It has been a while

I do realise that things have been terribly quiet, I would like to apologise but my reasons are the usual ones and they do get a bit boring: too busy working, too busy teaching, not enough time to update all the different instances that now make our electronic lives (Blogger, Facebook, Pinterest) … I am a firm believer in doing things properly or not at all, so I have decided to stop updating "News from the Print Studio".

I have enjoyed sharing my findings about design and art through this space -even though I was never as regular as I originally intended- and I would like to thank everyone that followed us: the regular readers and the casual ones that just stumbled upon the blog, the old friends and the new ones.

My intention is to relaunch Inkthread's website (soon!) and to have a news section where I will continue to share the projects and adventures of Inkthread Press. I would of course be delighted if some of you still wanted to keep in touch, and I will post here a link to that section as soon as it is ready. The focus in this new blog would be mainly Inkthread's own work and a more detailed account of our experiences printing and typesetting and creating books.

As a farewell gift I leave you with a recently composed little video that I hope shows a bit about our process and how personal every project is to us.

Thank you for keeping us company all these years,

Inkthread Press

Neither here nor there

Gestalten TV interviews Oliver Jeffers, artist and award winning author of picture books for children (Lost and Found, Harper Collins 2005) on the launch of his first monograph. Neither Here nor There compiles some of Jeffers' painting, collage and installation work. It includes some of his best know pieces as well as new works not published before.

*video and images from Gestalten's website and Oliver Jeffer's website.

Toast

By chance, looking for some illustration work, I found this... and it made me smile. According to their website 2,430 pieces of toast were laser burnt to make this video... that's a lot of toast! Beautiful.

*By Geoff McFetridge and Champion Graphics with Moving Colour

Handmade 2012

Wallpaper magazine has employed the services of various designers and illustrators to create a series of handmade covers for their August issue. With the involvement of artists and designers such as Alan Kitching, Anthony Burrill, Rob Ryan and APFEL the result is obviously quite impressive to say the least.

The 30 covers will be displayed  at London's KK Outlet from 5 to 25 July.

Personally, I felt I had to include this short but very moving film of Alan Kitching making his cover, but you can also check other artists at work here. 

*all images from wallpaper.com, artists featured in order are Anthony Burril, Tom Hingston, Alan Kitching, APFEL, Supermundane. Film by Jake & Josh featuring Alan Kitching.

Page 1: Great Expectations

Great Expectations has always been one of my favourite novels by Dickens, so I couldn't resist posting about this interesting experiment, even at the expense of posting about books again!

In the words of GraphicDesign&: 

"Page1: Great Expectations is an unusual typographic experiment designed to explore the relationship between graphic design, typography and the reading of a page. Crafted to engage the culturally curious, Page 1: Great Expectations collects the responses of 70 international graphic designers when posed with the same brief – to design and lay out the first page of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, a text chosen in part because it directly references lettering as Pip searches for clues about his family from the letterforms inscribed on their tombstone."

Some of the contributors are APFEL, Experimental Jetset, Studio Frith, Spin and the extremely talented and skilled Phil Baines. 

And yes...it will soon be mine!

*all images by GraphicDesign& from their website

Kapow!

Visual Editions have just (this Monday) announced the upcoming release of their latest book Kapow! a novel by Adam Thirwell, since copies are not for sale yet I haven't had the pleasure of reading it so I'm just copying this extract form Visual Editions site:

"A clever, funny, and bitingly critical cultural commentary, it uses spinning digressions to tell the stories of a group of interconnected characters in London and Egypt, each transformed by the idea of revolution. Kapow! asks readers to open and unfold pages, to follow text leaking in and out of paragraphs, while progressively becoming part of and lost within the narrator’s giddy digressions."

I'm sure the narrative will be excellent and the experience of unveiling the content of such an intricate layout unique, can't wait to get my copy! The book has been designed by Studio Frith.

*all images by David Sykes via Visual Edition's website.

Imprimerie du Marais

The beautifully skilled and crafted work of the Imprimerie du Marais in Paris. The notebook project, eight books designed "from Hong Kong to Oslo" involving various artists and designers such as Camilla Diedrich and Julian Zimmerman... a perfect example of co-operation between printers and designers to create unique and memorable pieces. I so want to have them!

*all images by Imprimerie du Marais from their website

Craft and machines

In complete awe, beautifully shot and great choice of soundtrack.

*video by the masters of visual communication  Graphical House and Reset Films

Turning over a new leaf...

The end to 2011 proved quite hectic and exciting with some new additions to the printing "family". After a long trip in a lorry and under considerably heavy rain, our "new" beautiful Arab Press arrived ready to get inky and press some paper.

It also saw some interesting work, I do not want to show off too much but I do get the best clients... you know who you are! And it seems that the start to 2012 is not going to be any different. I'm referring here to the level of busyness, as the nature of the work regards... well, let's say that it maybe slightly different. Being one that rarely says no to a challenge Inkthread Press has taken on a new adventure in the murky waters of publishing... the project is still taking shape so enough said for now.

I promise some photos soon but in the meantime I leave you with a bit of magic...




*images via Vimeo by Serviceplan for Austria Solar

The future of publishing: discuss

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

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

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

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.