Work Experience 2011

This week, we had the pleasure of having a pupil from one of our local schools (St Gregory's in Tunbridge Wells) for a few days of work experience.

Harry, pictured above, was able to see the workings of a paper merchant in action, spending some time in our warehouse (wrapping paper!) and in the sample room. I also took him out to visit a printer, Fulmar Colour in Croydon. It was a particularly worthwhile visit as the Croydon site, not only boasts printing, but foiling, die-making, lamination and finishing. It was very kind of Martin Stacey (above) at Fulmar to have taken the time to show us around.

 After the tour of Fulmar, we visited GBH's lovely offices in Chiswick, so he could see what a graphic design company does and thank you very much to Bethan for the time that she spent with us.

...and then back to our warehouse, where he helped wrap mountains of paper having been instructed by two former St Greg's pupils (or Old Gregorians as they are known) Chris Vallis and Neil Fenner!

http://www.sgschool.org.uk/

http://www.fulmarcolour.com/

http://www.gregorybonnerhale.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 07.10.2011

Brunswick Review - Issue Four

This is the latest edition of The Brunswick Review, a piece of literature produced by the global Corporate Relations and Communications company Brunswick. This publication is produced for circulation to clients of the fifteen Brunswick offices throughout the world. Guest contributors include senior people at Diageo, Goldman Sachs and Reuters combined with Kevin Spacey and Mark Twain (well actually, that particular article is a reproduction!)

The original concept and design style for the Brunswick Review was by Kirsten Johnston at Johnston Works (see previous post  http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2010/04/brunswick-review.html) but it is now designed in house by MerchantCantos, a Brunswick Group company.

The size of the publication is 280x216mm. It is has a 4pp cover and 86pp text. It is printed on Redeem 100% Recycled 240gsm and 100gsm. Print is by Fulmar Colour.

At a time when many companies are cutting down on print as a means of customer communication, it's impressive and refreshing to see one of the world's largest corporate relations companies printing this excellent publication - it might be worth reminding some clients that PRINT ...WORKS (if it's well designed and produced on the right papers, of course!)

Thanks to Russell Thompson for sending me file copies and a lovely note:

http://www.brunswickgroup.com/

http://www.fulmarcolour.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 06.10.2011

An ISTD trio

Here's a trio from the ISTD: A new issue of Condensed, the ISTD awards and the new ISTD Australasia page....

1. ISTD Condensed 05

This is the society's news publication, which is a simply (but beautifully) produced piece which is sent to all members. 



Printed in 1 colour, offset litho on StarFine White, 100gsm. Design is by Peter Dawson at Grade (www.gradedesign.com) and David Quay. Typeface used is Foundry Sans. Printed by Gavin Martin.

2. ISTD International Typographic Awards 2011

The awards ceremony is being held at the Museum of Brands and Packaging on Friday 14 October, where the winners will be announced and the awards presented.

The Museum of Brands and Packaging is in Notting Hill (W11) and the collection is being kept open for the duration of the awards - which is an added bonus!

If you would like to go, you can - you don't have to be a member.
Ticket price £35 non-members, £25 ISTD members.

Drinks and canapés will be served.
http://payments.istd.org.uk/awards-ceremony-2011

3. ISTD Australasia launches facebook page
In keeping with the society's international outlook and the increasing member activity in the region,  they have launched a facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ISTD-Australasia/206895479331171
...and that's it! I don't think I've ever written about three things on one post before.
http://www.istd.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 04.10.2011

Jobs from the past - Number 24

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...

Type Museum for Typecon New York - 2005

The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA) holds regular conferences and in 2005 it was held in New York. The TypeMuseum, based in London produced this lovely piece of literature as a "leave behind" to promote the Museum and to make people aware of it's existence.

The piece is an A2 flat size (420x597mm) which folds down to A5 (210x148mm) finished size. The type has been printed in reverse our Offenbach Bible 40gsm, so you read it (the correct way round) - through the paper.

Folded to A5:

The piece is hot foil blocked in a copper foil which is stamped as a positive (the correct way round!) on the front cover:

...a New York skyline in type:

and this is reading it the correct way round (photographed against the light):

Design is by Tom Green and Kieran O'Connor. They both became involved with the project because they had been at the Museum lending a hand in practical ways, such as painting walls. This piece was very much a labour of love to help the preserve the Museum. As Tom said to me recently about this project, because of the budget, it had to be dead simple and cheap and because of the event, it "had to be covetable for type geeks" ...and it certainly is.

The job was printed by Reg Davis at Pica Press based in Tonbridge in Kent but he has since retired and the company no longer exists.

Tom Green is now a senior designer at Burgess Studio and Kieran O'Connor combines lecturing at Kingston University with his role at BOB Design.

Rather sadly the Type Museum appears to be effectively closed for business at present, although the website is still up: www.typemuseum.org
http://www.typecon.com/
www.bobdesign.co.uk
www.burgess-studio.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 03.10.2011

Fabergé Horlogerie

This is a most beautifully produced book for the imperial Russian jewellers Fabergé. The company is well known for the famous eggs but over the centuries has also been a watchmaker of note and this book is produced to show the heritage and the current range of timepieces.

Size of the book is 215x215mm square and is casebound. The 56pp text is printed on our Omnia 150gsm which was chosen because of tactile uncoated feel which still prints so that metallics look metallic! It really is beautiully printed and bound. The endpapers are also on our Colorset, Ash 120gsm. The text is printed offset litho in CMYK plus a grey special.

The case is covered in a light grey bookcloth Brillianta 4003 from Winters with a hot foil blocked Fabergé logo, in gunmetal, silver.

Art Direction and design is anonymous.  Print is by Push.

http://www.faberge.com/
http://www.push-print.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 30.09.2011

Anthony Burrill Poster

I've written before about the "DO" lectures - an organisation started by David Hieatt, one of the founders of Howies - see previous post: http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2009/07/do-lectures.html
Below is a lovely promo poster designed by Anthony Burrill which is being sold to raise funds for the organisation, which held it's first US gathering, this year.

The poster has been printed using woodblock type in a limited edition of 150 copies. Size is 510x760mm - that's 20 x 30 inches or Double Crown in "old money"! Printed letterpress in two colours on our Colorset Solar 120gsm (100% recycled).

The posters are printed by Adams of Rye, which is one of the few places that prints letterpress using woodblock and cast metal type. The company has been used by Anthony Burrill and other artists extensively, they've even recently printed for Turner Prize winning Artist Fiona Banner

Adams of Rye is run by Ian and Derek and as they have no website, here are their details:

Adams of Rye Ltd.
8 High Street
Rye, East Sussex, TN31 7JH

Tel 01797 223136 Fax 01797 223380

...but I did find this on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/-phraser-/5025567731/

You can order a poster from the site below:
http://www.dolectures.com/

http://shop.thedolectures.co.uk/product/say-yes-more-than-no

http://www.anthonyburrill.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 29.09.2011

Treasures of Heaven

This is the invitation literature for a current exhibition at the British Museum, called Treasures of Heaven. For the first time some of the

finest sacred treasures of the medieval age have been brought together and this exhibition features objects from more than 40 institutions around the world, including the Vatican.

The invitations are A5 in size. There were two criteria for this project: Firstly, the board had to print a really good black and secondly a nice heavy board was required. Our Matrisse in 450gsm (620microns thick) was used and the result is superb. Printed CMYK plus a dense black and a double hit of Gloss UV (silkscreened) varnish.

Design is by Constanza Gaggero. Print is by Fulmar Colour.

....and thank you to Paul at Fulmar Colour for sending me some samples and a note.

...you'll have to hurry as the exhibition ends on 9th October.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/

www.fulmarcolour.com

Posted by Justin Hobson 27.09.2011

Graphic Design Walk

On Friday, the very first "graphic design walk", hosted by GraphicBirdWatching took place. The walk round East London involved 15 studios of acclaimed female designers working in the fields of typography, print-making, illustration, photography and film-making. By opening their doors, the studios allowed a unique insight into their working environments and practices.

...and over 300 maps (tickets) were sold, so the event was an amazing success. Good weather, meant that people could actually walk as well as cycle to make their way around the studios. It was a lovely day which ended up with a celebration at the base camp venue which had many installations and exhibits. I enjoyed being there and it was great to be involved.

This was a particularly amazing piece on display - made out of paper, by visual designer Alida Rosie Sayer:

It was a great day and congratulations to all those involved, especially Catherine Nippe, Lisa Sjukur and Joana Niemeyer.

http://www.graphicdesignwalk.com/#1765696/Graphic-Design-Walk
www.alidarosie.co.uk

http://www.londondesignfestival.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 26.09.2011

Ultrabold No.10

I have just received my copy of the Summer edition of Ultrabold magazine, which is the Journal of the St Bride Library - if you don't know about St. Brides - see http://www.stbride.org/

Fenner Paper is pleased to support this publication, by supplying discounted material - hopefully doing our bit to preserve the history of our industry for future generations. This edition has some really interesting articles, worth a mention.

In this issue, there is a very interesting article by David Preston, titled "Corporate Trailblazers" charting the path of a number of post war designers (as opposed to ad agencies). Designers such as FHK Henrion, Design Research Unit and Hans Schleger all come under the spotlight (spread below)

Given the "Riotous" summer that we had in the UK, there is a fascinating article about the posters and artworks that appeared during the student protests in Paris in 1968: 

...and a fab article about the Stempel Schriftenservice letterpress museum and workshop in Darmstadt.

The publication is designed by Simon Loxley and is published by the Friends of St Brides.Printing is sponsored by Principal Colour. The journal is a 40pp self cover, 190x265mm Portrait, saddle stitched and is printed on Brand X FSC 135gsm.

As I've mentioned before, it's worth mentioning that this publication is free to friends of St Bride - so why not look into joining - might be cheaper than just buying the books!

http://www.stbride.org/
http://www.principalcolour.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 22.09.2011

The Way We Live Now - Terence Conran Part2

Photographer Neil Wilder
[John Parkinson Agency]

Yesterday evening I was pleased to have been invited to a talk/presentation /celebration for Sir Terence Conran. See previous post:
http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2011/09/way-we-live-now-terence-conran.html

Deyan Sudjic, Fiona MacCarthy, Christopher Frayling and Stephen Bayley gave talks about Conran's life, inspiration and achievements. It was interesting, historical and inspirational - when you review someone's achievements in this way, it can leave one feeling a little lacking!

He has influenced virtually every area of design – furniture, textiles, retailing home furnishings, interiors, commercial environments, airport interiors, designing and running restaurants cafés, bars and hotels.
 
Conran says he has a fundamental aim – to produce useful things at a price that most people can afford. This maybe so, but what I found most interesting was Stephen Bayley's comment that whether it concerned food or design (and he explained the interconnection) that Conran cared for these three principles:

• Materials
• Execution
• Details 

...maybe this is genuinely the route to intelligent design (and no, I don't think that sounds too pompous). It was fascinating too, that his interest in natural products mainly manifested itself in the use of wood - so I'm sure he has an appreciation of quality paper!

I also found interesting parallels with the piece I wrote recently about Robert Welch:

http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2011/09/robert-welch.html

...and it was interesting that the piece I wrote about the late Rowley Atterbury, listed three past recipients of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA)  Bicentenary Medal: Terence Conran, Deyan Sudjic and Christopher Frayling, all people involved in this very evening...

http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2011/03/rowley-atterbury-printer.html
sadly not a medal that I'll be receiving, but an interesting link between the past and the present.

I think talks/lectures/presentations like this are essential to go to. To hear dynamic people, to be inspired by recent history can surely only serve to enhance our daily working lives. I hope that the Design Museum and the Tate will do more of these events.

Thanks to Rose Dahlsen at The Tate for inviting me to come along.

http://www.designmuseum.org/

http://www.tate.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 21.09.2011

Thick cards for a bright printer!

Opal Print have just produced their new business cards and chosen Colorset (over the more obvious competitor product!). The production included triplexing 3 lots of 270gsm Colorset Lime Green, Dark Grey and White, making 810gsm (plus glue!). The cards are printed two colour offset litho, and hot foiled on the reverse in a clear foil and a metallic silver. It's great to see a printer using methods at their disposal for their own uses and this is certainly a business card which is a brilliant first impression.

Chris Pollard has recently joined Bath based Opal Print and has started an excellent blog, have a look:
http://creativeprinting.wordpress.com/

...and a little reminder that Colorset is made from 100% Recycled post industrial waste fibres.

http://www.opalprint.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 21.09.2011

What are you doing this Friday? ...go for a walk!

During the London Design Festival, GraphicBirdWatching is hosting an exclusive graphic design walk through East London’s graphic design studios, celebrating the work and practices of London’s female designers and I'm pleased, in our small way, to be one of the sponors.

This Friday, 23rd September, 15 studios of acclaimed designers working in the fields of typography, print-making, illustration, photography and film-making are opening their doors, allowing a unique insight into their working environments and practices. The ‘base camp’ will host special installations, exhibitions and workshops and will also be the starting and finishing point for the walk.

Visitors can buy tickets in form of a map for £5 at the ‘base camp’ on the day of the event. This detailed map allows visitors access to all the open studios as well as visiting the stalls at the ‘base camp’. In the evening all contributors and visitors are invited to celebrate with music and drinks at the base camp venue, giving everyone a chance to meet and share their experience of the day.

Base camp's location and address:
[SPACE] Gallery
19 Warburton Road
London E8 3RT

More details are available on:
http://www.graphicdesignwalk.com/#1765696/Graphic-Design-Walk
http://www.londondesignfestival.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 20.09.2011

Critical Tensions

You may remember my post back in August (12.08.2011) about the forthcoming St Bride's Conference but now there's a shiny new poster and  more speakers have been added including:
Tom Farrand, Tom Rowley and Dan Burgess from Good For Nothing, Amelia Gregory, Matt Jones & Matthew Webb and Jack Schulze from BERG.

...this is on top of the original line-up of speakers including Phil Baines, Jonathan Barnbrook, Zoë Bather, Alan Kitching, Gerry Leonidas, Vaughan Oliver, Paul Rennie, Lucienne Roberts, Jack Schulze, Steve Watson, Rebecca Wright and Derek Yates.

Becky Chilcott and John Walters are co-curating the conference, which is being held on the 10th and 11th November 2011 at the St Brides Institute in London.

The conference is reasonably priced, and if you are an Eye subcriber, you get a discount too. Sign up now!  http://stbride.org/events?show=criticaltensions

PS - You may also notice from the logo on the above poster that it's being sponsored by the other well known, Hull based, paper merchant ...who am I to deny them the oxygen of my publicity!
www.stbride.org

Posted by Justin Hobson 19.09.2011

Addendum - 15.11.2011: The above poster was designed by Roger Swindale and Katy Mawhood, students at the University of Reading using Infidel by Jonathan Barnbrook / www.virusfonts.com

Apologies for missing this off the original post

The Way We Live Now - Terence Conran



Terence Conran/1950's

Photo: Ray Williams

Terence Conran’s vision, energy and achievements have shaped the look of our world and influenced how we lead our lives. His drive to make good design part of our everyday life has arguably had more impact on popular culture than that of any other designer of his generation. As his 80th birthday approaches, the Design Museum in association with Tate Modern is hosting a talk to celebrate his achievements.

Chaired by Design Museum Director Deyan Sudjic, this evening of presentations and discussion draws together leading figures from the various worlds that Terence Conran’s parallel careers have influenced and informed. Fiona MacCarthy, Christopher Frayling and Stephen Bayley will each discuss an aspect of Conran’s way of seeing the world.

It's also worth mentioning that there is a Terence Conran exhibition at the Design Museum opening in November.

This event is on Tuesday 20 September, 6.30 - 8pm at TATE MODERN, Starr Auditorium, so hurry up!
See you there...
For more details, follow the links:
The Way We Live Now: An evening celebrating Terence Conran is on Tuesday 20 September 2011, 18.30–20.00
The Way We Live Now at the Design Museum is open 16 Nov 2011 – 4 March 2012

Posted by Justin Hobson 16.09.2011