Friday 28 February 2014

CIA Calendar 2014

 
Mind of a child, Eye of an Artist 
This is the lovely 2014 desk calendar produced by the Central Illustration Agency (CIA). In September, a team of CIA illustrators held a children's workshop at the V&A Museum of Childhood in London. During the workshop each child was asked what they imagined the future might look like. These thoughts were then turned into briefs and sent out to their international network of illustrators!
 
A few weeks later, forty of those artists had created illustrative interpretations of those children’s thoughts and on 12th October they returned to the museum. Alongside those exhibited images, a dozen CIA illustrators took to the stage and created giant live artworks, accompanied by the children who had dreamt up those artists’ briefs and very much beholden to their unequivocal art direction.
 
During an extraordinary project, a child’s vision was realised by a professional artist and the results are presented on this lovely calendar  
Cover illustration: Jakob Hinrichs
 You can read more about the project here: http://www.centralillustration.com/projects/
Telegramme
Brian Grimwood
David Holmes
Le Gun

The 140mm square calendar is printed on Omnia Natural 120gsm, chosen so that it would have an uncoated look and feel but reproduce the wide and diverse illustrations superbly. The "tent card" (which is the commonly used term for the supporting cardboard frame) is made from a sturdy sheet of Trojan Whiteback 510gsm (below pic):
Production of the calendar was handled by Charlotte Hanlon. Printing and finishing is by L&S Printing based in Worthing, West Sussex.
 
Posted by Justin Hobson 28.02.2014

Wednesday 26 February 2014

Fifty Shades of Black

David Crompton at litho and digital printers, Quadrant (part of the Linney Group) tweeted about the large number of black samples that he had amassed from us and some other companies, for one of his customers....
...and that got me thinking about just how many black papers and boards we keep here at Fenner Paper.

So I started compiling a list and it turns out that we have over thirty items in black ...in fact it may be even more than stocked up in Hull (...by you know who!)
  • Colorset Nero (100% Recycled) - 100, 120, 170, 270, 350gsm
  • Notturno - 90, 110, 140, 170, 200, 250, 300, 350, 390, 450, 700gsm
  • Monoblack - 1400microns
  • Stardream Onyx - 110, 120, 285gsm
  • Dali Nero - 200, 285, 360gsm
  • Dali Doré Nero - 125, 205, 290gsm
  • Modigliani Nero - 145, 200, 320gsm
  • Tube Black - 130, 260, 340gsm
  • Astralux Black- 250gsm
  • Astralux Black/Black - 250gsm
  • Flockage Colours Black -100gm, 400gsm
....WOW! - so if you need something black, get in touch.

...and thanks to David at Quadrant for pointing out the blindingly obvious! davidcrompton@linney.com

www.linney.com/quadrant
Posted by Justin Hobson 26.02.2014 

Monday 24 February 2014

WITHIN - Howard Tangye

This post is about a beautifully produced book, titled WITHIN, showing the work of artist Howard Tangye. It was published and launched in Paris last year and the London book launch took place in London in January, to which I was invited.
 
The launch was at the Hus Gallery in Hanover Street, W1, combined with a solo exhibition of the artist's work, entitled "Casting the Line"  
Now this isn't the first time that this book has been mentioned on this blog. I profiled it last year as a project that had been launched on Kickstarter. If you follow the link, you can read the original piece, as there's no point in my duplicating the entry:
 
The Kickstarter campaign was a roaring success and the funds were raised and therefore the project could actually be printed and the vision of the publication be realised.
  
The size of the book is 310x210mm portrait and is casebound in bookcloth. It is beautifully bound produced. There is a 170pp text which is printed on a split between Omnia White and Omnia Natural, both 150gsm. There are front and back text sections on the Omnia natural and the colour work is printed on the Omnia White. There are an additional 16 "tipped in" overlays, printed on our Tectonic Clear 150gsm, which is a translucent tracing paper. The art looks absolutely superb printed on the Omnia. which has reproduced the colours perfectly, whilst still giving the look and feel of an uncoated material.
The book is designed and published by Stinsensqueeze. Partners Louise Naunton Morgan and Stina Gromark conceived, designed and finally published the whole project, which they should be very pleased about. I think I'm right in saying, that the books have nearly all sold. They also designed the typeface for use in the book.

The book was printed and produced by Jigsaw Colour. The complexity of the book with the "tip ins" made this a challenging project, but the print and binding are both absolutely superb.

http://stsq.org/stsq/within-howard-tangye/
http://husgalleries.com/
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/311248544/within-howard-tangye?ref=live
www.stsq.org
www.jigsawcolour.co.uk
Posted by Justin Hobson 24.02.2014

Friday 21 February 2014

SHOP invitation

This is a lovely invitation that I picked up some file copies of this week. It is A2 size folding down to an A6 finished size. Printed in just two colours (specials - silver and blue) on one side only on our lovely Offenbach Bible. As you can see, the pantone silver 877U, looks great and actually looks metallic silver!  
The invitation is to the launch of the new Global Blue website and international shopping guides.
Design is by Steve Fenn and Tom Pollard, at their Clerkenwell based studio: Design by St
 
The Offenbach Bible 60gsm was printed by R.Young & Son.
Posted by Justin Hobson 21.02.2014


Thursday 20 February 2014

See what one or Toucan do for you...

Guinness is surely known as much for the quality of it's advertising as the quality of it's beer (controversial, I know!)

It all started back in the 1930's in a bid to halt the decline in sales, the brewers engaged advertising agency S H Benson and this strategy continues through the iconic 1980's TV ads to the present day.

There is a fascinating talk coming up at St Brides about the lost artwork from this most important period in the 1930's and 40's. The artist who has become synonymous with the Guinness advertising from this era is John Gilroy who painted illustrations of the toucans, zoo keeper and animals from the 1930s onwards. In 1971 all the original paintings belonging to S H Benson (who commissioned the work) were lost. 40 years on and the collection has resurfaced...

David Hughes is a former brewer at Guinness and has written a book "Gilroy was good for Guinness". Now the collection has resurfaced it is starting to be sold off in the USA through the art market. This is a chance to hear about the history and creation of the artworks and see much of the work that was never used ..not forgetting that Guinness was one of the first Global brands.

This talk will showcase the lost art, much of which is never previously seen work from rejected campaigns and some outstanding images have come to light.

The talk is on Tuesday 4 March 2014 at 7pm.

Don't put it off - book a ticket now - Tickets £15.00 • Friends of St Bride Library £12.50 • Students (bring NUS card) £10.00

www.stbride.org/events/oilpaintingstoadvertising
www.gilroywasgoodforguinness.co.uk
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gilroy-Good-Guinness-David-Hughes/dp/1907593993
Posted by Justin Hobson 20.02.2014

Tuesday 18 February 2014

Manuel Canovas 2014 collection


Manuel Canovas is a luxury fabric brand based in the rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. This unmistakably French collection is inspired by the spirit of the art de vivre associated with 18th century France re-interpreted to contemporary taste by design director Ariane Dalle.

“Canovas is the art of living à la Francaise” says Ariane Dalle, “with a very special colour palette, and a real touch of originality.”

Manuel Canovas is one of the Colefax group brands and this piece of literature has been created in the UK,  for the new 2014 collection.
The size of the publication is 240mm x 170mm, portrait and is saddle stitched. it has a 4pp cover printed on 300gsm and an 8pp text on 200gsm. It is printed on our StarFine White, which is an uncoated paper, but as you can see, the reproduction is excellent - the images have reproduced with an amazing vibrancy and incredible detail for an uncoated paper.
There are a couple of extra things to point out about this job. Firstly the brass wire used for the saddle stitches is a really lovely touch - works brilliantly for this publication.
The brochure was printed offset litho but I just want to share a point about the origination. The repro for the publication was produced using Stochastic FM screening or what is also known as "random screening". This is system which makes up the four colours using a random distribution of the CMYK colours (created using algorithms of random pixel distribution) as opposed to the more normal halftone screening, made up of dots (AM screening)
 
The reason that this technique was suggested and successfully produced by the printer (Pureprint), was because there was the potential of a moiré pattern appearing on the very detailed photography. Moiré is a visually evident pattern created when two or more patterns are overlaid and in the case of this brochure, because of the detailed patterns (see image below) it was considered that a conventional screen (for halftone printing) which would effectively overlay this pattern (to create the dots to make up the image) and risk creating a Moiré pattern.
 
An example of Moiré
Moiré looks like a pattern is going wavy, almost in-front of your eyes and doesn't just happen in printing, it happens in screen based and other applications, anything where a "clash" occurs between patterns. One of the annoying things is that it is not certain that it WILL appear and it is difficult to second guess! The changing of screen angles (at the repro stage) may also get round the issue. If you haven't come across it before, you can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moir%C3%A9_pattern

Creative direction and production is handled in house at Colefax & Fowler, designer on this project is Rachael Ashley. Print production is by Pureprint handled by Richard Owers.

All in all, this is a lovely piece of literature which conveys the detail and the quality of the fabrics, beautifully.

www.manuelcanovas.com
http://www.colefax.co.uk/
www.pureprint.com
Posted by Justin Hobson 18.02.2014

Friday 14 February 2014

What is ...Thermography?

What is ...Number 2
Regular followers of this blog will know that in the middle of the month, I publish a "What is ....? post. The article covers various aspects of paper, printing and finishing in greater depth. However, many of these subjects are complex, so these posts are only intended to be a brief introduction to the topic.

What is ...Thermography?
Thermography is a print process, also known as thermographic printing. The finished result being a raised image or type produced by the use of heat with a slight 'orange peel' effect.

These days, thermography is based on an offset litho printing process. The image/type area is printed offset litho with a special slow-drying litho ink (it doesn't contain dryers or hardeners so that it remains wet). The sheets are then loaded onto the thermography machines which are usually constructed with three sections connected by a conveyor belt - worth pointing out that it's a continuous process.

The sheet is dusted (while wet) with a fine powdered thermo-polymer followed by a gentle vacuuming to remove the excess powder from the non-imaged and dry ink areas.

The printed and dusted sheet is then carried via a conveyor through a radiant oven system and exposed to temperatures up to 700 degrees Celsius! The conveyor goes through the oven in 2 to 3 seconds during which the powder starts filming at the edges, (in effect bubbling and raising up the powdered areas). It is then fed into a convection cooling section where the polymer becomes 'fixed' (solid/hard)

This process has traditionally been used for letterheads and stationery. Researching this article, I even found out that the menus (1st class) on the Titanic had been thermographed! In those days the ink was applied by letterpress and the powder applied by hand before being placed through the heat tunnel. As I understand it "craft" Letterpress printers still produce thermography manually.
There are different grades (particle sizes) of powder which are suitable for different applications - solid areas to fine type. There are a range of colours and now, also a range of metallic and transparent thermo powders - you can even encapsulate glitter in the transparent ink, so the process is incredibly versatile.
Thermography became popular in the "glossy" 1970's although it was often regarded as just being a cheaper alternative to "engraving/die-stamping". In the 1980's with the advent of laser printers, thermo letterheads became problematical because the inks caused a problem with being re-heated. Since then, the powder manufacturers, Caslon, have developed a laser printer, resistant powder.  
 
Thermography is not a particularly widely used process in commercial printing, although it is a very popular effect used for greeting cards and in some social stationery.
 
Back in the early 1990's (early in my career in paper!) I used to deal with an US paper mill called French Paper based in Niles, Michigan. Back in those far off days, they employed a design agency called Duffy based in Minneapolis, to create their promotional swatches and the designer was Charles S. Anderson. The imaginative and creative use of thermography on the literature is one thing that particularly impressed me. Unlike when I had seen thermo used in the UK, this was used in a much more random way, complimenting the litho printing. Hopefully these pictures will give you an idea of what I mean.  

 
I hope this has explained enough about the process. There are a few specialist thermo printers in the UK and a few general printers with thermo equipment. I am particularly grateful to Brian Frost and Darren Crowe at Abbot Print in Sussex for their guidance and help for this article.
 
Posted by Justin Hobson 14.02.2014


Wednesday 12 February 2014

This week is Green Week...at the LCC

Green Week is an event hosted at the London College of Communication (LCC) where staff and students are encouraged to take part in workshops, talks, installations and exhibitions. This year the subject of Green Week is SURVIVAL and during the week, the events will seek to investigate how designers, filmmakers, journalists, photographers and communicators are responding to the issues of our time.

The programme for the week has been printed at the LCC on their own Heidelberg B2 press by the resident technicians Tony Yard and Scott House. 
The booklet is 148x105mm (A6) portrait and is a 16pp self cover - which is a very "green" format - that is to say it is made up out of one SRA3 sheet which maximises both the press format and the paper. The book shows the timetable of events happening throughout the five days (10-14th February 2014)
The edge of each of the pages is coloured, which relates to the timetable in the front. A nice touch although this makes it more challenging from a print finishing point of view, but as you can see from the picture below, it's been very successfully achieved.
 
The programme is printed on our Shiro Echo, White 80gsm (100% recycled) from Favini in Italy - just perfect for Green Week. Printed CMYK offset litho throughout.
 
Publication design is by Tom Box. Cover illustration is by Josie Molloy.
 
There are many events which are free to go to, so have a look at the links below and see if one takes your fancy.
 
Conscientious Communicators was formed in 2011 at London College of Communication to develop and consolidate a community of practice around environmental and social creativity. Thanks to Course Director, Sarah Temple for getting me involved.
  
Posted by Justin Hobson 12.04.2014

Tuesday 11 February 2014

Colorset 350gsm

Many of you will know that last year we started to bring in our Colorset range in 350gsm. The range is now complete, so we have ALL colours in 120gsm, 270gsm and 350gsm - all in B1 size (700x1000mm) ...and with SRA2 in 350gsm as well!

For those of you not familiar with Colorset, it is our range of coloured text and cover papers which is also 100% recycled and more competitively priced than some other well known brands of coloured paper! There are 26 colours including black and white and here is the updated swatch:
It's also worth pointing out that the black shade - Colorset Nero, is available in 120, 170, 270 and 350gsm.
If you would like the updated swatch, please drop me an email and I'll pop one in the post
justin@fennerpaper.co.uk
Posted by Justin Hobson 11.02.2014

Thursday 6 February 2014

Breaking Down Barriers

Thames Reach is a London based charity which helps homeless and vulnerable people to live in decent homes and offers support to build supportive relationships. The ultimate goal is to end street homelessness.

Thames Reach’s work has been brought to life in this new report which looks at how the organisation is equipping people to find their own solutions to overcome homelessness and social exclusion. Entitled ‘Breaking Down Barriers’, the report features case studies of Thames Reach staff and the people who use its services, and identifies the key themes for the next three years which form the basis for the 2013-2016 Thames Reach business plan.
The size of the report is 235x165mm, portrait, saddle stitched. The format is 32pp self cover - which at this size means that the whole report is printed on one sheet of B1 paper - this was part of the brief to be a cost effectively produced piece of literature.
The report is printed on our Shiro Echo, Bright White 120gsm (100% recycled) Printed CMYK offset litho throughout.
The black saddle stitches are offset from their normal position and aligns with the grid on which the text is designed.
A clear, concise and cost effective communications tool, the review is essential for raising awareness and pitching increased funding from both the public and local authorities.
 
Design is by Imagination. Creative direction and design is by Gareth Nicholls.
 
The publication is printed offset litho in four colour process (CMYK) by Pureprint. Stuart Tanner at Pureprint managed the print production and my thanks to Stuart for supplying me with some file copies.

www.thamesreach.org.uk
Posted by Justin Hobson 06.02.2014