was unable to join us as he is recovering after an operation but I want to wish him well and a speedy recovery.

www.sbf.org.uk

http://www.the-partners.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 16.08.2017

Beau House

Beau House contains eight luxury appartments situated in Jermyn Street in London's west end. Developed by Dukelease, the Architects are Brimelow McSweeney with interiors by Oliver Burns. This book is for the Brummell Penthouse, so named after the Regency dandy Beau Brummell. This magnificent publication has a casebound cover. The size is 320x245mm, portrait.

The book has a 96pp text, plus printed endpapers.

The text is printed on our Omnia 150gsm. As you can see from the images, there is lots of colour and images with the exterior and interior images looking great on the Omnia, retaining detail in the dark areas.

Click on images to enlarge

The text is 'section-sewn' in 16pp sections which you can see beautifully bound together with the ribbon marker.

Click on images to enlarge

The brochure is printed offset litho in CMYK plus one special colour throughout and as I'm sure you can see from the images, the reproduction is superb.

Click on images to enlarge

...even the relatively plain pages for the floor-plans feel good printed on the tactile uncoated surface of the Omnia:

The cover has a foil and de-boss over the whole front and back cover. The cover is covered in Fibremark Setalux 1780 over a 3mm board.

Design is by London based branding agency Identity, Design Director is Lisa Roser. Print is by CPI

This is an exquisitely produced book which uses a great choice of materials and print finshes. The project is printed offset litho throughout. Print is by CPI Colour with Simon Reid handling the project.

http://www.beauhouselondon.com/
http://identity-design.co.uk/

http://www.cpicolour.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 15.08.2017

Something for the Weekend...

I've written about the London Centre for Book Arts (LCBA) on this blog before here. The LCBA has been set up by Simon Goode Ira Yonemura and is an open-access educational and resource centre dedicated to book arts.

The LCBA is based in East London in a place called Fish Island in Bow, close to the Olympic park. It's a fabulous space - light and airy, not a dark and dingy corner. This centre offers access to letterpress printing, hot foil blocking and binding facilities, processes which many practising designers and artists wish to utilise but is normally difficult to access.

THIS SATURDAY they are holding an Open Studio event to which everyone is invited and where they are also launching their new book which is very exciting!

Titled "Making Books" it is written by Simon Goode and Ira Yonemura and is a step-by-step guide to creating books by hand at home and is based based on their popular workshops.  Accessible enough for complete beginners, while full of inspiration for those with more experience, this is the ultimate guide to making beautiful books by hand.

Starting with an introduction to the bindery and a useful inventory of necessary tools and equipment, you’ll also learn about different paper types, and special finishes such as cloth coverings, headbands and ribbon markers. You’ll then find clear step-by-step instructions for six different hand-made book types, from simple pamphlets and concertinas to more elaborate multi-section bindings. Each project includes ideas for variations, resulting in over 20 different possible outcomes. There are also details about more advanced techniques and specialist bindings, as well as handy layout and design advice.

Making Books is published by Pavilion. Photography by Yuki Sugiura, Illustrations by Jay Cover and design by Makoto Yamada on the design. 

So why not go to the Open Studio tomorrow and pick up a copy for yourself? 

London Centre for Book Arts (LCBA) Unit 18, Ground Floor Britannia Works, Dace Road, London E3 2NQ

www.londonbookarts.org

Posted by Justin Hobson 11.08.2017

Vive L'Espresso Martini!

To create GREY GOOSE vodka, François Thibault maintains an unrivalled level of craftsmanship, using only the very finest ingredients. Its signature smoothness and distinct character are the result of an extraordinary passion for spirit making and an unparalleled commitment to the highest possible quality.

Grey Goose have a list of cocktails that can be made using their Vodka and they also have a range of featured "Holiday Cocktails". and this 8pp menu/recipe card is for a L'Espresso Martini.

The size is 195x105mm portrait and is an 8pp concertina format printed on our Omnia 280gsm. Omnia was chosen because it would work with the rich detail that is present in the images but that would still give a natural look and tactile feel. As you can see from images, the photography is quite dark, but there is no loss of detail, which is what can often happen printing on an uncoated paper. The "Grey Goose Blue" is rich and the solid has printed beautifully. Printed offset litho throughout.

Click on images to enlarge

Omnia 280gsm is a very bulky board with a thickness of over 400microns. As you can see below it creases beautifully and this has been professionally matrix creased.

Birds eye view below:

Creative direction and design is by London based branding agency Ragged Edge.

 

Printing is by Identity, based in Paddock Wood, Kent and they made a superb job of it - colour reproduction and solids are superb.

 

..and if you are over 18 (!) you can watch a video about the Coctails here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNR3Gx-a34s

 

https://www.greygoose.com/gl/en/lda.html

http://www.raggededge.com/

http://www.identityprint.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 08.08.2017 

GILLSAWS

Here's a lovely 'paper related' subject which I think readers of this blog might be interested in....

GILLSAWS is the brainchild of freelance art director Gill Patchett who I've had the pleasure of knowing for many years. This is what Gill has written about her wonderful new jigsaw business:

"The concept for GILLSAWS was born after being gifted a 1500 piece jigsaw puzzle, of the state of California, on my return from a 6 month solo stateside odyssey. Inspired to create a contemporary collection of jigsaws, and after several unsuccessful attempts to gain help from the few remaining UK jigsaw manufacturers, I decided to produce the jigsaws myself. GILLSAWS will collaborate with creatives to produce exclusive limited editions. Allowing new and established talent to showcase their work in a completely different medium. Each puzzle is handcrafted in a small studio in Brighton, using an industrial roller press, a custom made die and a whole lot of love. For this reason each one, in a sense, is unique, reproduction may vary slightly and minor imperfections may occur."

There are four different jigsaw designs, all the elements - Air, Earth. Fire and Water

Each of the puzzles is a 400 piece puzzle. GILLSAWS are handcrafted in a small studio in Brighton, using an industrial roller press, a custom made die and a whole lot of love!

These lovely contemporary jigsaws are available to buy NOW here: http://gillsaws.bigcartel.com/products

http://gillsaws.bigcartel.com/
http://www.thisisgill.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 04.08.2017

Jobs from the past - Number 94

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...

From the Cradle to the Grave

Selected Drawings - Damien Hirst ...2003

Half Skull 1998

In 2003 Damien Hirst, one of Britain’s most celebrated artists, accepted an invitation from the Ljubljana International Biennale of Graphic Arts to produce a completely new show for their 25th Biennale. The invitation followed in the wake of the prestigious Biennale Grand Prize awarded to Hirst in 2001 for his suite of ‘Last Supper’ prints. For Ljubljana, Hirst chose to put together his first-ever exhibition of drawings. Spanning his entire career, the exhibition consisted of approximately 150 drawings drawn from a large number of public and private collections. They ranged from early drawings done when Hirst was a teenager to intimate drawings made for close friends. Hirst also included his sculpture From the Cradle to the Grave (2000) in the exhibition.
The exhibition was organised by Visual Arts, British Council for the Biennale and it subsequently toured with the British Council to other venues around Europe.

This publication was published by Other Criteria in association with the British Council.

Size of the publication is a whopping 670x480mm. It is then 'endorsement folded' (ie in half to 335x480mm). This large format catalogue has a deliberately news-papery look and feel. It is a 20pp 'self cover' printed on our Redeem 100% Recycled 115gsm (special weight was made for this project) and is unbound.

Click on images to enlarge

The Beheading of John the Baptist 2002

The Last Supper (The Blood of Christ) 2003

Away from the Flock 1994 

For a sense of scale, below is a spread pictured with a piece of A4 paper ...remember the size of the publication is 670x480mm!

An Unreasonable Fear of Amputation/Death and Dying 1998

The publication is printed offset litho. Although this looks like a one colour print (halftone or monotone printing) it is not! The reason that the pencil looks so much like pencil is because it's a two colour job, with a continuous tone printed as the background. This means that there is never a hard edge when the pencil line finishes because it blends in with the continuous tone of the background colour. A very effective solution and I've been asked many times how the amazing reproduction of the pencil drawings was achieved. Below image shows detail of the pencil work: 

Click on images to enlarge

The paper is already a neutral white shade gives the publication a 'newsy' feel which really works with the images and most importantly, the pages which are purely type (centre spread) as below:

Outside back cover:

Design is by Jason Beard at Other Criteria. It's a superb example of a well thought out, beautifully crafted publication which has stood the test of time. It demonstrates that a well considered design with the right materials can be produced in a cost effective way and still look fantastic.

Printing was by Principal Colour, who are still based in Paddock Wood in Kent. The production was handled by Chris Saunders who now runs his own print management consultancy, Print Source.

http://www.damienthirst.com/
http://www.othercriteria.com/
www.principalcolour.co.uk
www.print-sourceuk.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.08.2017