Tuesday 14 August 2018

De La Warr Pavilion Events Guide

This is the latest events guide for the De La Warr Pavilion. The De La Warr pavilion is on the seafront in Bexhill in Sussex and is an iconic modernist building by the architects Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff which opened in 1936. Following a major renovation in 2005, the pavilion hosts many shows, exhibitions and cultural events.
The finished size is 210x111mm, folding out to 420x553mm and is a 20pp concertina letter fold (I had to look that up!). Side view....
This guide is printed on our StarFine White 130gsm which means that rather than feeling like the vast majority of mass produced leaflets printed on a bit of 115gsm silk or gloss, this has real character and value. The design is such that the listings of the exhibitions, activities and events are all listed on one side (outside)
...with the inside being reserved for a full size image of the exhibition.
As you can see from the image above, it's very dark but has reproduced superbly on the StarFine 130gsm. The project is printed offset litho in CMYK by Banbury Litho.

The new De La Warr identity and design (including the website) is by Playne Design who have studios in London and Hastings. Creative Director is Clare Playne. Print production is handled by Simon Hack. You can read more about the creation of the new identity here:

https://www.dlwp.com/
http://www.playnedesign.co.uk/
http://www.banburylitho.co.uk/
Posted by Justin Hobson 14.08.2018

Thursday 9 August 2018

Vive La Vodka!

To create GREY GOOSE vodka, François Thibault maintains an unrivalled level of craftsmanship, using only the very finest ingredients. Its signature smoothness and distinct character are the result of an extraordinary passion for spirit making and an unparalleled commitment to the highest possible quality.

Grey Goose have a list of cocktails that can be made using their Vodka and they also have a range of featured "Holiday Cocktails". and this 8pp menu/recipe card is for the Grey Goose Martini.
The size is 195x105mm portrait and is an 8pp concertina format printed on our Omnia 280gsm. Omnia was chosen because it would work with the rich detail that is present in the images but that would still give a natural look and tactile feel. As you can see from images, the photography is quite dark, but there is no loss of detail, which is what can often happen printing on an uncoated paper. The "Grey Goose Blue" is rich and the solid has printed beautifully. Printed offset litho throughout.
Click on images to enlarge
Omnia 280gsm is a very bulky board with a thickness of over 400microns. As you can see below it creases beautifully and this has been professionally matrix creased.
Birds eye view below:
Creative direction and design is by London based branding agency Ragged Edge.
 
Printing is by Identity, based in Paddock Wood, Kent and they made a superb job of it - colour reproduction and solids are superb.
 
..and if you are over 18 (!) you can watch a video about the Cocktails here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNR3Gx-a34s
 
Posted by Justin Hobson 09.08.2018

Monday 6 August 2018

New Astralux Range Swatches

ASTRALUX is the market leading range of cast coated papers and boards produced in Italy by the Favini Crusinallo paper mill. The weight range is 80gsm - 350gsm in white and is also available in 27 shades (including metallics and pearlescents) and we have some beautiful new swatches... 
The swatch is A4, portrait and incorporates both the white and the colour range.
The colours are displayed in a "chip" format which is an ideal format to see selection of shades:
...and there is even a printed sample.
If you would like one of the new swatches, just let me know justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

http://www.favini.co.uk/
Posted by Justin Hobson 06.08.2018

Thursday 2 August 2018

Jobs from the past - Number 106

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 here's one from 2006...

Young Timebank - Students Pack 2006
This is an excellent example of a practical solution to a design problem. Timebank is a national volunteering charity which runs volunteer mentoring projects to tackle complex social issues. The brief for this project was a self contained ring binder to be shaped like a box so it could contain other items, pens pencils and loose papers. It is a student pack to be given to young people so it needed to be hardwearing and practical.
The above image shows the spine, which is hot foil blocked. The below image shows the way that the box file opens...
The above image shows the front of the box. This 'paper over board' folder is printed in two colours offset litho on our Colorset 100% Recycled 120gsm and is hot foil blocked in silver foil. The print result is superb, bright solid colours. The below image shows the back of the binder.
One of the real challenges was to make a "box file" that could still be used for writing in without having to take the sheets of paper out. What I suggested was to turn the normal box file format on it's head by fixing the binding mechanism out of the box, enabling the user to write on the sheets easily whilst still in the mechanism. Effectively it has made the box, the lid.
The closing flap has a hidden magnetic catch
The below image shows with the magnetic flap open
...and the flap closed
Below you can see the way that Colorset has worked excellently as a covering material on the tight returns.
Design is by Spyros Zevelakis. An excellent project which looks as good today as it did 12 years ago!

https://timebank.org.uk/
Posted by Justin Hobson 02.08.2018

Monday 30 July 2018

Design Your Life Podcasts

I'm sure many readers of this blog will be familiar with the work of Vince Frost. His work from London days has appeared on this blog many times. Vince Frost is now the CEO and Executive Creative Director of Frost*collective, a strategic creative group dedicated to designing a better world through human-centered design and they have studios in Sydney and Melbourne.

In 2014, Vince wrote and published a book titled Design Your Life, distributed by Penguin you can read more on this dedicated website here: http://designyourlife.com.au/
To support the thinking behind the content of the book and website, Vince has now launched a series of podcasts where he discusses how design principles can be applied to everyday life with a group of brilliant and diverse creative guests. He chats with designers, journalists, CEOs and founders about the key turning points in their lives and the role design has played in shaping the success of their brands and careers.

There are now seven podcasts available from a diverse range of guests including Paula Scher from Pentagram in New York.

They are well worth listening to. Here's the link:
https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/frost-collective/id1391405612?mt=2&i=1000416545516

http://designyourlife.com.au/
https://www.frostcollective.com.au/
Posted by Justin Hobson 30th July 2018

Tuesday 24 July 2018

Alex Dordoy - The Moss is Dreaming

Blain|Southern is a contemporary art gallery with galleries in London and Berlin. It was started in September 2010 by Harry Blain and Graham Southern, who had sold their previous gallery, Haunch of Venison, to Christie's.
 
Alex Dordoy was invited by Tom Morton for the first in a series of exhibitions, collectively titled “Lodger”, a new series of exhibitions at Blain|Southern, Running concurrent to the exhibitions in the central space, the series expands Blain|Southern’s programme into new territories. Alex Dordoy for his exhibition titled “The Moss is Dreaming” developed a new body of work exploring a central characteristic of 21st Century visual culture: the restlessness of the image, and the instability of the surfaces on which it manifests.
 
This is the catalogue for the exhibition which ended in November last year.   
This size of the catalogue is 210x148mm, portrait. It has a 4pp cover printed on Omnia white 200gsm with a 12pp text printed on Omnia 150gsm. The Omnia works superbly, tactile - lots of character but no loss of quality in the reproduction.
Click on images to enlarge
A lovely feature is the use of white wire for the wire stitches (staples) - although  it's not immediately obvious why use white on the outside, but you can see why, when you see the centre spread - excellent attention to detail.
Click on images to enlarge
Detail showing white wire on centre spread.
Printing is by Identity, based in Paddock Wood, Kent. The job is digitally printed using a Ricoh digital press.
Art direction and design is by Blain|Southern.

https://www.blainsouthern.com/
http://www.identityprint.co.uk/
Posted by Justin Hobson 15.01.2018

Friday 20 July 2018

Hiut Denim Co.

The Hiut Denim Company is based in Cardigan in Wales. Established in 2012 by David and Clare Hieatt, they only make jeans, that's it and it's going pretty well, having recently been in the news that Meghan Markle has been sporting a pair!
 
This is a poster printed on our wonderfully lightweight Offenbach Bible 60gsm. The size of the poster is 700x450mm and as you can see, the image of the pair of jeans looks amazing.
Below image shows the superb reproduction of the image.
Click on images to enlarge
The poster is printed offset litho on our Offenbach Bible 60gsm ...and it looks and feels absolutely gorgeous - it flops and folds in a delightful way when handling the poster as I hope you can see on the image below.
Art direction and design is by Nick Hand, based in Bristol at The Department of Small Works

Printing is by Park Lane Press who are based in Corsham, Wiltshire. They print offset litho but Park Lane Press 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 and this project is a perfect example. They are one of the very few printers who champion the use of this waterless process.

Thanks to Chris Pattemore for sending me copies and his kind note.
Click on images to enlarge
https://hiutdenim.co.uk/
http://www.departmentofsmallworks.co.uk/
https://parklanepress.co.uk/
Posted by Justin Hobson 20.07.2018