The State of the Industry....

At the beginning of every year, the US President delivers a "state of the union" address, so I thought it might be of interest to readers of this blog to read about the current state of the paper industry.

An article which appears in this month's Print Business magazine has an excellent summary of the industry, which with their kind permission, I have reproduced here...

Paper producers strive for balance
While it is less necessary than in the past, paper remains the key substrate for all manner of printers and UK consumption is falling and has been falling for a number of years. This does not automatically equate to a similar decline in print jobs: shorter print runs and so on will have a greater impact on consumption of paper. Take newspapers for example. Newspaper volumes are dropping, but this is not matched by the disappearance of titles.
Across Europe, Euro-graph, and association of paper producing mills, reckons that demand for newsprint had after ten months fallen 6.4% in 2019. The British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) referring to to figures from the Confederation of Paper Industries, reckons newsprint demand in the UK is down 6.3%. However there is divergence with other types of paper, reflecting the relative popularity of certain paper types in different countries.
According to Euro-graph demand for all types of printing grades of paper is 7.9% down. This excludes boards and packaging grades and specialist papers used for all manner of purposes, filters, wadding, insulation, batteries and more.
The BPIF puts the total decline for graphic papers at 3.5%, 2.4% if newsprint is excluded. The UK figures may also have been distorted by stockpiling ahead of the planned brexit deadlines, in the spring and at the end of October.

Across Europe demand for coated woodfree papers was down 9.7% and demand for uncoated woodfree papers was 3.9% lower. This is a significant difference to the UK equivalents where coated woodfree (CWF) exhibited a growth in the second quarter of 2019 compared to 2018.
This, however, is not likely to prevent the closure of paper production capacity. In coated woodfree, the looming closure of StoraEnso's Oulu mill to CWF production in September this year will remove 1.3 million tonnes from the European market, roughly equivalent to the current excess of supply over demand.
This also explains the difficulties that some mills have had in emerging from liquidation under new financial backers. Demand has continued to slide: Sappi reckons that overall demand is down 13% a year and is looking for a way to match capacity to demand. Others are doing the same and if they succeed will allow paper suppliers to strengthen prices later in the year.

The above article is an extract from the full article, which you can read here:
https://printbusiness.co.uk/news/The-shape-of-the-UK-printing-industry-is-still-changing/123220

Reproduced with kind permission from Print Business magazine. With thanks to Gareth Ward, Editor.
https://printbusiness.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 20.02.2020

The Rough Stuff Fellowship Archive book

The Rough-Stuff Fellowship was established in a pub near the Welsh/English border in 1955, making it the oldest off-road cycling club in the world. Recently, the club appointed an archivist, and the photos, hand-drawn maps and memories poured in – an unexpected treasure trove of incredible value and beauty. The photos are full of the joy of riding your bike and evocative of a bygone style – of a time when you might set off on a club ride wearing a shirt and tie, a deerstalker or a bobble hat, and no ride was complete without a stop to brew up some tea and smoke a pipe.

In their own quiet, very British way, these men and women were pioneers, pedalling and carrying their bikes and pitching their tents where angels feared to tread. Mountain bikes, gravel bikes, bikepacking – they all followed in the tyre tracks of the RSF. This book celebrates their style and their spirit. It is a document not only of the history of cycling off the beaten track, but of British outdoor culture...

This book is published by Isola Press. Size is 270x210mm, portrait and is section sewn, limp bound in a soft cover. The 208pp text is printed on Gardapat 13, Kiara 135gsm.

For readers not familiar with GardaPat 13, it's a fully coated paper but it really does have a dead flat MATT surface. There are many papers on the market which profess to be matt - some which incorporate the word matt in the name, but aren't! Apart from the high quality matt surface, this paper has an extraordinarily high bulk (thickness).

There is a 20pp illustrated text section printed on Popset Fawn (below)

It is hard to describe the 'dead flat' mattness that is a characteristic of this coated paper but the print result is totally flat as you might see in the below images...

Gardapat Kiara is a neutral white shade and is perfect for colour reproduction as well as the mono images.

I mentioned about the bulk of this paper and I thought it might be helpful if you could actually see what this means! The 208pp book using Gardapat 13 gives a spine that is 20mm thick, as you can see in the below picture...

The text is printed on Gardapat13, 135gsm which has a bulk (thickness) of 175microns which gives a spine thickness of 20mm (see above pic); but to give you a true comparison, if it were printed on another 135gsm matt paper (example Creator Matt, also made by the same mill group -Lecta) where the bulk is 115microns, it would mean the spine of this book would (only) be around 13mm thick. If you would like to know more about the relationship between gsm and mics, you can read a post I wrote HERE.

Design is by Myfanwy Vernon-Hunt at This Side. Published by Isola Press. Printed by Graphius in Belgium.

You can purchase this beautiful book for only £28 HERE

https://www.isolapress.com/shop/rsf-archives-2

http://this-side.co.uk/the-rough-stuff-fellowship-archive/
https://www.graphius.com/
https://www.lecta.com/en/cartiere-del-garda

Posted by Justin Hobson 17.02.2020

Le Fizz

It's Valentine's Day and what better way to celebrate than with a cocktail...

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.

The Grey Goose, Le Fizz cocktail has the added ingredients of St-germain Elderflower Liqueur, freshly squeezed lime juice and soda.

This A6 recipe card and accompanying tent card is printed on Omnia 320gsm...

Omnia was chosen because of it's rich natural look and tactile feel. However, as you can see from images, the "Grey Goose Blue" is really rich and the solid has to print beautifully, which it does on Omnia. Reverse of card below:

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

Printing is by Dayfold who are based in Dorset.

https://www.greygoose.com/en-gb/cocktails/grey-goose-vodka/grey-goose-le-fizz.html

http://www.raggededge.com/

https://www.dayfold.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 14.02.2020

Where does the art go?

Next week, there is a talk at the St Bride Foundation given by Mark Titchner, which sounds really interesting...

Mark Titchner is an artist living and working in London. He was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2006, participated in the Venice Biennale in 2007 and was Artist in Residence at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto in 2012. He has recently completed a major new permanent public work, ‘Me, Here Now’ which is installed at London Bridge Station. He is currently involved with the Mental Health and Justice project, a multi-disciplinary research initiative funded by Wellcome, working with the team that are investigating issues around the assessment of mental capacity, particularly in relation to complex or contested cases.

Mark Titchner’s work involves an exploration of the tensions between the different belief systems that inform our society, be they religious, scientific or political. Focusing on an exploration of words and language, in recent years much of his production has been based in the public realm both in the UK and internationally. These public works have often been created from extended group activities. In this talk he will present a number of approaches to making art in the public realm with projects that vary from large permanent commissions to those produced in closed psychiatric units.

The talk is next Thursday 20th February. Tickets are only £12.50 (£8.00 for students) and you can book tickets HERE 

 

Go on ...stimulate the grey matter and get the brain cells going.

 

www.marktitchner.com

https://www.sbf.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 13.02.2020 

Pentagram Papers 48

Pentagram Papers are an anthology of documents, cataloguing areas of interest of the partners behind the world renowned design firm, Pentagram. They are produced to be given to clients and colleagues of the firm and have been produced since 1975. The quirky booklets cover a range of curious, entertaining, stimulating, provocative and occasionally controversial points of view.

This is the latest edition, produced by one of the most recently appointed partners in the London office, Luke Powell. The title of this edition is "Long Lens, Wide Angle" and the subject is the Magnum photography cooperative, founded in 1947.

Size is 210x140mm, portrait with an 8pp cover and 48pp text.

The text pages are printed on Omnia 150gsm and it is a great example of just how well this paper prints, having said that, images such as these would look pretty good on anything! The high bulk of Omnia gives this 48pp publication a respectable 6mm spine.

Click on images to enlarge

Omnia was chosen is because it would beautifully reproduce the wide variety of very different images and feel special - with the reproduction that you would expect on a silk or gloss but with a natural tactile uncoated feel.

I must make a special mention about the printing, which is exceptional. Print is by Boss Print, based in West London and it is is printed offset litho using their Vivid Colour™ process. This colour technique has been combined in this project with the mono images being printed in duotone using two blacks (see above) and as you will see from the detail image below, the colour reproduction is superb.

The publication is section sewn in 12pp sections as you can see above and the thread used is black coloured thread which coordinates with the cover (below image).

The cover is printed on an embossed coverboard from that well known "Hull-based" paper merchant! ...and I must point out that it is printed black litho onto a white board with the type and keylines reversed out - but what about the black edge? I hear you ask. Well, the cover has been colour edged black, so there is no white edge. Great attention to detail by the printer Boss Print.

Design for this edition is by Luke Powell's team at Pentagram. This is a really special piece of print. Beg or steal a copy if you can...!

https://www.magnumphotos.com/
https://www.pentagram.com/
https://www.bossprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.02.2020

Herman Miller in Paris

Last year, Herman Miller opened their new office in Rue Saint Augustine in Paris.  Herman Miller needs no introduction to readers of this blog, as they are at the vanguard of ergonomic office furniture, equipment and home furniture. The company works with contemporary designers of the time which, in the past, have included Charles and Ray Eames and more recently Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick with the now iconic Aeron chair.

This is a beautifully designed and well executed piece of internal communication. To introduce staff to the area and their new community, the design team at Herman Miller created this wonderfully illustrated map which shows the cafes, bars, restaurants and shops in the locality. 

The size of the map is A6 folding out to A3. Below image shows the front...

Folding out to this...

Which then concertina folds out like so...

And the inside reveals this amazing map...

Click on images to enlarge

Design is by Tracy Stone and the wonderful illustrations are by Andy Council. It is digitally printed on our Offenbach Bible by Hampton Printing who are based in Bristol.

https://www.hermanmiller.com/en_gb/
https://www.andycouncil.co.uk/
http://www.hampton-printing.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 07.02.2020

Jobs from the past - Number 124

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 this invitation is from 2014.

British Museum Invitation - September 2014 

In September 2014 the British Museum staged a major exhibition in the new Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery on a golden age in China’s history. The exhibition explored the years 1400 – 1450, a pivotal 50 year period that transformed China during the rule of the Ming dynasty. The exhibition included rare loans of some of the finest objects ever made in China, shedding light on this important part of world history that is little known in Europe. China’s internal transformation and connections with the rest of the world led to a flourishing of creativity from what was, at the time, the only global superpower.

Click on images to enlarge

This is the private view invitation for special guests in September. The size is A5,portrait and is a 6pp gatefold format. It opens to reveal the spread below...

 ...and then folding out to the below:

The below image shows both sides, spread out.

This invitation is printed on our Omnia 280gsm, which is a very bulky board with a subtle, natural texture and tactile surface. Reproduction is superb, as I hope you can see with the black and red solids and with the most amazing detail retained in the images as I hope you can see in the image below...

Design is by the in-house team at the British Museum, headed by Ann Lumley. The invitation was printed offset litho by CPI Colour.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/

http://www.cpicolour.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 03.01.2020