St Bride Foundation lecture - this week

This Wednesday (10th) there is a 'not to be missed' on line lecture titled ‘Do It Like You Do It’...

Agyei Archer will explore the value of vernacular design in the English-speaking Caribbean. He will take us on a journey through sharing his work past and present, focusing on the role that hand-drawn and found lettering from the region has played in his personal practice and introducing some canonical work from both self-taught and classically-rooted practices in Trinidad and Jamaica.

He will also discuss the role that this plays in his type design practice, particularly from the perspective of questioning the merits of existing systems, aesthetics, and the potential values in figuring a way around them yourself.

 Agyei Archer is a multidisciplinary designer and art director from Trinidad, focusing on commercial work that integrates graphic design and art direction, typeface design, and programming.

In addition to his design career, he recently co-founded Unqueue, a mobile app created to improve retail experiences in the Caribbean. Collaborators include Google, RISD, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, and the Caribbean Mental Health Foundation.

As with all lectures at present, it is on-line, which means you don't have to travel and is excellent value! (only £3/£5) so get on line and order a ticket HERE

https://agyei.design/

https://www.sbf.org.uk/whats-on/view/do-it-like-you-do-it-with-agyei-archer/

Posted by Justin Hobson 08.02.2021

Jobs from the past - Number 135

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. 

Mr P  by MR PORTER 2017

          

Stylish, yet understated. Simple, but full of detail MR PORTER launched their own label in 2017. "We’ve thought: if only fashion could be a bit more... reliable. This is where the new Mr P. label comes in. It not only embraces current trends, but proposes a permanent collection of new classics that belong in every man’s wardrobe. We’ve worked hard to create superior versions of garments that you know and love, from the perfect T-shirt, to an ultra-fine cashmere sweater, to a coat that you can throw on like a cardigan, and a selection of Japanese denim"

This superb piece of literature is the launch look-book. Size is 262 x196mm, portrait and is 'Sussex bound' with 2000micron greyboard mounted to make the cover, with deboss on the front cover. 150gsm 40pp

The 40pp text is printed offset litho in CMYK on Omnia, White 150gsm and as I hope you can see, the result is superb...

Click on images to enlarge

As always (...this is the plug for the paper!) the images look amazing on the Omnia; the fleshtones in particular look absolutely stunning (see below) and the reproduction of the dark shadowy areas (see above) look amazing - keeping all the detail in those heavy areas of CMYK together which would be completely lost on a traditional uncoated paper.

There is a series of profiles and an essay by David Mitchell (below) - with illustration by Paula Bulling

Click on images to enlarge

Below shows a detail of the section sewing and the 'sussex binding' 

Graphice design is by Lauren Chalmers. The excellent print and binding is by Pureprint.

https://www.mrporter.com/

https://www.studio-lp.com/

https://www.pureprint.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 03.02.2021

Pantone colours for 2021

Pantone has named two colours as its colour of the year for 2021 - Ultimate Gray and Illuminating, an "optimistic" hue of yellow. Pantone believes that the pairing of shades will help people "fortify themselves with energy, clarity and hope" in a world that's set to face increasing uncertainty - sounds good to me!

...and it got me thinking that we had two pretty similar shades in out Colorset range - Lemon and Ash:

...and they are also, both 100% recycled!

Our Colorset range has 36 shades, which you can read about HERE

If you would like to see the range, just email me for a swatch - justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

https://www.pantone.com/uk/en/color-of-the-year-2021

Posted by Justin Hobson 29.01.2021

Brigade Court Floorplans

Brigade Court is a new residential community in the heart of Borough, London SE1. Set in the former home of the London Fire Brigade, it connects past, present and future through a mix of Grade II listed buildings and the finest contemporary architecture, set around a central courtyard for a traditionally different take on modern living.

The branding and identity for Brigade Court, including online development is by Jack Renwick Studio and this is the Floorplans literature...

Size of the brochure is 388x278mm, portrait and is singer sewn. It has a 4pp cover with a linen embossing from that other well known "Hull based paper merchant"! The 68pp text is printed on Marazion Ultra 115gsm.

Click on images to enlarge

For readers not familiar with Marazion Ultra, 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 (and some which incorporate the word matt in the name, but aren't!) ...but this really is - and if you don't believe me, just ask for a sample!

Reproduction of solid colour is also excellent as you can see from the solid blue above - dead flat and an excellent printed solid - what a result!

Centre spread (above) and detail below showing the singer sewing with the yellow thread which works with the gold hot foil blocking on the outside cover, which in turn is reminiscent of the heritage of the brass helmets that firemen used to wear when this Fire Station was built for the London Fire Brigade.

The brochure is printed CMYK plus the special blue and metallic gold used for headings and in the floorplans below...

Click on images to enlarge

Reproduction of the images is superb, as you can see from the detail image below... 

Marazion Ultra has a good bulk and opacity, so using the 115gsm weight works well, light enough to allow the 68pp text to be singer sewn and flows beautifully in the hand.

Brand identity and design is by Jack Renwick Studio. Their brand idea ‘Traditionally Different’ celebrates the distinctive contrasts of the development. Archival photographs of the firefighters and fire station sit with images of the apartments and local area, creating a series of collages that convey the site’s distinctive marriage of old and new. This project won gold in the Print Design category of  the Drum Awards, which you can read about HERE

Jack Renwick Studio celebrated their 9th birthday last week and with work like this in their portfolio, they have much to celebrate!

The excellent print, repro and finishing is by Gavin Martin Colournet, based in Leyton with Phil Le Monde handling the project.

https://brigadecourt.london/

http://www.jackrenwickstudio.com/

https://www.gavinmartincolournet.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 25.01.2021

Turning Waste into Worth

Billy Tannery started with a discovery. Founders Jack and Rory found out that due to decades of decline in the British leather industry, many thousands of goatskins leftover from the food industry were being thrown away each year. So in 2016, building on centuries of local leather knowledge, they transformed a farm building in the Midlands into a small-batch tannery - the first to be built in the UK for well over 50 years.

This simple piece of promotional literature tells the story - Turning Waste into Worth. The finished size is A6 (148x105mm) but is simply a folded piece of A4 folding down to A6 - one of the simplest and most cost effective formats available, yet also one of the most effective. 

Click on images to enlarge

Below image shows the leaflet folded out to the A4 size spread...

...and what better paper to print this publication on than a paper made using 25% upcycled leather! Remake is the range produced by Favini and Remake is leather ‘upcycling’ on an industrial scale and represents the latest frontier in upcycling in the paper sector. This unique and innovative paper replaces 25% of wood tree pulp with leather residues. You can read more about Remake here.

Click on image to enlarge

In the detail image above you can see the visible leather fibres in the sheet. Below is the proud statement about the paper's provenance.

The publication is printed on Remake, Sand 120gsm It is printed and finished by Typecast Colour, based in Paddock Wood, Kent and was printed on their Xerox digital press.

https://billytannery.co.uk/

http://www.typecast.co.uk/

Printed by Justin Hobson 21.01.2021

Today is Blue Monday!

According to the media, today is supposedly the most depressing and gloomiest day of the year. As people come down from holiday-highs, start to receive their credit card bills, and start to experience ever colder weather ...and the fact that it's a Monday, it's easy to see why you can get down in the dumps. 

 Not me! ...I'm using it as a brilliant excuse to tell you that here at Fenner Paper, many of our paper ranges include shades of blue, which when you add them up total 29 different shades of blue!!!

Yes, it's a derisory ploy, but then apparently Blue Monday was itself a cynical invention back in the early 2000's developed as a way of selling summer holidays in January!

29 different blues is as many as some of those other bigger companies (you know who I mean!) can offer... So if you feel like a blue today, get in contact. 

Posted by Justin Hobson 18.01.2021

2021 Calendar using Creative Print

The United Nations declared 2021 as the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour. This UN International Year will provide an opportunity to address the challenges posed by COVID-19 and to accelerate progress towards the goal to end child labour in all its forms by 2025. It will also propel momentum towards the Global Conference on Child Labour that will take place in South Africa in 2022.

Click on images to enlarge

This calendar was conceived by the creative heads of advertising agency LMF based in Thüringen. They organised a collaboration with Quedlinburg DRUCK GmbH (printer) Koehler Greiz GmbH & Co KG (Paper) and Druckerei Erdenberger (UV print/finishing) to produce a calendar to highlight this special year.

Click on images to enlarge

Size of the calendar is 810x 280mm is wiro-bound at the head and has 14 leaves, one for each month plus an introduction page and cover.

Click on images to enlarge

The calendar is printed on our Creative Print, Diamond 210gsm, which is a 100% Recycled paper which we launched on World Environment Day in 2019. The range also is accredited with the "Blue Angel" environmental mark - which is fact the oldest environmental ecolabel, first awarded in 1978. 

Click on images to enlarge

The print result is absolutely superb on this 100% recycled paper - sadly what it isn't possible to show here is the range of UV print finishes, with glitter, high build, textured and matt finish - because it isn't easy to photograph - particularly not with my limited photography skills!

Click on images to enlarge

I have been given a number of these individual calendars for the readers of this blog. They are available on a first come first serve basis, so if you would like a copy, please email me justin@fennerpaper.co.uk ...but you'll have to hurry!

https://www.l-m-f.de/home.html#!home

https://druckerei-erdenberger.de/

https://www.q-druck.de/druck.html

https://www.koehlerpaper.com/en/index-smart.php

Posted by Justin Hobson 14.01.2021