Inkthread: news from the print studio

The future of publishing: discuss

2011-08-21T17:31:00.008+01:00

Recently I saw this... and I was amazed and wishing I was eight again and could take this sort of thing for granted...

It certainly does redefine the experience of reading, or is it playing? or watching animations?... all of the above? The good news is, I think, that as we get more sophisticated and gadgety, publishing companies seem to agree in the need to produce good design matched by quality printed material. And they are printing some eye-catching collections, so that those like me who still don't have an I-Pad can cherish a different kind of toy.

So, in my last visit to the book shop (oh yes, as much as I love the internet and its comforts I still like walking into bookshops and finding unexpected jewels) I found Faber & Faber's Poetry Collection 2010. (I know I'm a bit late, it's from over a year ago but I just saw it!).

The cover designs are inspired by 1960's styles and the project involved a group of very talented illustrators and printmakers, with Peter Clayton, Sarah Young , and Ed Kluz amongst them.

The covers are truly beautiful and the books are finished with equally nice touches such as the printed endpapers. I'm not that big on poetry but in this case I'll make an effort.

You can read more about it on the F&F blog The Thought Fox

*all images above from the F&F blog, Vimeo link from Moonbot Studio's website.

Full circle

2011-05-10T20:42:00.011+01:00

Some days you start checking something important on the web, and then you find a link that looks interesting, maybe an image that intrigues you, and then before you know it you have visited more than 20 blogs and websites that you had never seen before.

Today was such a day and somewhere down the line I came across some extremely neat and interesting work by Swiss designer Rosario Florio. Clean layouts, plenty of white space and beautifully crafted typography, I'm glad I took a web detour.

If you have a spare couple of minutes do take the time to check the website, in the meantime here is one of the featured projects: Printed In, a magazine made from blog entries, blog articles given the editorial treatment they deserve (or aspire to deserve) and restored to a physical medium... Call me sentimental but I find this project quite touching. As much as the immediacy of the internet cannot be disputed, there is a cultural disposition to printed matter that I cannot -and in all honestly, do not want to- avoid, and that inclines me to appreciate and trust the content further.

And if you don't really care about my melancholic disposition, just enjoy the work...

found via Print & New Media blog after a few twists and turns...

*all images from Rosario Florio's website.

So much to catch up with

2011-02-08T20:56:00.024Z

That I hardly know where to start. Let's consider this post something of a three course meal:

Our starter, I think, should be enticing enough to open our appetite without spoiling it completely. So, how about a piece of delicious and dreamy work by Maria Fischer, in particular her book project Traumgedanken ("Thoughts on dreams"), a collection of literary and scientific texts on the subject of dreams. Connected networks of threads and words form vague and fragile patterns representing the elusive nature of dreams.

Then, for our main course the amazing 10 minute animation The Thomas Beale Cipher by Andrew Allen, an intriguing story as beautifully detailed as stylish. A feast of textures and vintage patterns that will delight the senses and while engaging the brain since it includes 16 hidden messages to help you solve the riddle, a challenge that cannot be refused!

And finally for dessert, some letterpress eye-candy from the expert hands of Studio on Fire designed by canadian collective Point Form. Printed to perfection on duplexed French Poptone Sweet tooth and Lemon Drop card, as tasty as it sounds. Yumm!

*image credits in order: Maria Fischer from her website, Andrew Allen via Vimeo and finally Studio on Fire from their blog.

Simple ideas are often the best

2010-11-08T18:43:00.010Z

Bianca Chang makes exquisitely simple paper sculptures with the help of a pencil, a ruler and a scalpel knife, no computer or laser cutter is involved in the process. She uses plain 80 gms photocopy paper and delicately cuts layer after layer to compose her three dimensional pieces. In case you are intrigued about the process she has kindly filmed herself while working on one of her pieces. Enjoy!

*all images and video by Bianca Chang from her website.

The alphabet by hand

2010-09-06T18:44:00.004+01:00

...it made me smile.

*video and calligraphy by Job Vouters found via his website

...before I forget

2010-06-03T14:17:00.009+01:00

I am usually really bad about remembering the dates for particular events and even worse when it comes to posting about it on time... this time however I've managed to post about it the day before, close one! If you are in Edinburgh or nearby Christopher Bettig (The Mountain Label) is exhibiting at Analogue Books from tomorrow (opening reception 4th June, then from 5th June to 10th July). I don't exactly know what type of work he will be exhibiting this time, some of his collage and mixed media work I guess, in any case I'm sure it will full of colour, variety, texture and pattern. One not to be missed.

*all images by Christopher Bettig from his website

Printing with threads

2010-05-19T18:51:00.012+01:00

So, you decide to research the possibilities of combining crafts and new technologies, printing and colour theory and you have excellent skills with a needle... add quite a bit of patience and dedication and ...ah yes! your name is Evelin Kasikov, now you have all the key ingredients for these beautiful and intricate books, craft at its best.

And as much as the finish work is a thing of beauty it's always interesting to see the process and sometimes if we are lucky to get a peek at previous work and experiments that lead to it. I find the work in her sketchbooks equally fascinating, maybe due to the unfinished and less controlled nature of sketch work.

all images by Evelin Kasikov, obtained from her website

(via It's nice that)

Woodtype Now!

2009-12-03T14:50:00.011Z

An interesting and inspiring research project by Dafi Kühne for his visual communications Bachelor, where he combines digital composing and production methods with traditional letterpress techniques. A very thorough piece of research with beautiful results, Dafi has experimented with a variety materials from cardboard to plexiglas, adhesive foil and thread on plates.

*all images by Dafi Kühne from his research catalogue (presented in website form).

breaking the silence

2009-11-24T14:01:00.013Z

Stop frame beauty by Andersen M Studio, a promotional piece for New Zealand Book Council. What better way to come back from this long silence.

*images by Andersen M Studio via It's nice that

Doing it for the kids

2009-08-16T21:36:00.017+01:00

Some lovely nursery rhymes posters by Sub-studio I specially like the retro look of the illustrations and the simplicity of the two colour approach, moving away from the habitual over-use of saturated colours in materials for children. I would very happily own one of these.

And, even though the style is completely different, these prints got me thinking of illustrators from when I was a child and I recalled the work of Pablo Ramirez (Linares, 1926 - Jaén, 1966). At the time I didn't know his name only that I quite enjoyed the books and illustrations. It is quite hard to find images of his work on the internet but he pretty much illustrated every single book I read as I was growing up. He was extremely prolific in his short life and I'm sure his work influenced the aesthetic values of various generations of children in Spain.

*top images by Sub-studio from their shop website

a bit of entertainment...

2009-06-23T21:08:00.004+01:00

Life is a bit hectic right now, and though I had a list of wonderful things to post about time has passed the exhibitions are gone and now it seems a bit ludicrous to talk about them. However I leave you with this beautiful interactive animation to keep you happy and busy until I can return with more printed matter goodness...

Painting a song "Soy tu Aire" by Labuat

*animation by Jossie Malis from an idea by Herraiz Soto & Co. ,programming by Badabing. Music of course by Labuat (you may have heard of them, I hadn't)

found via We Made This

discover America...

2009-05-18T14:33:00.008+01:00

...best by car, indeed, how else?

I've been meaning for a while to post about the above wedding invites by all round designer and 'renaissance woman' Melissa Bluhm (landscape architect, illustrator, occasional printer...). Sorry, no link to a website showing her work yet, hopefully this will change soon- I've already been talking to her about the joys of Indexhibit, see if she gets the hint. However, in the meantime I thought I would share her extremely informative invitations -the back of the map is full of details, from how to get there to what to wear. The vintage theme will also be continued in the reception and I know she's planning other bits and pieces to match the invitations, but I won't spoil them here just in case any guests are reading...

This is where we live

2009-04-23T11:47:00.005+01:00

This Is Where We Live from 4th Estate on Vimeo.

A city made out of books, cut-out paper and stop frame animation... my kind of heaven. You'll need to watch it more than once to see all the little details happening in the background. Published at Christmas but I have just found out about it... oops, sorry about the delay, a charming stop animation film produced by Apt Studio And Asylum Films to celebrate the 25th anniversary of publishing house 4th Estate (an imprint of Harper Collins).

*video by Asylum Films

ABC 3D

2009-04-05T13:02:00.003+01:00

Back at Christmas -you may remember- I mentioned the ABC 3D book by Marion Bataille, well I have just found this short video demonstrating how all the letters come to life as you pass the pages. Enjoy!

*unfortunately I haven't been able to find much about Marion Bataille so I have no link to her work.

All things Victorian

2009-04-02T15:53:00.010+01:00

Doing research for a project I found some images of work by Dan Hillier, I remember having seen them before but this time I checked his website and blog. I most definitely prefer his altered engravings (images above) where he combines original Victorian engravings to achieve an unexpected and quite eerie effect, which -as I'm finding out- is something that the Victorians themselves would have approved of.

*all images from Dan Hillier's website

De Plastilina

2009-03-06T11:04:00.011Z

I have just found out (checking old posts by Drawn) about the work of Irma Gruenholz. She creates these remarkably unaffected yet detailed illustrations with soft clay. I think it is the sculpted element that really makes it special for me and the way she uses other materials to add texture and depth. Don't you wish you had sticked with play-doh when you were a kid... sadly I never passed beyond the 'everything will eventually become dodgy brown' stage.

*all photos by Irma Gruenholz taken from her website

Her Morning Elegance

2009-02-24T13:07:00.005Z

Stop frame animation at its best, no more words needed.

*by Oren Lavie, found via Fubiz

time flies...

2009-01-26T10:58:00.013Z

...whether you are having fun or not! wherever did January go? belated Happy New year all the same. Hope you all had a good holiday and a good start of the year. The holidays seem so far now but I have to share my little discovery while was away... I've fallen in love with this beauty

In fact you could say the love affair is with the whole shop but I'd be happy to start small. For those of you in Spain if you are in the South (Jerez) and need any items for your old typewriter or even an old typewriter this is the place to go -Arroyo in Calle Porvera. Sadly I came out only with a new ribbon for my Olivetti lettera 32.

On a different topic, a friend (thanks Nick!) pointed me in the direction of this intricate and delicate work by Japanese artist Yuken Teruya who makes beatiful cut-out shapes from anything he gets his hands on, pizza boxes, toilet rolls, paper bags. Here follows a sample for your enjoyment...

*top images by inkthread, bottom images by Yuken Teruya studio

...on the twelve day of Christmas

2008-12-23T15:19:00.024Z

Just a short note to wish you all a very happy holiday and of course an excellent New Year 2009. Inkthread has lots of new plans and good resolutions for the next year, some are old ideas that never took shape during 2008 and with a bit of luck and lots of hard work we are sure will come to live in 2009. As always we will keep you informed... thanks for reading.

And now a few things that I hope to find under the Inkthread tree, I have been very very good indeed!

No 1. The beautifully designed and bound selection of classics by Penguin. So you may have read them all by now but did they look this good on the outside? Well, now the cover matches the quality of the content, form follows content, ahem.

No 2. ABC 3D a pop-up book where each letter of the alphabet magically transforms with every page you open. Using a restricted palette of black, white and red. You can find it via Present & Correct.

No 3. Rainbow In Your Hand, flip book by Masashi Kawamura. Flip the pages and the rainbow appears...very sweet. Find it at Analogue Books.

No 4. The Applause Machine, designed by Martin Smith for Laikingland. Just press the button and the Applause Machine claps its hands for you in case you need cheering up, silly but funny.

*all images from the websites mentioned as links, (except top image by Inkthread).

stamps stamps!!

2008-11-28T15:19:00.008Z

Is it a nerdy thing to collect stamps? or anything else for that matter...not sure. All the same, even if collecting stamps is not your thing this detailed poster will probably be and with stamps looking like this who could blame you.

"A field guide to stamps of the world" by Gavin Potenza is a letterpress poster representing 20 original stamp designs from around the world, printed on archival printmaking paper in a limited edition of 200. Beautifully printed, if you feel so inclined you can buy it from his website.

(via the Designboom blog)

*all images from Gavin Potenza's website

...violets are blue

2008-11-14T19:43:00.008Z

It's amazing what some people can do with a sharp blade, a bit of paper and a good few hours! I suspect they are laser-cut though.

"All year rings" by designer Tithi Kutchamuch in co-operation with Nutre Arayavanish, twelve flower rings (one per calendar month) that come alive from their flat and intriguing two dimensional form into full three dimensional beauties. Personally, and although I know that the whole point of their existence is the fact that they are rings, I prefer them coming out of the card.

*all images from Tithi Kutchamuch's website

Not on paper

2008-10-06T18:41:00.005+01:00

Hard as I try I cannot explain where the fascination with type comes from, there is something about repetition I guess; the rhythm of curves, lines and spacing, the contrast between the lines of type and the empty space around them. When type is used in all its beauty it seems to sit on the space as if carved into the paper...

And then sometimes it really is carved, a deep impression into wood or stone and it takes my breath away. Gordon Young is a visual artist who creates sculptural public spaces with an abundancy of typographic work. I had seen some of his work featured in design books and blogs before but I came across his latest piece during the past week when checking Why not Associates' website -I'm a big admirer of their work and I check them from time to time. Images below: work in progress for Crawley Library... I have no words.

*all images from Why not Associates' website

little people

2008-09-09T18:39:00.006+01:00

Firstly let me please apologise for the short video on letterpress being repeated three times on the blog! ahem...we'll blame some technical difficulties...moving on.

This post is not print related, although there's a book involved and I'm sure it has been beautifully printed, but I had to share my appreciation for the work of Slinkachu and his "little people" project. There is something so alluring about the visual play with perspective size, and the choice of location. I dare you to look at the photos of his little people around the big city and not find them clever, endearing, or at least amusing. I'm getting myself a copy of the book right now!

*all images by Slinkachu

A little bit of letterpress expertise

2008-08-12T18:44:00.014+01:00

Not coming from me... but from the real masters! To start with, a short note about Hand & Eye Press. I found about this letterpress studio long long time ago and they are greatly responsible for my early interest- now transformed into mild obsession- in letterpress. I was checking their website and they have updated it with some very nice photography. They have recently printed a beautiful edition of Hamlet and have been so kind as to document the process on flickr, if you feel curious -and so you should- you can check it here.

Wisdom from across the Atlantic now: a short video posted on YouTube by Don Black Linecasting Services the place to get all your letterpress equipment and supplies, no doubt... if you're in Canada. We will just jealously admire from a distance... and for those out there who are interested in some of the basic principles when printing with a Heidelberg Platten or have never seen one in action here it is...

*all photos above from Hand & Eye's website and video by Don Black Linecasting Services

It's all so quiet...

2008-07-02T19:08:00.011+01:00

So...Inkthread was closed for a bit...I've been on holiday, hurray! I intended to keep myself as far away from the computer as I could and I managed pretty well, thus the period of silence. Back and supposedly refreshed (I feel like I need another holiday to recover from the first one), I thought I'd share some of my holyday pics...

From the very elegant and stylish to some funny signs type is everywhere, couldn't resist... what did you expect photos of me eating ice-cream, honestly!

A mysterious benefactor...

2008-05-20T15:16:00.004+01:00

So...someone very kindly and quietly has put Inkthread's details into the Briar Press Directory, and it wasn't us or anyone we know... And they did take their time and even put an image taken from the website. It was one of these tasks I never get round to doing although I had all the intention of and eventually would have got to it, or so I'd like to think, self promotion is still at the bottom of the list! The mystery is killing us, please mystery benefactor make yourself known... so I can say thank you properly!

On a different subject I came across the work of Curtis L Jinkins (via the Serif) and I love it specially his identity and branding work. Also quite funny that he's added a list of enemies at the bottom of his page, quite short mind you!

*all images from C L Jinkins website

PS. Some changes are appearing on the blog (as you can see) new website and shop are still not up, soon hopefully we'll let you know.

Out of Print

2008-04-28T13:31:00.009+01:00

This month I have been briefly tutoring at Glasgow School of Art and wasn't it a nice coincidence that the exhibiton that was on (just by the Computer Studio where I was) was entitled Out of Print.

Unfortunately it's over now, sorry about the late post -and my photographs taken on my mobile phone don't do it any justice- but it was worth visiting, though I wished there had been more samples of work. Featured aboved are Edwin Pickstone's works in letterpress. I find them extremely beatiful; simple in appearance, black ink on small pieces of crisp white paper, and an accurate balanced use of space and printed type. On a completely different style was the work of Marc Baines (photos below) screenprinted poster size pieces vibrant with colour. The strength of the exhibition was probably the fact that each one of the exhibitors work in a completely different media and have very different styles, however I still felt I would have liked to see more from each one, but maybe that's just me being greedy!

Experimental Jetset

2008-04-08T17:40:00.006+01:00

One of the good things that came out of going to see the Helvetica film was that it reminded me of dutch design studio Experimental Jetset. I had seen their work before but -like some many things you read in blogs- I had forgotten about them. They have designed a mesmarising piece, a vinyl record stlyle sleeve for the Blu-ray high definition disc of the Helvetica film (above) and I think it represents a lot of their work. Their work is beautifully typographic and clean and if you've never heard of them I'd go straight to their website...now.

*images above the text form the Helvetica website, images underneath from Experimental Jetset's website.

Some random things about Inkthread...

2008-03-10T14:27:00.008Z

The horror, the horror! Emma from Showpony tagged me ages ago and I never replied... it would be rude not to answer, but I can't honestly think of seven pieces of information that anyone would find vaguely interesting so instead these are some random things that not everybody knows about Inkthread:

Before Inkthread was called Inkthread... it was briefly called (only few hours) Calliper Press, mmm connotations of orthopedics made me change my mind.
The Heidelberg Platen traveled all the way up from Leeds on the
back of an open-back pick-up truck, originally covered with a tarpaulin but the wind almost blew it away, so it finished its trip completely uncovered... on arrival at Glasgow there was no human way to unload it so it had to spend the night in the open... needless to say it rained and snowed all night long, other than a bit of surface rust it moves as smooth as when it was made... German engineering!
Music preferred while printing... classical I'm afraid, even if it sounds pedantic, preferably Bach. It helps concentration, I find.
The cat Smudge was called Smudge long before he became a printer's cat... destiny perhaps?
Inkthread advocates the prohibition of the use of Comic Sans, under no circumstances should this type be considered "appropriate". No apologies voluntary organisations and charity shops...

Since I've suffered a lot trying to think of fairly interesting things to say I'm not tagging anyone... no curse involved, I hope.

helvetica

2008-03-10T14:17:00.005Z

At last the Helvetica film has made it to Glasgow... I missed the Edinburgh screenings so I thought I'd have to resolve to watch the DVD (I believe it's already out). But oh, lucky me, the nice people at the Six Cities have organised a screening tomorrow the 11th at the GFT, I think it's already all booked but they have a reserve list and you know what people are like, someone may never make it. I booked my seat as soon as I found out... I'm such a geek!

In the meantime you can have some fun helping Helvetica let Arial know who's boss in here.

yum, yum

2008-02-13T19:36:00.008Z

yum... gotta get me some of these! Chocolate type by Typolade from Germany. I love the fact that they bothered making the spaces too!

*all images from typolade's website

work, work, work...

2008-02-06T18:24:00.000Z

So... 2008 has definitely started on an up -workwise speaking- which is good; no complaints. This means, however, that finding time to finish the website-cum-shop is proving quite hard...we'll get there, eventually. It also means there's not much time left to check other people's websites, blogs or magazines so I haven't got exciting work to blog about! To all of you who keep reading this blog a big thank you for your patience, back to proper blogging soon!

PS. In the meantime if you haven't checked the Dailypoetics flickr set on business cards yet, go and have a look, it's well worth it. Kariann, if you're reading, I haven't forgotten I promised a business card, on its way soon!

Back to work!

2008-01-14T15:00:00.001Z

I hope everybody had a good break and that 2008 has started full of energy and new plans. 2008 is bringing some changes for Inkthread too: design business continues as usual and expect the same type of posts from the blog (hopefully with more regularity!). The website however is under transformation, as soon as the new version is up I'll post about it so you can check it and give your opinions- contructive criticism only, pleeease! And it will also have a new section with a small shop. Although Inkthread is not a shop based business but a consultancy, the print studio generates such an immense amount of paper offcuts and other bits and pieces that it seems a shame not to do something productive with them!

Thanks for reading the Inkthread blog, and keep checking!

A break for Christmas

2007-12-19T19:36:00.000Z

So... Christmas is almost here and the news blog is taking a well deserved break, back in January with some more news and some changes... intrigued? In the meantime an image (not very clear, I'm afraid, desperately in need of good lighting) of Inkthread's Christmas card and my best wishes to all of you on the other side of the screen!

In the spirit of the season

2007-12-05T15:15:00.000Z

In case the Christmas madness hasn't got to you yet here's one I made earlier... not really, I haven't made one yet but I might, when I get a spare moment. Playing with paper is always gratifying, find the instructions here. (via Core77 Christmas list)
And if you are already planning the year ahead you may be interested in a calendar, I quite like the one by Pentagram, this year it's designed by Kit Hinrichs with twelve different beautiful types. Or this diary-sketch book by Typotheque, nice.

All I want for Christmas is...

2007-11-14T17:04:00.000Z

It's only mid-november, I know, but the Christmas shopping madness seems to have started a while ago and I thought it would it be a good idea to join in... from the safe distance of my screen! So, this is my wish list, for the time being...

No1. Gateshead Get Carter Car Park print by We Live Here , litho printed.

No2. 3D letters in recycled card by REfound Objects, one letter would do, really.

No3. This colouring book from People will always need plates, and maybe one of their mugs too...is that too greedy?
No4. Anything from Blanka... no need to explain, I think.No5. These plates by Le Petit Atelier de Paris

No6. This poster by Transfer Studio, it can be bought via Beyond the Valley

This list seems to be getting longer and longer, and I'm sure I can think of a lot more to add! I may publish a second part, it may give some people ideas, you never know!

*all images by their correspondent authors as they appear on the linked websites.

Letterpress from Japan

2007-11-05T18:09:00.000Z

At least I think it's from Japan ( please correct me if I'm wrong- anyone reading understands Japanese?). I regularly check Papier Labo's blog even though I don't understand a word, but the images are nice and they do letterpress - do I need any more reasons? There's a link to Sab Letterpress who have a very nice website with beautiful images of type (Japanese type?), I'm not sure how they are all related -again for obvious reasons since as I said I don't understand the text. I particularly like the images showing Japanese typography rather than the work in English (although it's also rather good!)

*top image a still from Sab Letterpress' website, second image from Papier Labo blog

Oldies Goldies

2007-10-24T18:35:00.001+01:00

So, I've found this really interesting and useful book"The Penrose Annual 1958". It's a review of the graphic arts at the time, with multiple articles on typography, printing techniques and the use of graphics in advertising; to illustrate the articles it also includes printed samples. Most of the samples are just photos but some of them, oh beauty, are the original pieces specifying the type of paper and impression used (including newspaper samples), what a jewell! The book itself is a very good binding job, with nice finishing touches, it made my day.

Alex Noriega

2007-10-18T18:44:00.000+01:00

I haven't posted about illustrators for a while and I've been meaning to mention Alex Noriega for a long time now. His work is always colourful but subtle and rich in detail, with a child-like quality that reminds me of fairytales. He ran a contest via his blog where you could win one of his prints, if you (like me) missed it do not despair! some of his work is for sale through his website.

*all images by Alex Noriega

On a different note: I have added a flickr account to the blog where I'll be uploading bits and pieces that are not really worth mentioning but that maybe nice to look at... unfinished printouts, letterpress tests, rejected proposals...

There's something about cutting paper

2007-10-09T15:06:00.001+01:00

(I've been having problems with my connection and finding quite hard to post, let's see if this one works!) The images above are stills from an amazing animation by Andersen M Studio, found via It's nice that. I've seen quite a few samples of recent work using animated paper cut silhouettes, one of my favourites is Checkland Kindleysides' website.

2007-09-28T10:08:00.000+01:00

It's been a mad couple of weeks here and I'm afraid the posting has suffered quite a bit of neglect. Things will get better from next week as normality kicks in again, more posts then. In the meantime some nice and intriguing images of work by Trip Print Press from Ontario, it's worth checking their flickr too.

*all images by Trip Print Press

Letterpress and maths

2007-09-14T15:34:00.000+01:00

Browsing the internet in search of letterpress equipment (a completely unrelated search as it happens), I came across London Transfer Studio. All the images above are from their Letterpress & Maths project, they describe it as a self initiated project to learn the proccess of letterpress printing: "The cards are a representation of different measurements and rules related to letterpress printing and to typography in general"... very clever and equally beautiful.

*all images by Transfer Studio

Some nice work

2007-09-04T14:11:00.001+01:00

Recent work by Madethought for furniture dealer Viaduct. They also have done some very nice packaging for Stella McCartney and for London restaurant and tea house Yauatcha. They certainly have a very impressive list of clients and a beautifully simple website.

*images by Madethought.

Penguin does "handmade"

2007-08-29T15:59:00.001+01:00

These are some of the covers from Penguin's new Great Loves series, designed by David Pearson. For this series they've decided to use more traditional printing methods such as lino cuts and screen printing to achieve a distinctive look. Shame they couldn't screen print the covers for real, obviously that would have made them very expensive paperbacks! A limited edition maybe? Here's the man himself explaining the process.

Flipping again and again

2007-08-23T15:01:00.000+01:00

A really simple and smart old-style clock screen saver by 9031, beautiful, don't you love nice freebies!
(via It's nice that)

Some recent work

2007-08-16T15:42:00.000+01:00

Being a wee bit sneaky here, since the work in the images hasn't been published (or printed) yet. These are the mock-ups for some work just completed for one of The Textile Society's events (in March). Also some identity work (images at the bottom) for a consultant in bicycle maintenance and cycling safety -this job will be letterpress printed- again these are just the mock-ups. Just to satisfy the curiosity of those who have been asking...

For rainy days

2007-08-10T11:12:00.001+01:00

Illustrator and artist Keri Smith has published through her website an "Artist's Survival Kit" that can be downloaded for free. As she says it's "for the really bad days (...) when you want to lie in bed for a month and eat chips." She intended it for artists but I think it works absolutely fine with more practical creative professions: designers, printers (he,he)... or for anyone who's decided to work in a non conventional way! We all have bad days and a bit of humour goes a long way.

*all images by Keri Smith

...and here's the animated version

2007-08-02T18:48:00.001+01:00

I thought they looked familiar

2007-08-02T18:36:00.001+01:00

Now, unless I'm very much mistaken this -the latest Robinson's campaign- looks like the work of Adrian Johnson (the image at the bottom is from his website). I don't know if it succeeds in making parents buy more of the product, or indeed in making kids ask for it, but they surely are cute!

Type city

2007-07-11T12:07:00.000+01:00

A very sweet city all made of type... thanks to Veer.

A book by its cover

2007-07-04T09:27:00.001+01:00

Ever judged a book by its cover? "Everytime" would be my answer. I admit it, I'm a sucker for a nice cover, beautiful packaging and other shiny and colourful things. And in this case I recognised the illustrator Rob Ryan and couldn't resist. If you've never seen his work it's worth having a look at his website & blog. In my defense I'm sure the book is really good too, and with a different cover I probably would have bought it all the same... mmm.

It's that time of the year...

2007-06-22T17:09:00.000+01:00

when final year students finally say goodbye to university life and face the future, scary, I know, but also exciting. And before they say goodbye they put together their Degree Show to let the world know they are coming out and that they are full of ideas... so I went to see some of those ideas at GSA. And it was fairly mixed as usual but there was some really good work and worth checking out if you are in Glasgow. I particularly liked the work of Sissel Johannsen (sorry no image!) and Elain Eckford (above, no website yet). The above image has been taken from a class portfolio in the form of a newspaper so it definitely does it no justice. Didn't have my camera with me, damn!

*image on GSA invitation by Pio Abad, entitled "Dogeater's discourse".

Studio Feed

2007-06-14T11:03:00.000+01:00

Reading through The Serif I came across Studio Feed from Montréal. Their work is elegant and smart with as they say "an indestructible passion for typography"... what's not to like?

Is it just me?

2007-05-18T15:24:00.001+01:00

Last night I attended the opening night of The Scottish Show at The Lighthouse here in Glasgow. For those of you who haven't heard of it before it aims to represent the design scene in Scotland in an effort, I guess, to help market it. This year it's part of a bigger project called the Six-Cities which involves six major Scottish cities... so needless to say I had great expectations, even more considering that I know some of the designers exhibiting. I still can't put my finger on it, but whatever the reason it failed to impress me... there was some excellent work, some good work, and some not so good that looked a bit student-like (and not in a good way!) and put together in a hurry. There were some pieces that would have benefitted from a better position and more space while others should have done with a lot less! I will however go back and see it in less of a hurry- I couldn't stay long last night- I feel some projects deserve a second look.

Simple but effective?

2007-05-11T16:46:00.000+01:00

Well, that's what we're hoping for... our website is up! We intend to add a couple of sections and probably the option to see some of the work at a bigger size... but this is it for now. It's taken us a while since we never seem to find the time to do promotional work for ourselves, hopefully this is just the beginning and we'll try to keep a close eye on the marketing side of things. Smudge seems to think the opposite corner of the studio is a lot more interesting though!

Aesthetic Apparatus

2007-04-04T15:07:00.000+01:00

You know how sometimes when we see an amazing piece of design we all wish we had thought of it first but someone beat us to it. Well, similarly that's the way we feel everytime we see Aesthetic Apparatus' work. We need some more adventurous clients! (current clients take no offence!)

Our latest

2007-03-20T17:29:00.000Z

We thought we'd share with you an image of our latest job. It's been a pleasure designing and printing our friend Daniel's business cards... we wish him the best tomorrow in the opening of his Degree Show at RSAMD and a very exciting future as set designer. The show is sure to be quite interesting since it's been themed around Dadaism...

Handmade Graphics, a cure for damaged souls...

2007-03-12T14:45:00.000Z

...graphically speaking that is. Here's a book that explains and shows so much better than I ever could why so many of us are currently using traditional and hand-made techniques to produce graphics. We love computers, don't get me wrong, (even when they let us down -we've had some recent problems!) but eventually some of the magic seems to get lost and staring at a screen for hours makes you forget why you decided to get into this in the first instance...

(link to amazon.com, amazon.co.uk doesn't have the option to search inside the book)

Starthere... and go on and on and on

2007-03-06T10:58:00.000Z

Nice idea from design studio Littlefury. Their first product is Starthere, a series of notebooks that can be joined by sliding into each other's covers. It's not very clear from their website whether each notebook has a different use, though I'm guessing from some of the comments left that there must be a calendar notebook (?). In any case a simple and good-looking sketchbook.

Welcome to our new blog

2007-02-17T15:34:00.000Z

First things first...thank you for sparing some of your free time reading our post.

As you can see we've just started this blog. Our intention is to use it partly as a news page to show our progress in the print studio, but also to share any interesting information we may come across on design and print.

Since letterpress is our passion I'm afraid there will be quite a few posts on this type of printing, but do not despair, we'll try to keep it as casual as possible and promise not to engage in long discussions about why Helvetica is so much better than Arial...