Destination

Book artist Caroline Penn was asked to collaborate with thirteen other artists on a project, published by WhnicPRESS and launched at the Bristol Artist Book Event (BABE) at the end of March 2019. Project C is about inter-semiotic translation: the translation from images to words, and words to images and the paths that form between them. Each artist was given an anonymised book cover and asked to respond to it with another book form.  All of the resulting fourteen books are held within a slip case in an edition of 25 copies.

Caroline wanted the form of her book to reference dictionaries and an unfolding train journey, hence the choice of Offenbach Bible, a double-sided, single sheet of Offenbach Bible folded into a concertina, and sewn into a cover.

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The finished size is 173x124mm with the 8pp concertina text folding out to a 494mm length. You can see from the below image how the text folds into the 4pp cover...

Concertina text fully extended...

Given the lightweight nature of the Offenbach Bible, you probably won't be able to believe that it's digitally printed! The job was printed and finished by print company Typecast Colour, based in Paddock Wood. It was printed on their Xerox digital press and the result is excellent. For a limited run, such as this (25 copies) printing digitally makes a project such as this viable.

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The above image shows the '5 hole sewn' binding, which is hand finished, as is the hole punching. Below shows the text fully extended:

The Offenbach Bible is enclosed within a Pergamenata paper cover which was all put into a loose cover, with the photo of the train in snow, supplied by WhnicPRESS. The other 13 artists also had their books enclosed within similar printed covers. All 14 books were then put into a slip case, see below...

Image courtesy of whnicPRESS

This was a lovely project to be involved with and many thanks to Caroline for taking the time to send me a copy of the finished publication and a handwritten note.

https://carolinepenn.com/
https://whnicpress.tumblr.com/
http://www.typecast.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 30.01.2020

Typographic 71

This is the latest edition of Typographic, a journal published by ISTD (International Society of Typographic Designers) issue 71. This is a good read and there is always something in it to inspire, the content is entirely devoted to those practising typographic design, both past and present.

The contents include eight articles by/about: David Quay, Stephen Banham, Jim Northover, Cal Swann, Jared Patterson, Trevor Finnegan, Tony Pritchard, Nicole Phillips, Mike Daines. The Editorial Board is Jim Northover, Tony Pritchard, Caroline Roberts.

Size is A4, portrait. The 4pp cover is printed offset litho, hot foil blocked and die cut on our Astralux Silver 250gsm. The die cut holes form the number 7, allowing the 2pp end-papers (which feature front and back) on Colorset Blush to show through. The number 71 on the cover was inspired by David Quay's typographic walk through Amsterdam which is one of the articles in the journal. Cover artwork is by Tony Pritchard.

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The 32pp text is printed offset litho on Pergraphica High White, Rough 120gsm.

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The colour images have reproduced excellently on the uncoated surface of the Pergraphica and the result is really superb...

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The publication is section sewn and the book opens nicely and the pages lay quite flat. As you can see from the image below, how metallic the Astralux Silver looks on the cover...

Design is by Miriam Brüggen who is based in Berlin and production is by Playne Design. It is beautifully printed, bound and finished by Empress Litho in London.

You can buy a copy of Typographic 71 on this link here.

However...
If you are a practising designer that cares about typographic standards and you aren't already an ISTD member, maybe you should think about joining - there are many benefits, this journal (free to members) is just one! - have a look http://www.istd.org.uk/ - it costs less than £10 per month and is excellent value.

www.istd.org.uk
https://www.empresslitho.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 28.01.2020

Bricks & Mortar

Bricks and Mortar is a project by third year graphic design students at the University of the West of England (UWE). The project culminated in an exhibition at The Vestibules (Bristol City Hall) on Monday 18th November showcasing the student work followed by a discussion about the housing crisis...

"The scale of Bristol’s housing crisis has been revealed in a detailed new report that presents the latest facts and figures, including the housing market, rental prices, council housing and homelessness in the city. Number after brutal number sets out the harsh reality for thousands of Bristolians, as well as the complexity of the problem facing city leaders: More than 11,000 languish on a waiting list for a council house. Average house prices approach £300,000. Average rents exceed £1,000 a month. Around 120 people sleep rough every night. The list goes on. Many of these issues go unnoticed; nothing can be solved if the issues remain invisible. Our challenge is to highlight the problems to passers-by, in ways that are hard to ignore."

The team of UWE student organisers for this project are: Emilia Bermejo-Ford, Marta Celio, Ella Staines and Olivia Bellingham. The UWE tutors are Jennifer Conway and  Jessie Young known as Jen and Jessie of Conway and Young.

These promotional flyers for the project are digitally printed on our Crush, Corn 120gsm. Size is A4 folded to A6.

If you aren't familiar with Crush, it is one of our ranges made by FAVINI in Italy and is made using 15% residues from the industrial processing of agricultural food processing. As a result, the paper does have inclusions and a "rustic" feel, which you might just be able to see from the image detail below:

This is an excellent example of using an interesting material to raise the production values on a little project and has made all the difference.

http://bricksandmortar.site/empty_houses.html
http://www.conwayandyoung.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 23.01.2020

Lollard Street

Lollard Street in Kennington epitomises Homes For Lambeth’s commitment to more and better homes for Londoners. The development consists of 12 private apartments and 7 townhouses, overlooking Lambeth Walk Open Space.

This is the superbly produced sales brochure for the development. The size is 380x280mm portrait, which is a size with lovely proportions.

It is 16pp self cover, saddle stitched, printed on Shiro Echo, White 160gsm and in this oversized format, it flows superbly with the large format pages working perfectly on the 160gsm weight.

The brochure is printed offset litho and the quality is superb. The colour work is excellent but the black solids (above and below) are exceptional...

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Shiro Echo is our 100% Recycled range and also carries the FSC Recycled classification. Shiro Echo is available in two shades; there is a white shade (which is a natural/off white) and similar to the old shade of Cyclus and a Bright White shade which is similar to the old Cocoon range.

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Simply saddle stitched but beautifully finished with the right paper in the correct weight is what makes this piece a job of real quality.

Branding, art direction and brochure design is by London based Ignite and you can read more about this project here.

The excellent print, repro and finishing is by Gavin Martin Colournet, based in Greenwich.

http://ignitetv.com/
https://www.lollardstreet.com/
http://www.gavinmartincolournet.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 20.01.2020

Lightboxes and Lettering

Yesterday, on a cold wet evening I went to the opening of a new exhibition at the Nunnery Gallery in Bow. Lightboxes and Lettering is the culmination of a project about the heritage of the printing industry in East London. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project focuses on the pre-digital era of printing in Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest and the experiences of people involved in the industry. The project explores how the printing industry has changed with the arrival of digital technologies, and how newer processes have transformed the everyday lives of print workers.

Printing – including lithography, silkscreen, and letterpress – has been an important industry in east London for many years. Access to small presses allowed political and community groups to easily print their books, pamphlets and leaflets, and many of these smaller firms were in east London. In recent years, the industry has changed a great deal, with the number of print workshops now much reduced and those in operation working in very different ways to how they would have done just a few decades ago.

The project maps former businesses, records the experiences of current and former employees, and shows collected printed matter, images of print workshops and details of technical processes.

This is a well researched exhibition and the project is documented in a catalogue (below) printed on Colorset, Shiro Echo and a map printed on our Offenbach Bible. It is printed by Aldgate Press, one of the East London printers featured in the exhibition and designed by Sandra Zellmer.  I'll write about the catalogue another time.

Congratulations to Lucy Harrison and Rosa Ainley from Rendezvous Projects who put the project and the exhibition together. The exhibition runs until 29th March and is at the Nunnery Gallery in Bow Road E3. It is an excellent exhibition and well worth a visit.

http://www.lightboxeslettering.com/
https://bowarts.org/nunnery

Posted by Justin Hobson 17.01.2020

HOMOgeneous

HOMOgeneous is a series of new portraits by photographer Christian Trippe. This series of photographs seeks to explore the similarities and differences in gay men of a certain age, identifying individuality in a subculture existing within the more mainstream gay culture.

All of the selected models identify themselves as gay or pansexual males and have been photographed without clothes to remove any distraction, however small personal elements to every image remain. The men have been photographed in high resolution giving an extraordinary level of detail. The resulting close-up portraits teeter between intimacy and confrontation.

Christian Trippe was born in Vienna and grew up in Germany. After completing his studies in graphic design and photography, he moved to London where he has lived and worked for the last 13 years. During this time, Christian has been developing his own art and photography projects.

This book accompanied the exhibition held last October at New Art Projects in London E8.

Size of the publication is 255x180mm, portrait and is singer sewn. The 4pp cover is printed on Omnia 280gsm and the 28pp text is on Omnia 150gsm

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The above image shows the centre spread with the singer sewing in the centrefold and on the spine on the outside in the image below. 

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Unlike many of the look-books featured on this blog, which are printed offset litho, this has been digitally printed on an HP Indigo press. The colours are strong and punchy and the whole publication has a matt, tactile look and feel.

Although Omnia was never originally developed for digital, we now keep it as a stock item with "sapphire treatment". This treatment is often applied to more unusual papers and provides a "key" so that the inks (which are different to litho inks) work on the paper surface. The great thing is the job just doesn't look and feel like a digital job. Below is a detail shot showing the excellent fleshtone reproduction.

Design of the catalogue is by Christian Trippe. The digital print by Screaming Colour.

https://www.christiantrippe.com/
http://newartprojects.com/events/new-photographs-christian-trippe/
http://www.screamingcolour.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 14.01.2019