April Fool from the past...

Given the current Corona shutdown situation, I don't think many people are in the mood for an April Fool joke. However, 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.

So I thought I'd let you see an April Fool that I posted back in 2011, which had many people fooled... 

Friday, 1 April 2011

Royal Wedding beckons!

This morning, I can reveal that I've been invited to the Royal Wedding on 29th April - how exciting is that!

...and as you can see below, I've already been for my morning suit and hat fitting (in the Fenner Paper van!

Sadly, it's not because I have "blue blood" running through my veins, it's strictly a work related reason....

Most readers of this blog know that many people call me for recommendations about what materials to use, so I'm used to speaking to a wide range of people but even I was surprised when I received a call from Buckingham Palace!  Flight Lieutenant "Loof" Lirpa, the Prince's secretary and assistant, introduced himself by saying that I'd come highly recommended and he'd even checked out this very blog!

Due to security protocols, I can't reveal too much (or in fact anything) about the materials or processes used, or even the printer who did the job, so this isn't going to be a particularly revealing post - although I can say it's printed on a very white board.

As part of William and Kate's outreach programme, they wanted to invite some "ordinary" people and where better to start than some of the "tradespeople" who have been involved in all apects of the wedding and I was lucky enough to be one of the chosen ones.

Needless to say, I shall be checking out the paper used for the order of service sheets on the actual day!

Lady in waiting, Rt Hon. A.P. Rilf-Ool, sending out the invitations

...all I have to do now is remember the date!

Posted by Justin Hobson 01.04.2011

Campfire

With offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London, Campfire make informed, creative content for the world's most ambitious brands. Their beautiful new presentation folders are printed on one of our new Colorset shades - Charcoal in 350gsm.

The size of the folder is 317x220mm, portrait and has one glued,curved pocket, 105mm high on the inside back cover.

Simplicity is key! ...and this folder is simply and beautifully hot foil blocked in a matt white foil on the outside front cover and as you can see from the image below, even the little registered ® has excellent definition...

Click on images to enlarge

The below images shows the folder opened on the front and reverse...

The below image shows the quality of the matrix crease. A simple job like this relies on the quality of materials, foiling and finishing, making the difference between an OK job and an excellent job.

The excellent hot foil blocking and finishing is by McAllister Litho in Glasgow.

https://campfire.agency/
https://www.mlg.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 30.03.2020

Postgraduate Guide

I've written many posts on this blog which includes the phrase "...just the cover makes the difference!" The cover on this 2019 prospectus is just superb. It is printed offset litho on our Colorset Lemon 270gsm, in just one colour (Silver, Pantone 877) which is a photo composition of 28 works by CSM postgraduate students,  all laid out with the wonderful King's Cross building as the backdrop. The cover is also hot foil blocked.

The size of the publication is 240x164mm, portrait. The cover has 90mm flaps, which you can see in the birds eye picture below...

The below image shows the opening spread, with the 40pp text, printed on gloss art...

The cover is printed one colour offset litho in black on the inside cover. Below image shows 90mm flap folded out:

The cover is printed on Colorset Lemon 270gsm, a 100% recycled board. For those of you not familiar with this collection, Colorset now has 36 colours and all colours are available in 120, 270 and 350gsm. Below shows the outside cover, fully extended showing the photo-composition of all 28works... 

The 40pp text, printed offset litho on 100gsm coated gloss paper:

Below shows the detail of the hot foil blocking...

This is a superb piece of literature demonstrating that CSM is a world class arts and design college. Design is by Boyle & Perks but was produced last year before the launch of the new CSM Shifts (...also by Boyle & Perks!)

Print is by Pureprint, printed offset Litho throughout in CMYK with the cover printed in just silver and black.

https://www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/central-saint-martins
http://boyleperks.com/
https://www.pureprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 27.03.2020

Wembley Park

Quintain are creating a new 85-acre neighbourhood, offering 8.8 million sq ft of mixed-use development, including over 500,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space. When finished, Wembley Park will get over 20 million visitors a year and have an annual retail spend comparable to Ealing Broadway, Camden Town and Victoria.

This stunning brochure is 290x230mm. Printed on Omnia throughout, the solid flat colours and images have reproduced beautifully.

The publication has a 4pp cover and a 40pp text, both on our Omnia, chosen because it would beautifully reproduce the photography with the retail images superbly - without forgetting the fleshtones and of course the solid areas of flat colour ...and it looks wonderful!

The spine is about 10mm and for those reading this who are thinking, that's awfully thick for a 40pp text, you'd be right, but read on...

Yes, it does only have 40pp, but it is lay-flat bound, which as you can see from the below image, lays completely open and totally flat...

So, how does it work? Sheets that have been printed on one side are folded and collated into their book form, which are mounted (glued) back to back to form a book block. The text pages are using Omnia 150gsm which makes each 'page' 370mics thick. The book block has then been bound into the pre-creased cover which forms an open V as there is no glue in the spine, as you can see in the images below...

...and the final spread is this amazingly bright fluorescent orange (printed a special)

The publication is printed offset litho in CMYK plus a special. Print is by Identity Print, based in Paddock Wood with Paul Martin handling the project.

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

Posted by Justin Hobson 24.03.2020 

Open for Business

These are unprecedented times and like most businesses, Fenner Paper is being proactive to ensure both the continuity of our operations while safeguarding the health and safety of our community including staff, customers and suppliers

We are following the current UK government recommendations, designed to limit transmission of Covid-19. We are operating with reduced staffing levels on-site, where possible with people working remotely. Our sample and dummy making facility is open and we'll do everything we can to provide our normal service, with me or Mark making most of the dummies! If you want to place an order or request samples, you can email as normal or just give us a call (01732 771100).

...other than that, it's business as usual! Shipments are still arriving and being despatched in the normal way (allowing for 2 metre social distancing). I took the below picture when I arrived at our warehouse, after deliveries from two of our supplying mills, this morning.

On a personal note, when you do brave going out for essential reasons, such as shopping, please SMILE ...you can't catch the virus by looking your fellow citizens in the eye and smiling. It would make us all feel better!

Posted by Justin Hobson 23.03.2020

Chernobyl - Truth in our Times

Historian Serhii Plokhy's masterful book, 'Chernobyl: History of a tragedy' was the winner of the 2018 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction. This is a publication based on the Baillie Gifford prize lecture delivered by the author at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August 2019. 

This small booklet is published by Edinburgh International Book Festival and printed in Edinburgh by Stoneberry Press. The size is 198x128mm, portrait. The cover is printed letterpress on Crush, Almond 350gsm, one of our ranges made by FAVINI in Italy and is made using 15% residues from the industrial processing of agricultural foodstuffs. 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:

The 24pp text is digitally printed on our StarFine Natural White 115gsm, which is a lovely neutral white and gives the publication the correct look and feel of a book.

Above is the centre spread, which shows the 'singer sewn' binding and a detail image below...

Below shows the spine, with the singer sewing. The cover has two parallel creases, which has "squared off" the spine. Clever and really effective.

Below shows the detail of the outside back cover. The cover is beautifully printed letterpress in two browns.

Published by the Edinburgh International Book Festival with support from the Baillie Gifford prize. Design, print and production is by Evgenia Kochkina at Stoneberry Press in Edinburgh.

http://stoneberrypress.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 19.03.2020

It's a wrap!

The Barrowland Ballroom is an iconic music venue in Glasgow. Built as a ballroom and now a music venue, this limited edition book, titled Barrowland Ballads, features stories, photographs and graphic art from a 2 year-long project by the award winning artists of Recollective (Alison Irvine, Chris Leslie, Mitch Miller). They worked in close collaboration with the venue, the east end community that surrounds it, and a much wider community of gig-goers, dancers and musicians whose life stories are woven into the building.

The 256pp case-bound book is a 240x170mm size with a 24mm spine and it has what some people call a belly-band or a book-jacket or a wrap. The wrap is printed our wonderfully light Offenbach Bible 60gsm and features a fold-out Dialectogram. The word Dialectogram does not appear in the dictionary but is an illustration of places, showing them in detail with contextual illustrations. This Dialectogram is an amazing piece of work and is illustrated by Mitch Miller. Below shows the book with the wrap off...

The wrap is folded down to form a 12pp wrap - both ends of which fold in first to make an 8pp which then folds into the inside back and inside back covers.

Below shows the wrap folded out to it's full extent...

It has three horizontal folds. 

Click on images to enlarge

The below image shows the full Dialectogram in all it's glory...

If you click on the images, they come up to a more reasonable size. The open size of the wrap is 698x995mm, which is absolutely remarkable given that the stock size of the paper is 720x1020mm, so the printer has really scrimped on the amount of trim, which is a real feat. Printed offset Litho in CMYK.

Below shows a detail of the Dialectogram:

The book is a superb production, the design, writing, photography, illustration and printing is all of the highest standard. The Barrowlands project is supported by Creative Scotland, Merchant City Festival and Glasgow City Heritage Trust. The book is designed and published by Graphical House in a limited edition of only 400 copies. The excellent printing is by Pressision based in Leeds.

http://www.barrowlandballads.co.uk/
https://www.graphicalhouse.com/
https://pressision.co.uk/
http://barrowland-ballroom.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 16.03.2020