Thursday 7 September 2023

Radisson Blu Edwardian

The Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel in Manchester is set inside the historic Free Trade Hall, one of the city’s oldest and most iconic buildings, and is known for its musical past. The hotel has 263 luxurious rooms and suites and many of the suites are named after some of the artists that appeared at the venue before it was a hotel.

This brochure is about these "Signature Suites" and the facilities that the have to offer.
The format is A5 Landscape and is printed on our Omnia. It is an 8pp self cover printed on Omnia White 200gsm. A "self-cover" format is usually more economical as it can all be printed on one sheet, whereas if there is a different text and cover weight, they have to be printed on separate sheets.
Omnia is a very bulky paper so as just an 8pp saddle stitched, the 200gsm weight works really well.
Click on images to enlarge
Printed offset litho in CMYK throughout.
Image reproduction is paramount but it was also important that the publication also projected the tactility of the interiors and in the image below the detail of the bar area.  An ordinary feeling silk or gloss coated paper wasn't an option, so Omnia fitted the bill perfectly.
The outside front and back covers are hot foil blocked in silver foil.
Printing is by Stuart Van Den Bergh at Intaglio Communications based in London.

https://www.radissonblu-edwardian.com/manchester-hotel-gb-m2-5gp/gbmanche
http://www.intaglioltd.co.uk/
Posted by Justin Hobson 07.01.2023

Friday 1 September 2023

Jobs from the past - Number 166

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 2014...

Guardian News & Media sustainability report 2014
This is the printed summary of the Guardian News & Media sustainability report. The whole 2014 report was available online
 but this is the printed report produced to give out to staff and partners.
The size of the report is 148mm square, saddle stitched and has a 4pp cover and 16pp text. The publication is printed on our Shiro Echo, Bright White which is 100% recycled and also carries FSC certification.
The report is beautifully illustrated by Laurent Cilluffo.
http://www.laurentcilluffo.com/
Design is by the in-house design team at The Guardian. Production was handled by Leon Abrahams.

Print is by Cantate, a division of the John Good  and was handled by Jason Maclaren.

http://www.laurentcilluffo.com/
https://www.johngood.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 01.09.2023

Wednesday 30 August 2023

Baines & Fricker swing tags

Established in 2011, Baines&Fricker design and make furniture and accessories for the modern home and contract sector. Products are designed and made from their Brighton workshop using British materials wherever possible.The swing tags for the furniture and accessories have been designed and produced by Emily Macaulay at Stanley James Press, a "design company, specialising in the design and production of printed goods"

Photograph by Curtis James http://www.thisisbeyondwork.com/
The swing tags have been produced in just one colour on our Flora Anice 350gsm and then punched and strung with a coloured skein.
Detail showing the stringing:
Click on image to enlarge
For those not familiar with Flora, it is a 30% recycled paper (and FSC accredited) with natural, deliberately visible, inclusions and fibres. It comes in nine different shades and has a character all of it's own! Below is detail showing the surface an inclusions:
Click on image to enlarge
This project is a superb example of choosing the correct stock for the job, adding minimal print processes and a lovely touch, such as the skein. A wonderful, simple, quality result. 

Design, Print and production by Stanley James Press

https://www.bainesandfricker.net/
http://www.stanleyjamespress.com/
Posted by Justin Hobson 30.08.2023.

Friday 25 August 2023

Cutler and Gross


Cutler and Gross is a distinctly British eyewear brand, founded in 1969 by Graham Cutler and Tony Gross, who met at optometry school in Northampton. This idiosyncratic eyewear brand has been at the forefront of the optical fashion for the past 40 years.

This look-book is a beautifully produced piece of literature, which has some gorgeous design cues, including the three hole-sewn binding.
Click on images to enlarge
Size of the brochure is A4 (297x210mm). It has a 4pp cover with a 16pp text. It is printed on Omnia 200gsm cover and 120gsm text. Omnia gives the uncoated. tactile feel but reproduces the fine detail of the glasses and the flesh tones superbly. Printed offset litho in CMYK.
Centre spread showing three hole sewn binding
There is lots of plain unprinted paper in the design, which gives the whole publication a lovely feeling of space - very uncluttered.
Below is the detailing of the three hole sewn binding.
And here is something that I hope will demonstrate the tactile nature of Omnia - the below detail image is where you can see the visible, natural texture of the paper and the way it reproduces images superbly.
click to enlarge
Design and art direction is by Exposure. Creative director is Robin Ek. Photographer is Marius W Hansen. Print production is by Principal Colour. 
 
Posted by Justin Hobson 25.08.2023

Tuesday 22 August 2023

Manuel Canovas

This is the gorgeous brochure for the Trianon Collection from luxury brand Manuel Canovas, based in Paris. Trianon is a range of wallpapers and fabrics based on paintings, drawn in Chinoiserie style, by Jean-Baptiste Pillement in the 18th Century.
The size of the publication is 240mm x 170mm, portrait and is saddle stitched, printed on our StarFine White. 4pp cover on 300gsm and 8pp text on 200gsm. Printed CMYK offset litho and hot foil blocked in gold metallic foil on the cover.
StarFine is a quality, uncoated paper and as the images show, image reproduction is excellent. The detail of the wallpaper and fabrics is stunning - great detail for an uncoated paper, colours are bright and vivid.
The brass wire used for the saddle stitches is a really lovely touch - which brilliantly compliments the gold foiling on the cover.
Click on image to enlarge
Manuel Canovas is one of the Colefax group brands and this beautiful piece of literature has been created in house at Colefax & Fowler. Print production is by Pureprint

https://www.manuelcanovas.com/
https://www.colefax.com/
https://www.pureprint.com/
Posted by Justin Hobson 21.08.2023

Friday 18 August 2023

Crush for Christmas Crackers!

Luisa Vicinanza-Bedi only started learning how to make bean to bar chocolate in 2017. Since then she has established her own shop Luisa's Vegan Chocolates based in Sneinton Market, Nottingham and has a strong online presence. Luisa has also picked up a handful of awards at the Academy of Chocolate including  ‘UK Rising Star’ in 2019.

Photographs courtesy of Luisa's Vegan Chocolates
As part of Luisa's special Christmas offerings, she has produced Christmas Crackers - packed full of goodies and all products happen to be vegan too!
Photographs courtesy of Luisa's Vegan Chocolates
These beautiful crackers are printed on our CRUSH range of papers, made using 15% agro-industrial residues combined with post consumer waste and virgin fibre (all FSC accredited). The cracker body is using Crush Corn 200gsm and the chocolate box wraps are 120gsm. They are superbly digitally printed and foiled by Rose Press in Nottingham, who also specialise in Wedding stationery.
Photographs courtesy of Luisa's Vegan Chocolates
Luisa's Vegan Chocolates is the first and only Bean-To-Bar chocolate maker in Nottingham, taking her chocolate through the delicate artisan process by hand. Luisa directly sources her beans to pay her farmers a better than FairTrade price for their crop, at least double the standard market rate which is wonderful.

It's not Christmas yet but you can always buy some chocolate now and support an ethical small enterprise!... You can buy online HERE.

Posted by Justin Hobson 18.08.2023

Tuesday 15 August 2023

Healeys Calendar 2023

Healeys Printers in Ipswich produce a desk calendar every year and is produced on a variety of environmentally friendly stocks. This month is printed on our Colorset (100% Recycled) Bright Red 350gsm
Design by Ruben Quental - East Norfolk Sixth Form College
The month of August is digitally printed in CMYK and digital white ink, which looks excellent.

Healeys are based in Ipswich and are one of a handful of printers who are registered as a 'Carbon Balanced Printer' by the World Land Trust and can offer a totally carbon balanced printing service including the paper and all aspects of production and delivery.
Design by Willow Diwell - East Norfolk Sixth Form College
The size of each of the calendar leaves is 165x180mm (with wave die cut) and each month is printed on a different board - each is a recycled or environmentally friendly grade. Not all the papers used are from Fenner Paper, but we are fortunate enough to have our paper used for March too (on Alga Carta) which is debossed and clear foiled too

The calendar is designed by students from East Norfolk Sixth Form College, Gorleston On Sea. It's a great opportunity for students to get involved at an early stage is design for printing and to learn about the printing process.
https://healeys-printers.co.uk/