Like No Other

Yesterday evening, I attended the private view and launch of  ‘Like No Other’ an exhibition by paper artist Owen Gildersleeve and Harvey Lloyd Screens showcasing an array of uplifting and one-of-a-kind artworks that celebrate hand-crafted individuality, the beauty in imperfection and the magic of collaboration.

This distinctive body of work will be on display at Phoenix Art Space in Brighton (UK) from March 22 – April 9 2023. The collaboration is a unique coming together of handcrafted techniques, and combines mono-screen prints – inks hand painted directly onto the screen creating endlessly unique results – with hand cut paper designs, created by Owen in his signature graphic style.

The designs celebrate light, colour, space and form, exploring themes of beauty in individuality, wonder in the everyday and finding perfection in imperfection. The spark of ‘Like No Other’ originated during the COVID lockdowns of 2020, where Owen suddenly found himself faced with the freedom to experiment with different approaches to his work. This included creating watercolour washes, exploring gradients and in turn, combining these with his hand-crafted paper artworks.

This opportunity of exploration led to Owen reaching out to Harvey Lloyd to collaborate on a one-off piece, who in turn took the idea and evolved it into something completely new, creating an array of wonderful test prints and experiments inspired by Owen’s initial concept. Through this creative ‘call and response’,

Harvey Lloyd helped grow this seed of an idea into an amazing array of printed possibilities. The exhibition tells a story of human connection and collaboration, stepping out of one’s comfort zone with the exchange of techniques and ideas, and the freedom that comes with embracing unexpected results.

Owen’s papercut elements are created using the very same paper stock as the monoprints, which is our Matrisse 250gsm 

The show will be a take over of the gallery’s Project Space room, featuring over 50 completely one-of-a-kind original pieces of artwork, guiding viewers through the collaboration and its themes, from the small details to large scale immersive interpretations.

https://owengildersleeve.com/

https://www.harveylloydscreens.co.uk/

Printed by Justin Hobson 24.03.2023

Business Cards for Stefano Marinaz

From its London base, the Stefano Marinaz Landscape Architecture studio works alongside international architects and designers on projects ranging from small private gardens to larger landscapes, and historical restorations to installations for garden festivals.

These are the most beautiful and beautifully produced business cards I have ever had the privilege to write about on this blog!

Stefano Marinaz appointed Mercer Design for a brand refresh, part of which was the design of new business cards, which as many people now identify are the most important piece of print that most businesses produce.

I shall let the words of Stefano Marinaz explain...
If you know me you must also know how keen on plants I am. My passion for the natural world and understanding of plants started when I was very young sharing some special moments with my grandfather in the glass house, he was growing vegetables to be sold in the shop. More than 70 years ago he started a business in Trieste, Italy, where he was selling seeds and plants to professional and amateur growers. As the business developed further my father and my mum became part of “Marinaz Agraria e Giardinaggio” and after almost 40 years of work they managed to expand the company by selling, throughout Italy and abroad, seeds, plants, gardening tools, machinery and everything else that can assist professionals and amateurs in the gardens and in the fields. The seeds have been the core business of my family since the beginning and I am personally fascinated by their beauty and by the fact they are able to generate new life and endless possibilities for us as human beings as well as in my case for designers. Sometime it is important to see things with a closer look and this is why I have chosen the beautiful pictures by Robert Llewellyn to be part of my new business cards.

I selected nine seeds which I found very interesting mainly in relation to the plants they develop. It has been a very enjoyable design process with the fantastic team of Mercer Design

These gilt edged business cards are printed four colour process one side (seed images) and one colour on the face and are also hot foil blocked on the face in a bronze foil (Foilco Ref: 6732). The gilt edging is in a matching bronze colour.

You may be thinking that these 1mm thick cards are duplexed ...but you'd be wrong! They are printed on our Sumo 1mm thick board - so how are they printed I hear you ask? - they are printed flat bed, offset litho by a very clever company called Avenue Litho, based in Hackney, East London.

One of the reasons that this solution was chosen because the client wanted to avoid the card being 'bendy' which is characteristic of duplexed boards. Because Sumo is 'mill laminated' (a process that uses a lot of pressure and very little glue) the moisture balance is not interfered with, which is why the sheet maintains the correct moisture balance and therefore remains flat.

https://www.stefanomarinaz.com/

https://www.mercerdesign.com/

https://www.avenuelitho.com/

https://www.robertllewellyn.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 15.03.2023

PaperWise Natural now available in 130gsm

We have now introduced PaperWise Natural in 130gsm, which is not only good for text, it is ideal for paper over board box covering for luxury packaging...

PaperWise is an entirely new concept, a range of paper and board manufactured from agricultural waste - this is the stems and leaves left over the harvest and which is often left in the field or burnt. There are additional benefits: PaperWise is produced in factories in India and South America that make a big difference to local communities. Investments are made in education, infrastructure, and healthcare while the manufacturing process is geared toward safety, zero waste, and preserving local ecology.

Lifecycle analysis (LCA) conducted by the University of Amsterdam (IVAM) has concluded that the environmental impact is 47% lower than FSC-paper made from trees and 29% lower than recycled paper...

The natural shade, manufactured from 100% agri-waste is also completely unbleached and has lower Co2 emissions than virgin fibre or recycled papers.

The PaperWise range is held in stock by us at Fenner Paper in Tonbridge. European stocks are held in Rotterdam and include a wide range of packaging boards and lightweight papers with food approval, copier paper and even corrugated boards. 

You can read more about this new range HERE and about how this fits with the UN sustainable development goals...

The paper and boards are suitable for all print work and packaging, with a one side coated packaging board up to 465microns.

If you would like a swatch or samples. please email justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 08.03.2023

Jobs from the past - Number 160

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 one is from 2013...

 

ITV Studios is the UK's biggest production and distribution company, making distributing and selling over 40,000 hours of television around the globe. The worldwide business is growing fast and
they now have studios in London, Paris, Stockholm, Cologne, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney and Hong Kong together with partners in other regions

ITV Studios don't just make TV shows for ITV, they make them for a wide variety of broadcasters including the BBC, Channel 4, Sky etc.

 

This brochure shows the wide diversity of formats and programmes that they are responsible for, showing images and emphasising the company's capabilities.  

Size is 220x170mm, portrait. it has a 4pp cover with 96pp text and is section sewn. The cover (above) is matt laminated with a sticker which has been applied by hand.

The material used is our Neptune Unique FSC, which is a VERY high white, smooth uncoated paper which reproduces colour fabulously (well I would say that!). Cover is 350gsm, text 160gsm. An uncoated material, gives the publication an engaging 'booky' feel and given the variety of source material, makes the images work together well, whether commissioned photography is sitting next to a screen grab, it has a consistency in look and feel. Printed offset litho in CMYK with a special grey (on the cover).

Flap on inside back cover, with multiple creases, to take subsidiary literature.

Creative direction and design for this and all ITV Studios new marketing collateral and events is by Theobald Fox. Creative Director is Pete Owen. Production and project management is by Sam Stocking. Print is by Principal Colour - just worth pointing out that with some large solids, some tricky CMYK images, they've made a cracking job of this project.

https://www.itvstudios.com/
https://theobaldfox.com/
www.principalcolour.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.03.2023

Zeta - business stationery papers

The ZETA range of business papers has been around for decades and should need no introduction. For many years it has been the gold standard for stationery papers in Europe, with it's excellent availability in all European countries and Fenner Paper became the UK stockist in 2015. The range has now been refreshed with the addition of a new Laid finish and new shades, including Diamond White, which is now presented in a new swatch designed by Wolfgang Forsch, who has handled the re-brand.

The new swatch is DIN A4 size, portrait format and is a 6pp gatefold. The cover is printed on Zeta Linen, Brilliant 350gsm and is printed in black plus a fluorescent orange.

The swatch shows the new stock range together with all the weights, surfaces and colours...

These fine papers are manufactured at the Reflex Paper mill in the town of Düren in Germany, which was founded in 1857 and the mill also produces transparent papers, label papers and artists papers. All ZETA products are made from Chlorine Free pulp (ECF) and carry the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification.

If you would like one of the new swatches, please email me: justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

http://zetapaper.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson on 25.02.2023

Villa Saletta Book

This is one of the most wonderful books to have appeared on this blog, it is quite simply stunning. Villa Saletta is a 1,760-acre estate in the heart of Tuscany, featuring an historic borgo, three luxurious holiday villas and a boutique winery. The estate was purchased by British investor, Guy Hands around 15 years ago and it is used both as a family holiday home and is also being developed with apartments and houses as a resort for Tuscany loving guests.
This superb case-bound book is bound in leather. The size of the book is 300mm square and has 284pp text pages given an overall spine thickness of 35mm.

The book which is subtitled 'History in the Making' is divided into seven chapters, explaining the history, the estate, the wine and produce and the vision for the future...

In the centre of the book there is a gatefold throw out showing a stunning panorama of the Italian countryside surrounding the Villa.

The one thing that has struck me about this publication is the space. It is unhurried and nothing is crammed in. Photography by Richard Waite is allowed the space to breath and it really makes the most of the wonderful images.

It is printed offset litho throughout in CMYK. The paper chosen is our StarFine, White 170gsm. StarFine is a quality, uncoated paper and as the images show, image reproduction is excellent. The solids chapter dividers, photographic images and the illustrations all look equally stunning - a great amount of detail for an uncoated paper.

One of the chapter divider spreads, the terracotta colour is made out of CMYK, not a solid special colour.

Image below shows the head and tail bands and the way the text moves. The edge of the book is gilt edged in gold.

The below image shows the thread in the centre of the 24pp sections...

Below image shows the ribbon marker and also the gilt edge binding.

The book is published by Terra Firma Holdings Ltd. Photography is by Richard Waite.

The truly stunning printing and production is by Stuart Van Den Bergh at Intaglio Communications who are based in London.

https://www.villasaletta.com/
http://www.intaglioltd.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 20.02.2023

Sad news for last white paper mill in Oz...

This the very sad news that the last remaining manufacturer of white printing paper in Australia is ceasing production. The manufacturer Opal (part of the Nippon Paper Group) will cease production of their white  paper at the Maryvale mill in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. They manufactured over 200,000 tonnes of a white copier grade called Reflex. The plans are that they will still produce packaging grades for the time being...

You can read the full article here... https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/16/australias-white-paper-industry-is-dead-leaving-rural-communities-to-pick-through-the-pulp

https://opalanz.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 17.02.2023