Jobs from the past - Number 180

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 - this project is from 2014.

Ted Baker "Take the scenic route" Autumn/Winter 2014

This is an exquisite print campaign from Ted Baker, one of the UK's leading clothing brands. Recognised for using interesting themes and stories for its marketing, the company has become a desired designer label through engaging with customers through word of mouth rather than just advertising.

Titled "Take the scenic route" it showcases the Autumn/Winter collection and is shot on location at Pickering station on the classic North Yorkshire Moors Railway. The Pullman steam train evokes a strong period scene in which the clothing and accessories play the central part.

The publication contains womenswear, menswear and accessories "so try something new (at the drop of a stylish hat) and always take the scenic route with Ted."

The paper used throughout is our lovely Omnia text and cover range - 320gsm for the cover and 120gsm for the text. As you can see from the images, there is lots of bright colour and images with CMYK dark areas (especially as it's Autumn/Winter) - lots of heavy coverage going down and it looks great on the Omnia, reproducing bright vibrant colours as well and the dark winter colours, whilst retaining detail in the dark areas. ALSO...solid colours such as the solid black below, look just beautiful, flat, matt and tactile. 

This publication is produced in two sizes, 297x210mm (A4) portrait and 210x148mm (A5) format, both with a 4pp cover and a 72pp text.Perfect bound.

The superb printing was by Absolute Ink in East London who have sadly gone bust since. Design and art direction is by the in house team at Ted Baker.

The front cover and spine is hot foil blocked with metallic silver foil - beautifully done and reinforces the quality of the brand.

Image showing foiling on the spine - spine is about 6mm

 

All in all, this is a superb piece of print. This book also heralds the launch of the wonderfully named "Phormal" range of clothing!

https://www.tedbaker.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 05.11.2024

Zeta - Papers for business

 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 swatches, please email me: justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson on 30.11.2024

LCBA talks: The Nuances of Production by Darryl Lim

Lithographic printing and its processes in a nineteenth-century Muslim-Malay world.

The London Centre for Book Arts is very happy to host a talk by book and print historian, and friend of the studio, Darryl Lim whose research focuses on regional histories of the book in Southeast Asia in relation to the global histories of printing and examines technical aspects of print technologies.

Singapore-lithographed Qur'an from Pakualaman Mosque, Yogyakarta

This presentation will introduce some aspects of Malay lithographic print production in the 19th century, gathered from close observations of printed marginalia and marks left during the printing process. The talk will examine localised innovations developed in the unique environs of the Malay world; discuss the presence of anonymous individuals that laboured in the making of these printed objects, and highlight how Muslim-Malay manuscript practices dovetailed with Western book production techniques and Islamicate bookmaking traditions. 

The date is Friday, November 1st and the event is free to attend. Everyone is welcome. Drinks will be served and the LCBA shop will be open late alongside our current Library Show: 

Dr Wei Jin Darryl Lim is an independent book and print historian from Singapore. His research focuses on regional histories of the book in Southeast Asia in relation to the global histories of printing, and examines technical aspects of print technologies. His doctoral research (completed at the University of Reading) on the history of lithography in the Malay world is published in journals such as Indonesia and the Malay World, and a forthcoming special issue of Contextual Alternate. He was previously the American Printing History Association’s Mark Samuels Lasner Fellow (2019), and a Early Career Research Fellow at the Institute of English Studies, University of London (2022–23).

You can book your ticket here...

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lcba-talks-the-nuances-of-production-by-darryl-lim-tickets-1053794811649?aff=oddtdtcreator

Posted by Justin Hobson 24.10.2024

Wembley Park by Quintain

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.

https://wembleypark.com/shops-markets/
https://www.identityprint.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 15.10.2024

Crush - a truly sustainable paper

Many of you will know about our lovely range called CRUSH made by Favini in Italy. The paper is made partly using the residue from the industrial processing of crushed citrus fruit, coffee, nuts, olives, kiwi, corn, lavender cherries and grapes, these agro-industrial "end of life" products replacing up to 15% of conventional tree pulp. The range is available in 100, 120, 200, 250 and 350gsm and the shades are natural, earthy tones and the feel of the paper is natural and tactile.

The 15% process residues are combined with 40% recycled fibres (post consumer waste) and the remainder is FSC virgin pulp and the product is FSC certified. The range is produced using green energy and is carbon balanced at the mill gate (we can also supply the paper in the UK, certified as carbon balanced)

This is the current swatch which shows the colours and range of weights...

Below are more detailed images and hopefully you can see the small specs and inclusions in the paper. Corn, Citrus, Cocoa and Grape, pictured below, are totally natural shades produced without the use of any dies, which can result in an amount of shade variation from batch to batch.

Click on images to enlarge

The deeper shades are produced with the addition of environmentally friendly vegetable dies which ensure greater colour consistency...

...and the latest addition to the range is Crush Coconut, which is a lovely shade of black

Design and art direction is by Silk Pearce.

If you would like a copy of the current swatch, just ask me for one! Email justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

https://www.favini.com/gs/en/products/crush/

Posted by Justin Hobson 10.10.2024

Jobs from the past - Number 179

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 - this project is from 2017

Jimmy Choo - Cruise 2017

Founded in 1996, Jimmy Choo is now an iconic luxury fashion brand defined by an empowered sense of glamour and a confident sense of style.

The size is 210x148mm (A5) portrait and is saddle stitched. The publication has a 8pp cover with a 28pp text.

The 8pp cover is printed on our Omnia 280gsm. Both the cover and text are printed CMYK plus a metallic gold pantone as a special. The front cover has a raised, embossed foil for the Jimmy Choo brandmark - which I hope I have managed to capture in the image below. Omnia is a very bulky sheet, so it embosses superbly, taking a deep embossing superbly.

Click on images to enlarge

It is printed offset litho in four colour process throughout. As always (...this is the plug for the paper!) the images look superb on the Omnia; the fleshtones in particular look absolutely stunning and the reproduction of the jewels and metallic images is great - keeping all the detail in those heavy areas of CMYK together with uncoated paper tactility which would be lost on other papers.

Click on images to enlarge

The detail on the handbags in the below image is stunning...

The size and combination of weights is just right and the book flows superbly in the hand. The text is printed on Omnia 150gsm.

The book is section sewn, with a nice flat spine which is also hot foil blocked.

Art direction and design is by the design studio at Jimmy Choo. The peerless print and print production is by Gavin Martin.
https://www.jimmychoo.com/
https://www.gavinmartin.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 03.10.2024

St Bride Foundation Design Conclave 2024

On Saturday it was the Design Conclave at the St Bride Foundation. Nine fantastic speakers and a whole day of thinking outside the lines...

It all began at 10.30...

https://www.instagram.com/danieljames.photographic/

https://www.instagram.com/danieljames.photographic/

The online audience reached far and wide from Ipswich to Texas to Paris - a truly global event.

https://www.instagram.com/danieljames.photographic/

Here are just a couple of the words received so far from attendees which resonates with how everyone on the day felt: 

‘It was absolutely inspiring listening to all the amazing speakers and learning about their creative journey, how they got to where they are now, and how each of them created their own unique space in the industry. It was also really great getting to talk to them afterwards and connect with the other creatives in the room.’

‘I loved how the speakers were so unafraid of finding their place in work – it seems so freeing.’

‘I just wanted to share my thoughts on yesterday’s event at St Bride Foundation – it was truly amazing! I found it incredibly inspiring, especially Kelli Anderson’s presentation. Please keep organising events like this! :)’

https://www.instagram.com/danieljames.photographic/

‘Thank you so much for organising such a brilliant event! I felt so inspired by the speakers and the range of different work . . . It was also super special to hear about the speaker’s own doubts and struggles and how their work helped get them out of challenging points in their lives. I spent the rest of the weekend doing crafts as I felt so motivated to do work just for me!’

‘I have found this event to be very useful in thinking “outside the lines” by hearing all these amazing creatives talk about their processes and creative journeys. It has been amazing finding these creatives – the majority to which I haven't heard of – and seeing their outlooks on how they got where they are. I especially loved Aoife Dooley and Seb Lester’s talks! I have been given a better understanding creating opportunities for yourself by being unique doing the things you love and experimenting, all of which I have been trying to embody in my work.’

Everyone was invited to spend some time in the workshop, which they thoroughly enjoyed...

https://www.instagram.com/danieljames.photographic/

As one of the sponsors of the event, we were invited to have a 'stall' where I showed samples of papers from our ranges as well as printed examples...

Fenner Paper are pleased to be one of the sponsors of this superb event and I had a great day too!

Posted by Justin Hobson 30.09.2024