Vive La Vodka!

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 the Grey Goose 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 Cocktails 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 09.08.2018

New Astralux Range Swatches

ASTRALUX is the market leading range of cast coated papers and boards produced in Italy by the Favini Crusinallo paper mill. The weight range is 80gsm - 350gsm in white and is also available in 27 shades (including metallics and pearlescents) and we have some beautiful new swatches... 

The swatch is A4, portrait and incorporates both the white and the colour range.

The colours are displayed in a "chip" format which is an ideal format to see selection of shades:

...and there is even a printed sample.

If you would like one of the new swatches, just let me know justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

http://www.favini.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 06.08.2018

Jobs from the past - Number 106

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 and here's one from 2006...

Young Timebank - Students Pack 2006

This is an excellent example of a practical solution to a design problem. Timebank is a national volunteering charity which runs volunteer mentoring projects to tackle complex social issues. The brief for this project was a self contained ring binder to be shaped like a box so it could contain other items, pens pencils and loose papers. It is a student pack to be given to young people so it needed to be hardwearing and practical.

The above image shows the spine, which is hot foil blocked. The below image shows the way that the box file opens...

The above image shows the front of the box. This 'paper over board' folder is printed in two colours offset litho on our Colorset 100% Recycled 120gsm and is hot foil blocked in silver foil. The print result is superb, bright solid colours. The below image shows the back of the binder.

One of the real challenges was to make a "box file" that could still be used for writing in without having to take the sheets of paper out. What I suggested was to turn the normal box file format on it's head by fixing the binding mechanism out of the box, enabling the user to write on the sheets easily whilst still in the mechanism. Effectively it has made the box, the lid.

The closing flap has a hidden magnetic catch

The below image shows with the magnetic flap open

...and the flap closed

Below you can see the way that Colorset has worked excellently as a covering material on the tight returns.

Design is by Spyros Zevelakis. An excellent project which looks as good today as it did 12 years ago!

https://timebank.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.08.2018

Design Your Life Podcasts

I'm sure many readers of this blog will be familiar with the work of Vince Frost. His work from London days has appeared on this blog many times. Vince Frost is now the CEO and Executive Creative Director of Frost*collective, a strategic creative group dedicated to designing a better world through human-centered design and they have studios in Sydney and Melbourne.

In 2014, Vince wrote and published a book titled Design Your Life, distributed by Penguin you can read more on this dedicated website here: http://designyourlife.com.au/

To support the thinking behind the content of the book and website, Vince has now launched a series of podcasts where he discusses how design principles can be applied to everyday life with a group of brilliant and diverse creative guests. He chats with designers, journalists, CEOs and founders about the key turning points in their lives and the role design has played in shaping the success of their brands and careers.

There are now seven podcasts available from a diverse range of guests including Paula Scher from Pentagram in New York.

They are well worth listening to. Here's the link:
https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/frost-collective/id1391405612?mt=2&i=1000416545516

http://designyourlife.com.au/
https://www.frostcollective.com.au/

Posted by Justin Hobson 30th July 2018

Alex Dordoy - The Moss is Dreaming

Blain|Southern is a contemporary art gallery with galleries in London and Berlin. It was started in September 2010 by Harry Blain and Graham Southern, who had sold their previous gallery, Haunch of Venison, to Christie's.

 

Alex Dordoy was invited by Tom Morton for the first in a series of exhibitions, collectively titled “Lodger”, a new series of exhibitions at Blain|Southern, Running concurrent to the exhibitions in the central space, the series expands Blain|Southern’s programme into new territories. Alex Dordoy for his exhibition titled “The Moss is Dreaming” developed a new body of work exploring a central characteristic of 21st Century visual culture: the restlessness of the image, and the instability of the surfaces on which it manifests.

 

This is the catalogue for the exhibition which ended in November last year.   

This size of the catalogue is 210x148mm, portrait. It has a 4pp cover printed on Omnia white 200gsm with a 12pp text printed on Omnia 150gsm. The Omnia works superbly, tactile - lots of character but no loss of quality in the reproduction.

Click on images to enlarge

A lovely feature is the use of white wire for the wire stitches (staples) - although  it's not immediately obvious why use white on the outside, but you can see why, when you see the centre spread - excellent attention to detail.

Click on images to enlarge

Detail showing white wire on centre spread.

Printing is by Identity, based in Paddock Wood, Kent. The job is digitally printed using a Ricoh digital press.

Art direction and design is by Blain|Southern.

https://www.blainsouthern.com/
http://www.identityprint.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 15.01.2018

Hiut Denim Co.

The Hiut Denim Company is based in Cardigan in Wales. Established in 2012 by David and Clare Hieatt, they only make jeans, that's it and it's going pretty well, having recently been in the news that Meghan Markle has been sporting a pair!

 

This is a poster printed on our wonderfully lightweight Offenbach Bible 60gsm. The size of the poster is 700x450mm and as you can see, the image of the pair of jeans looks amazing.

Below image shows the superb reproduction of the image.

Click on images to enlarge

The poster is printed offset litho on our Offenbach Bible 60gsm ...and it looks and feels absolutely gorgeous - it flops and folds in a delightful way when handling the poster as I hope you can see on the image below.

Art direction and design is by Nick Hand, based in Bristol at The Department of Small Works

Printing is by Park Lane Press who are based in Corsham, Wiltshire. They print offset litho but Park Lane Press print using a 'waterless' process that eliminates the water or dampening system used in conventional printing. The specialist plates allow the printed dot to be held more securely preventing any unwanted movement of ink and minimising dot gain to create a sharper image in ultra fine definition and this project is a perfect example. They are one of the very few printers who champion the use of this waterless process.

Thanks to Chris Pattemore for sending me copies and his kind note.

Click on images to enlarge

https://hiutdenim.co.uk/
http://www.departmentofsmallworks.co.uk/
https://parklanepress.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 20.07.2018

ISTD Student Awards 2018

Last Friday, I was invited to  the International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD) Student awards, hosted by Pentagram at their wonderful studio in Notting Hill. Pentagram partner, Sascha Lobe, presented the certificates to the successful students and tutors.

It was a beautiful summer evening, only slightly marred by a tropical deluge! This is the 90th anniversary year of the ISTD, so a special year for all concerned.

This presentation evening is for the main Student Assessment scheme held in the UK and Ireland. Students from Universities and Institutions around the UK and Ireland answered a number of briefs written by the ISTD's Education team. This is an international education scheme and the assessments for other regions of the globe are on-going.

As with all ISTD events it was a very warm and friendly occasion with beer, wine and nibbles all laid on, for well over a hundred guests. The evening began with an introduction by Jonathan Doney, the Chair of ISTD (below) who gave a brief re-cap of the society's history, founded 90 years ago by Vincent Steer Jonathan reminded us that the Student awards programme has been running continuously for 43 years! ...with programmes in six regions around the world.

The most recent Pentagram partner, Sascha Lobe gave a brief talk and presented all the certificates (printed on our StarFine) and also an excellent goody bag (sponsored by Cass Art). There were students from universities from all over the country and further afield, with one student from Canada!

Sascha Lobe, Pentagram partner

My thanks to the ISTD board for inviting me and as I have said many times on this blog before, it's very important to support organisations such as the ISTD and events such as this. A big thank you to all those members of the ISTD board and education committee who freely give their time for the benefit of others.

Thanks must also go to Pentagram and to Sascha Lobe. It is wonderful that a respected agency such as Pentagram freely gives their resources for such an event, it is inspirational for the students and is a great way for the partnership to give something back to education.
 

You can read more about it on the Pentagram newsfeed:
https://www.pentagram.com/news/istd-student-awards-2018

www.istd.org.uk
www.pentagram.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 17.07.2018