Tuesday 19 October 2021

Paper price news...

An article written by Jo Francis, published today in Printweek about the recent increase in paper costs...
The fact is that all paper grades are increasing in price, which is very bad news if/when you are trying to convince a client to commit to printing.

You can read the article HERE

Posted by Justin Hobson 19.10.2021

Thursday 14 October 2021

JLR Editors Club

This is a piece of literature produced for Jaguar Land Rover PR and press department. The publication embodies all the core values that JLR stand for and consequently is produced to a very high specification.
The brochure comes in a slipcase/pocket, which together with the 4pp cover is made using Plike Black 330gsm from Cordenons. Size of the brochure is 240x168mm, portrait.  
The slipcase and cover is hot foil blocked in silver foil and the edges are gilded in silver, which does look exquisite.
The 40pp text is printed on our Omnia 120gsm offset litho - and it is printed wall to wall, solid black, CMYK images plus a special silver - all the type is printed in silver.
Click on images to enlarge
In line with the quality look and feel of the brochure, the biding is Singer sewing, which is totally characteristic for this brand.
Click on images to enlarge
The reproduction on the Omnia is magnificent, the CMYK, the solids and the silver which looks metallic, as you can see from the image below.
Art direction and design of the catalogue is by Imagination. Graphic designer on the project is Amish Shah  (www.work-in-process.eu). This is an exquisitely produced brochure which conveys exactly the right look and feel of luxury. Print is by Identity, based in Paddock Wood.
Posted by Justin Hobson 14.10.2021

Monday 11 October 2021

St. Barth Map

Sibarth, is one of the largest villa rental companies on the exclusive Caribbean island of St. BarthKesselsKramer, who have studios in Amsterdam, London and Los Angeles conducted a total rebrand. KK developed a strategy based on the fact that Sibarth were the first villa company established on the island, and the only one run exclusively by people who live on St. Barth. KK emphasised this with a new campaign theme: 'Our Island. Your Way', new logo, website, editorial content and films. 
As part of the print collateral, they produced this map of the island... 
Click on images to enlarge
The finished size of the map is 160x120mm, which folds out to 320x480mm. It is not a regular map-fold, as you can see from the picture above, after folding up the front cover, you are faced with two 60mm flaps which meet in the middle, which neatly leads you into the content...
Below shows the inside of the map laid out flat.
Below shows the outside, with the map of Gustavia, the capital, on the right hand side.
Click on images to enlarge
The map is beautifully illustrated by French illustrator Cassandre Montoriol.

The paper used is our Alga Carta from FAVINI chosen because it was in keeping with the sustainable concerns of the island. Alga Carta is manufactured partly using algae harvested from the fragile marine areas, combined with recycled and FSC certified fibres. Algae blooms in abundance in certain areas, clogging up the flow of water in lagoons and endangering the eco-balance of the area.
The map is printed on Alga Carta, White 120gsm and the 53mm wide 'belly-band on 160gsm. If you aren't familiar with Alga Carta, the specs of Alga are actually visible in the sheet as you can see in the detail below:
Design is by KesselsKramer, London and the Art Director is Tash Ingall and producer is Tialda Lublink. It is printed offset litho by Park Communications in London and my thanks to Gareth John for sending me file copies.

www.sibarth.com
Posted by Justin Hobson 11.10.2021

Wednesday 6 October 2021

'Until the Last Oak Falls'

Today a Kickstarter project was launched which is well worth a look and is worthy of your support...
Adrian Fisk is a photographer/film-maker; his work has featured in the world’s top current-affairs periodicals and he works for top advertising, design and PR agencies and major international brands. He spent five years documenting youth counter-culture against the 1990s socio-political backdrop of environmental protests, illegal raves and anti-globalization. 'Until the Last Oak Falls' contains a collection of powerful, compelling and important photographs, many never seen before, that he made documenting the early days of the British direct action environmental movement from 1995 - 1999.
An essay written by Jay Griffiths (author of Why Rebel) will feature facsimiles of printed protest ephemera from the 90’s. The book will be 160pp and the size is 170mm wide by 240mm high. This format ensures minimal paper wastage and a maximum page size from industry standard paper sheets. You can read lots more about the project HERE.
Design is by Zoë Bather and Linda Byrne.

Launched today with a £16,000 goal ...it's only with your support that this book will happen. Go on - you know you want to!

Sunday 3 October 2021

Jobs from the past - Number 143

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 projects from years gone by and this is from 2014.

The Big Book Bonanza - 2014
This is the  'The Big Book Bonanza' catalogue which showcases the new Autumn releases from HarperCollins publishers. Throughout the publication are wonderful psychedelic Kaleidoscope style illustrations by Emily Forgot. 
Size of the catalogue is 210mm square, saddle stitched. It is printed on our Omnia - 4pp cover on 320gsm and 32pp text on 150gsm.
Click on images to enlarge
The choice of material for this job was important, the reason being that the strong illustrations on the divider pages meant that it had to print solids really well but there's also lots of great commissioned photography included, so it was important to have a material which worked for both without compromising either and as I hope these pictures show, it looks really good.
Click on images to enlarge
The other very good reason that Omnia was chosen was the use of metallic gold pantone 'special' ink. On most traditional uncoated papers, metallics can look flat and with gold can just look a bit brown, but as I hope the below image demonstrates, metallic gold really does look metallic on Omnia.
Design and art direction is by Zoë Bather.

The catalogues are printed offset litho in four colour process plus metallic gold special. Print production was handled by Alan Mountain at Forward Print (sales@forward-print.com)

www.harpercollins.co.uk
www.zoebather.co.uk
http://www.emilyforgot.co.uk/
Posted by Justin Hobson 03.10.2021

Friday 1 October 2021

No Time to Die

Unless you are a hermit, you could not have missed the fact that the new James Bond film, No Time to Die was released in the UK yesterday. The release has been delayed for 15 months due to the global pandemic.

What better time to review these superb invitations produced for Skyfall, which as you will read below, was also a movie put on hold, although that was due to the financial recession...

SKYFALL 2012

The James Bond franchise is a global phenomenon and one which over the years has made those involved in the production and marketing a lot of money. However many people may not remember that due to the recession, Bond film number 23 (as Skyfall was then known) was put on hold in 2010 due to lack of cash. Having originally meant to be released in 2011, it was eventually released in October 2012.

Film Premieres of this scale demand lavish and expensive invitations and collateral. In quality terms they must live up to and possibly exceed, the expectations of the forthcoming film.
Below is a small 4pp wallet (with pocket) which is 180mmx107mm, printed offset litho in CMYK plus a gold special colour on Omnia 280gsm with the ticket printed CMYK and hot foil blocked in metallic gold foil on Omnia 280gsm duplexed to 560gsm.  
Click on images to enlarge
The ticket is also hot foil blocked on the reverse.
The launch of this type of film requires several events and these represent tickets for the screenings at The Royal Albert Hall, the Odeon Leicester Square and the after show party at the Tate. As you will notice from the reverse of the wallet (below) the litho printed gold actually looks gold! ..this is a feature of Omnia and where is scores over ordinary uncoated papers.
Below is the ticket for the Odeon Leicester Square which is 99x210mm, Landscape.
The ticket is printed in CMYK plus gloss black foil, which you can hopefully see in the picture below.
This ticket which is also printed on Omnia 280gsm is mounted on our Sumo 2000microns which makes the invitation 2.5mm thick!
Printing is by Identity Print, based in Paddock Wood, Kent and they made a superb job of it - colour reproduction and solids are superb - the hot foil blocking is perfectly executed (Identity are one of the few printers to have hot foil blocking facilities 'in-house')

http://www.identityprint.co.uk/
http://www.007.com/
Posted by Justin Hobson 01.10.2021

Thursday 30 September 2021

LCBA at 83% of its goal - 7 days to go!

The London Centre for Book Arts is an artist-run open-access studio and education centre dedicated to all thing books. Simon and Ira founded LCBA in 2012 with the goal of creating a space where artists, designers and the wider community could share resources and expertise to create and edition books and publications – becoming the first and only centre of its kind in the UK. A space open to everyone, regardless of background, education, or experience.
It is a wonderful resource and over the last eight years, it has gone from strength to strength. At Fenner Paper, we collaborated with the LCBA For our 2018 diary

However, like many arts organisations and venues, the majority of their funding stream was wiped out overnight due to the pandemic. All workshops were cancelled and the open-access studio remained closed for most of 2020. Luckily, through a combination of support from the community, SPACE Studios, and London Borough of Tower Hamlets, they were able to keep the studio running - to re-open in the future!

They have launched a Kickstarter campaign to reopen LCBA to the public and to create a new exhibition space dedicated to book arts and publishing ...and it's 83% there with just 7 days to go!

They are asking for your help to repair, rebuild and reopen the studio to the public after Covid-19.
Why don't you get a real "feel good" factor and help get the LCBA Over the line with whatever you can afford...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/londonbookarts/london-centre-for-book-arts-is-reopening?ref=project_link
Posted by Justin Hobson 30.10.2021