The great toilet paper shortage...

Given the terrible and worrying recent spread of the Covid 19 virus, there have been the rather humorous stories of people hoarding toilet roll, leaving empty shelves in the shops and supermarkets. I just wanted to share a couple of points with you that you might find interesting and even useful...

The first thing to point out is that whereas our paper manufacturing industry is now virtually non existent (back in the 19th and 20th centuries, Great Britain was one of the largest paper making nations) in the world of 'tissue and hygenic papers' we actually still have a decent amount of manufacturing capability in the UK. In fact about two thirds of domestic consumption in the UK is manufactured in the UK (according to the CPI) ...which is excellent news and means that we really, really won't run out.

However there is one thing that I want to warn you about, just in case you run out of toilet tissue. DO NOT use tissues, hand towel or kitchen roll in the toilet and then flush down the toilet. Why not...? Read below to find out.

Hand towel, kitchen towel and tissues are specially made to have what is called "wet strength" which means that chemicals are added in the manufacturing process which hold the fibres together when they get wet. The reason for this is that you don't want shredded wet tissue over your nose after you have just blown it or for hand towel to fall apart as you are drying your hands. Normal papers disintegrate when they get wet and the fibres will break apart in water. Toilet paper is specifically designed to efficiently break up in water and flush away down the pipes and disintegrate into fibres, however tissue papers and hand towels are specifically designed NOT to break up and hold together intact. The result is that flush these products down the toilet and you will get a blockage - so it's really not worth doing, after all, nobody wants to unblock drains.

So now you can amaze your friends down the pub or at dinner parties and explain why you shouldn't block toilets with tissues!

Posted by Justin Hobson 15.03.2020

Boarders by Thames MMXX

Blondey is a British artist, skateboarder, clothing designer and model living in London. He is creative director of fashion brand Thames and represented by the Kate Moss Agency. His work engages with popular culture as a means of communicating self, society and an interpretation and representation of modern day religion. He has collaborated with brands such as Arena Homme+, Adidas, Palace, and Burberry, among others. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions around the world.

Titled “Boarders,” the inaugural THAMES MMXX collection consists of graphic T-shirts, hoodies, button-downs, and knee-high socks, as well as a standout knit sweater with red trim inspired by Blondey McCoy's old school uniform.

The lookbook is a large format size, 380x300mm, portrait and is saddle stitched. It is a 20pp self cover and is printed on Omnia 150gsm.

Click on images to enlarge

As you can see from the above images above and below, there is lots of colour and images with CMYK dark areas - loads of ink going down and it looks great on the Omnia, reproducing bright vibrant colours as well and the dark shadowy images, retaining detail in the dark areas - all with an uncoated tactile feel (...in my opinion- but I would say that wouldn't I?)

In this oversized format, it flows superbly with the large format pages working perfectly on the 150gsm weight...

Click on images to enlarge

The look and feel of the whole publication is very uncoated and tactile but there is absolutely no loss of detail in the images as you can see in the detail image below...

You are probably assuming that this quality piece of print is printed offset litho, but you would be wrong. This job is printed on a new type of digital printing press, it is a Fujifilm Jet Press 720S. This new B2 size digital press is a commercial inkjet printer, which has been built to produce high-quality short run to medium run digital print. Push Print in London installed the press two years ago and as you can see from the result on this job, it is producing the high quality print that Push is renowned for.

The book sits nice and flat and the finishing is well done, with no cracking on the spine.

Boarders is designed and published by HENI, who are an international arts services business headquartered in London. HENI work with leading artists and estates across publishing, print-making, photography, digital publishing, film and art research. Photographer is Alasdair McLellan, Stylist is Ellie Grace Cumming. The boarders are Sam Sitayeb and Blondey. Hair is by Matt Mulhall

Printing is by Push Print based in London with Anthony Dearlove handling the project.

https://thamesmmxx.com/
https://blondey.com/
https://www.henipublishing.com/
http://www.push-print.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 12.03.2020

St Bride Foundation Wayzgoose

Here's a date for your diary...

This year, the Annual St Bride Foundation Wayzgoose takes place on Sunday 17th May  

The above flyer is printed letterpress by Andrew Long ( ...on our Colorset Lemon 270gsm!)

Wayzgoose is a term (unfamiliar to many people) that used to refer to an annual holiday in a printworks and was often an away-day to the coast or some other sort of day out, more often than not, paid for by the firm.

 However, in this instance the St Bride's Wayzgoose is a kind of letterpress 'bring and buy' sale. There are companies selling type, letterpress accessories, ink and lots of letterpress printed books and cards and the proceeds from the event go towards the St Bride Foundation. Why not come along... ? For interest, this is what it was like last year:
https://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-5th-wayzgoose-at-st-bride-foundation.html

http://www.sbf.org.uk/ 

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.03.2019

Le Ster

Aishleen Lester established her London based jewellery brand, Le Ster, in 2018. As a child with an active imagination and a magpie of colour and stories, Aishleen has always been drawn to the power of objects and the stories they can tell and her jewellery designs are testament to that. In 2018 Aishleen won Designer to Watch at International Jewellery London and her work has been featured in a number of publications including International Wall Street Journal and Departures Magazine.

This is a series of five 2pp, A5 size cards produced under the title of 'Light the Grey' which shows each individual jewellery piece.

Click on images to enlarge

The cards are printed on Omnia 320gsm. Unlike many of the printed items 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 cards have a tactile look and feel. Being a digital print process it also means that small quantities can be printed economically and updated frequently, without the pressure of having to do a large print run. Below image shows the reverse of the cards...

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 reproduction of the fleshtones and in the dark areas.

Brand strategy and marketing agency is Studio Luxmore. Photographer and lighting specialist is Rhys Gray. Design is by Laura Purdy and digital printing is by Screaming Colour.

https://www.le-ster.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 06.03.2020

Jobs from the past - Number 125

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 publication is from 2002.

sweet

In 2002, two very well known art directors collaborated to market themselves as Sweet. Vince Frost and Balwant Ahira have different backgrounds but paired up to deliver a united package to clients and this broadsheet 'newspaper' style offering was their superbly produced promotional piece...

Sweet is an A1 (594x420mm) size publication folding out to a massive 594x840mm, which is what was needed to make give these amazing spreads room to breathe - spreads from The Independent, The Guardian, Nova etc...  

Click on images to enlarge

The centre spread is their 'pitch' (copy by Michael Watts) printed solid red and looks amazing.

It is printed on our Redeem 100% Recycled 100gsm which is has a neutral white shade which gives the publication a 'newspaper' feel which really suits the editorial work that is being shown and which prints amazingly, as I hope these images show...

It is a 16pp publication and is unbound.

Above and below you can see the 4x4pp sections spread out with the outside back cover cover:

It is printed offset litho in two colours (yes, just 2 colours!) offset litho by Principal Colour - which means that these mono images are just produced as halftones - and don't they look fab?

Click on images to enlarge

...just to give you a sense of scale, the below image shows the publication open next to a 1 metre rule - the scale is big!

Design and art direction is by Vince Frost and Balwant Ahira.

So, where is everybody now?....

Vince Frost left for the sunnier climate of Australia around seventeen years ago and runs Frost* in Sydney. Balwant Ahira is an independent creative director. Principal Colour are in Paddock Wood in Kent and Fenner Paper? ...yep, we're still here!

http://www.frostdesign.com.au/

http://www.studioahira.com/

http://www.principalcolour.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 03.03,2020

Begg & Co Interiors

Begg & Co have been making beautiful scarves, wraps and stoles in Scotland since 1866. The small coastal town of Ayr has been at the heart of the brand for well over a century, when founder Alex Begg opened his first mill and began working with skilled local weavers. Begg’s original ethos is maintained thanks to the modern-day team of dedicated craftspeople, who continue to source the best quality yarns in order to create timeless, versatile products that are heavenly to touch and a delight to own.

This is the Look Book for the 2019 Interiors collection showing the range of throws, stoles and travel blankets. The finished size of the publication is 266x145mm and forms a 24pp broadsheet, folding out to 798x580mm.

The above image shows the front and back covers. The format is a "parallel gatefold" as you can see from the birdseye image below...

Click on images to enlarge

 Front cover...

 First spread...

 folding out to the next spread....

Click on images to enlarge

The whole publication is all 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 publication as I hope these images demonstrate. The below image shows the way it concertina's from top to bottom (vertical folds) before folding horizontally.

 Image showing the full sheet (front)

 ...and the reverse side:

Creative direction and design is by Studio Small.
Printing is by Push and the reproduction on our Offenbach Bible 60gsm is superb.

https://www.beggandcompany.com/

http://www.studiosmall.com/

http://www.push-print.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 27.02.2020

The SPAB Approach

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings was founded by William Morris in 1877. The organisation was established in response to the work of Victorian architects whose enthusiasm for harmful restoration caused irreparable damage. Today the SPAB encourages excellence in new design to enrich and complement the built historic environment. They train new generations of architectural professionals and building craftspeople to shape this landscape with sensitivity and skill, and play a statutory role as adviser to local planning authorities.

This beautifully designed publication serves as the introduction to the society and gives insight into the historical background, conservation philosophy and is the first major manifesto publication.

Size is 240x190mm, portrait and is saddle stitched. The 4pp cover is on Colorset Natural 170gsm with a 24pp text on Redeem 100% Recycled 100gsm.

Click on images to enlarge

Redeem 100% Recycled is a neutral white shade and really works with the subject matter, both with the images and most importantly, the pages which are purely type...

Click on images to enlarge

Spine is neatly creased and saddle stitched. The booklet is printed offset litho by Herald Graphics who are based in Reading.

The cover printed on Colorset Natural 170gsm has a wonderful image of a wood engraving printed on the outside and this really works with the tactility of the 100% Recycled paper...

A really lovely feature is the debossed 'plate sunk' panel in the cover, which I hope you can make out in the image below.

It's a lovely touch that perfectly finishes this superbly crafted publication. Graphic design and typography is by Sara Chapman at the letter g.

https://www.spab.org.uk/

https://www.letterg.co.uk/

http://www.heraldgraphics.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 24.02.2020