Paul Smith Autumn|Winter

The Paul Smith brand (and person) has become synonymous with classic British tailoring and style. Renowned for well-made, good quality, simple cut clothing with interesting fabrics which is easy to wear. There is often a splash of vibrant colour, a floral print or the signature multi-coloured stripes. Paul Smith now has 15 shops and concessions in the UK and 200 shops worldwide with the business still based where it was founded, in Nottingham.

This is the lookbook for the Autumn/Winter 2016 collection. The finished size is A5 (210x148mm) portrait and it is a 16pp 'closed double gatefold' making the flat size 210x880mm.



 

..opening out to this spread:  

Click on images to enlarge

 ...and then this one:

 The below image showing both sides of the publication, fully open:


Click on images to enlarge

It is printed in CMYK offset litho on our Omnia, White FSC 280gsm and is printed and finished beautifully. Birds eye view below:

The material chosen is our Omnia 280gsm which gives it that dead matt, tactile feel but with great reproduction.

...and here's the plug for the paper!  - As you can see from these images, there is lots of colour and images with CMYK dark areas - loads of ink going down and it looks great on the Omnia, reproducing bright vibrant colours, whilst retaining detail in the dark areas (in my opinion- but I would say that wouldn't I?) See the detail in the boot image below

Although this is a simply produced publication, it's often the simple jobs which don't get the attention to detail. This is well creased and folded square which is just perfect

Creative direction and design is by the in-house design team at Paul Smith. Printing is by Leicester based Greenshires with Richard Dalby handling the project. Beautifully printed and finished - a really well produced piece.

www.paulsmith.co.uk

http://www.greenshires.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 06.02.2018

Jobs from the past - Number 100

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 is the 100th "job from the past" that I've written about...

Howies - Autumn 2006
Howies is a clothing company founded by Clare and David Hieatt, based in Cardigan in west Wales. The company was founded in 1995 and produces eco-friendly T-shirts, jeans and sportswear, with the aim of having ethically correct practices using use natural fabrics as alternatives to petrochemical-derived modern fabrics, including organic cotton, Merino wool and recycled cotton.

This is the catalogue and the reason that I am writing about this particular piece is because of the cover - it should be titled "just the cover makes the difference". Size of the catalogue is 220x165mm, portrait and is perfect bound. 

 

The cover is very simply printed in one colour (red) on our Colorset, Solar 270gsm. Colorset is 100% Recycled, which is an important reason that this board was chosen as it is in keeping with Howies ethical aims. The catalogue has 128pp and a spine measuring 8mm thick - unfortunately, my remaining copy has been dropped, so the spine is a bit mashed up, as you can see in the below image.

The 128pp text is printed on an uncoated offset which works very well.

...and then there is this lovely little surprise! Along with the catalogue, Howies produced this lovely little booklet titled 'Go Wales'. This booklet is a result of the Howies  2006 'Go Wales Tour' where the guys and gals in the company toured Wales and discovered some of the hidden secrets - and they wrote them down in this lovely little booklet!

The size is 148x98mm, portrait, saddle stitched and to compliment the catalogue, it is also printed on Colorset, Solar.

This is a 32pp 'self cover' and is also printed in just one special red Pantone colour. Both the catalogue and the Go Wales booklet are designed by Nick Hand. Nick has featured on this blog before as he has done a couple of epic journeys with his 'printing bike'. He also now runs the Letterpress Collective in Bristol.

Both items were printed by Park Lane Press. They are printed offset litho but Park Lane print using a 'waterless' process that eliminates the water or dampening system used in conventional printing. The specialist plates allow the printed dot to be held more securely preventing any unwanted movement of ink and minimising dot gain to create a sharper image in ultra fine definition. They are one of the very few printers who champion the use of this waterless process.

A wonderful project!

http://www.howies.co.uk/

http://www.departmentofsmallworks.co.uk/

http://parklanepress.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 02.02.2018

No Pressure

The No Pressure 2017 exhibition is a presentation of work by the graduating students of The University for the Creative Arts Epsom. The show is a culmination of BA (Hons) Graphic design work and reflects the final word from students before finishing their degree. The Exhibition ran for 4 days out of Shop 8, at Brick Lane, as part of the Free Range Design week. The space provided a platform for the work of emerging creatives to be showcased and connect with a London based audience.

This is the broadsheet publication that was produced to accompany the exhibition. The finished size is 300x195mm, which folds out to 780x600mm. It is printed offset litho, CMYK, one side and one colour, black on the reverse.

The first spread opens like this....

...and this is the inside spread

Click on images to enlarge

It is printed on our Redeem 100% Recycled 80gsm. For those readers not familiar with this paper, it is an uncoated with a neutral white (slightly grey) shade giving the publication a feel which really works with the images and most importantly, the pages which are purely type.

You can see from the image below, the way that it folds in on itself. This format is usually called a 16pp parallel fold.

On the inside, it is printed in just black. There are four images used in the inside:

As you can see from the detail image below, the images have also printed spectacularly well and the solid blacks are good too. Printing is by Gavin Martin Colournet and they have made an excellent job of it. Dave Miller liaised with the students, taking care and attention that they understood the process as they are not used to buying print.

The design of the literature is by Charlie Smith, on of the students at UCA.

The rest of the graduating students are as follows:
Jennifer Abbott Stephanie Andrew Charlie Anker-Smith Rachel Brandon Anna Brooks Harry Brown Paige Burton Cady Carolissen Sadia Choudhury Zemeka Clarke Beth Dadson Folayemi Davis Emma Farquharson Devanté Ferguson Mark Ferreira Natalie Francis Chris Frewin Emily Harlow Rachael Hayes Maria Jacob Alexandre Ciarán Jones Fatima Khawam Nick Kwong Rebecca Lennon Sandy Matta Daniel Merrett Claire Moisset Kee-Anna Morgan Chuka Okechukwu Deji Olabisi Dianne Pereyra-Aylas Amy Phu Jadon Sanders Jamie Sawyer Roselinda Sowole Penelope Speer Emma Sprules Santhyah Suthagar Rose Tierney Kieran Viney Dale Watson Danielle West Sarah Willmott

http://smcharlie.com/
http://nopressure-ex.com/
http://www.uca.ac.uk/life-at-uca/locations/epsom/
https://www.gavinmartincolournet.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 30.01.2018

Abram Games, Designs with Type

Abram Games is acknowledged as being one of the 20th Century's greatest image makers, his work is now a fascinating record of social history. For over 60 years he produced some of Britain’s most memorable images including the war years as Official War Poster Artist producing over one hundred posters. He was the designer of the Festival of Britain emblem and his clients included the United Nations, London Transport, British Airways, Shell, the Financial Times, Guinness and of course book jackets for Penguin books. He also created the first animated BBC on-screen ident in 1953.

This small booklet was designed to accompany a talk by his daughter, Naomi Games, to the Wynkyn de Worde society.

The size of the publication is A6 (148x105mm) portrait and is saddle stitched. It is a 16pp self cover and is digitally printed (HP Indigo) on our Omnia Natural 120gsm.

Click on images to enlarge

The work in this booklet is a combination of his work before WW2, during WW2 (as the only official War Poster Artist) and his work in peacetime.

Click on images to enlarge

The publication is digitally printed by Typecast Colour, based in Paddock Wood, Kent. It was printed on their Xerox digital press and the result is excellent. The great thing is the job just doesn't look and feel like a digital job, which is mainly down to the choice of substrate.

As a 16pp 'self cover' saddle stitched publication, it sits nice and flat.

Booklet design is by Paul Harpin. Printing is by Typecast based in Paddock Wood in Kent.

I have a few file copies of this publication available, so if you would like one, please drop me an email (justin@fennerpaper.co.uk)

It's also just worth pointing out that the work of Abram Games, along with many other pioneering Jewish émigré designers is being shown in the 'Designs on Britain' exhibition at the Jewish Museum in London until  15th April

https://www.abramgames.com/about
http://www.typecast.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 27.01.2018

Yateley Papers

Yateley Papers is a partnership between Trudi Savin and Sophie Morton. The business was born out of a shared passion for both traditional block printing techniques and a love of utterly gorgeous home, desk and stationery accessories. For 10 years Trudi ran the studio at Tobias and The Angel in Lingfield (Surrey) before establishing Yateley.

Yateley Papers produce stylish handmade desk stationery and home accessories all covered in their own bespoke designs inspired by their extensive experience of block printing on textiles. All products are made and hand prepared exclusively in Great Britain.

This is their set of five luxurious A6 notecards plus envelopes

The Yateley collections are all from patterns made using hand block printing, a careful balance of traditional techniques and modern technologies. These cards feature a blind embossed border (about 3mm wide). The printing is done using an HP Indigo press.

Click on images to enlarge

Accompanying the cards are these wonderful quality, diamond flap envelopes made using Zeta Hammer, Natural 120gsm (see below pic) which are lined envelopes  ...so the pattern you see printed in the image below is not printed on the inside of the envelopes but on a separate liner (printed on our StarFine) which is stuck inside the envelope. They are gorgeous.

Click on images to enlarge

The cards are all printed on our Zeta Hammer, Natural 350gsm, which has a wonderful texture and is totally sympathetic to the block prints.

It is hard to photograph the texture of the cards, but I have done my best....

Click on images to enlarge

Reverse of the cards

http://www.yateleypapers.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 23.01. 2018

Workshop at The Cass

Just before the Christmas holidays I was asked by Lecturer, Angharad Lewis, to run a workshop at The Sir John Cass School of Art (London Metropolitan University) known affectionately at the Cass.

The title of the workshop was: "Formats and materials for cost effective publications"

 I took the students through the briefest summary of papermaking and different types of materials and lead onto how papers are printed commercially and why it is the size of this machinery which dictates why materials are available in certain sizes and what the limiting factors are in producing publications.

Using interesting examples of commercially produced work, I demonstrated formats and how publications can be produced with an eye to economy. Using plain sheets of paper, I demonstrated how you can make an economical publication but with an interesting format. Using the information I told them about, I asked the group to use a single sheet of paper to explore their own formats and ideas.

It was a really interesting morning and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The students came up with some interesting ideas and formats - it's amazing what you can can achieve with a single sheet of paper.

My workshop was one of a number of workshops held that day. In the afternoon there were talks by a number of practising designers. I stayed to listen to the talk by Kate Moross.

Kate gave a very interesting talk about how to make a living as a designer. It was a really engaging talk and she gave some excellent advice.

http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/schools/the-cass/
https://www.studiomoross.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 20.01.2018