Ladies of Letters is a wonderful collaboration between super talented typographer Carla Hackett and letterpress extraordinaire Amy Constable aka Saint Gertrude and their latest project is called ‘Alphabet City’. Together they’ve created these beautiful two colour, A5 cards. Carla hand draws them in pencil and ink, then Amy prints them on Wild 450gsm on her letterpress machine called Gordon. Each card is signed, numbered and lovingly packaged in cellophane wrap.
The proceeds from the sale of the cards goes directly to supporting the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation, such a brilliant creative idea for a well-deserving cause. Ladies of Letters share: “Our launch project, Alphabet City, has a small and achievable financial target of $1000, which is enough to set up a community Share-a-Book library. This can make a huge difference to people in a remote area where literacy levels fall below the national average and access to reading material may be limited.” Better still, Amy and Carla have chosen to keep donating to the charity even after the project is finished.
Love it? Buy it. You can pick up all letters of the alphabet here and help support the Australian Literacy Foundation.
When it comes to property magazines, this beauty is pretty unique. Designed by the talented team at Hayman, Essence is an exciting new apartment offering by developer Salta in Melbourne’s fashion hot spot, South Yarra. The brief was to create a marketing campaign that captured the ‘essence’ of South Yarra’s edgy fashion scene and we think they nailed it. They’ve sold in aspiration very cleverly. The campaign included a behind the scenes fashion inspired photo shoot, high finish boutique bags, large format brochure and a boutique style display suite located in a Chapel Street shopfront. Ooh la la!
The stunning magazine inspired property brochure can be likened to Vogue or Marie Claire. It comprises of two sections, the large outer cover is printed on Strathmore Premium Super Smooth Ultimate White 352gsm with a generous silver foil and 216gsm for the text, featuring a photo essay of model Monique by Dennys Ilic. The smooth, uncoated finish of the stock lends itself beautifully to fashion style photography.
The second section is a smaller product and lifestyle brochure, printed on HannoArt Gloss 300gsm for the cover and 150gsm for the text. A high gloss laminate finish on the cover delivers a sharp contrast from its larger uncoated pages, a shiny hidden gem for its readers to discover. It just goes to show how a few bold paper choices can have great visual impact.
If you would like to feast your eyes on this paper goodness or need some advice on choosing the right stocks for your project, please contact your paper specialist.
Check out how this letterpress poster for RÖMERTURM Feinstpapier was made. It took 5 steps to create this piece of art. We love those pop-out coaster bits. Very crafty.
Format: 30 x 40 cm. Printing specs: offset printing in 4c + 3c letterpress, 1c hot foil, punches and application of 5 paper specimen. Design: ersteliga büro für gestaltung www.ersteliga.de Production: Letterjazz Print Sudio www.letterjazz.com
Title: Made in Movember 2014 campaign collateral Agency: Urchin (VIC) Stocks:Impact 135gsm, 190gsm, 300gsm, Printing specs: Offset printed (mainly), gig poster printed digitally on a HP Indigo Printed by:Madman Printing (VIC)
Ah Movember, the month where men start to morph into Boonie look-a-likes, creepy looking pool cleaners or in very unique cases, suave gentleman reminiscent of a 50s movie star (but it’s mainly the: ‘If I saw you in an alleyway I would scream’ kind of mo’s!). Our in-house team Hair of the Dog are growing facial patches like real troopers. We have the barely see them mo’s, the handle bars, the French chic versions and everything in between. Donate here if you wish.
Urchin, the studio behind the ‘Made in Movember’ design actually create a new campaign each year. As Tim Meyer from Urchin explains: “Re-designing the campaign direction each year is a core component of what makes Movember tick. We are raising very serious men’s health issues, so a new campaign each year also allows us to have fun and approach these causes in different ways without focusing on the negatives.”
We think it must be challenging but a whole lotta fun re-freshing the campaign year-to-year. Challenging because the team have to find a balance between theme, fun, message and health and this has to be done across 21 countries via print, web, video, advertising and products. Fun because it just is!
Collateral breakdown:
Postcards: Impact 300gsm
Campaign posters: Impact 135gsm
A2 health posters: Impact 135gsm
Party gig poster: Impact 135gsm
Health pocket guide: Impact 190gsm
(The campaign also included stubby holders, stickers, arm bands and a cloth bag to house everything).
Title: Workbook Creators: Brooke Holm and Marsha Golemac Agency: Ortolan (VIC) Stocks and printing specs: See specs at bottom of email Printed by: Offset component by Southern Colour (VIC), binding by Mercedes Waratah (VIC), embellishments by Enhance Print (VIC). Dry toner book printed and bound by McKellar Renown Press (VIC) on a Xerox Colour 800, digital postcard printed on this machine too.
Oooooo we like a wee bit of collaboration around here, especially when it comes in the form of an uber talented photographer and stylist aka Brooke Holm and Marsha Golemac. It’s the first time the pair (and good friends) have worked together on a project of their very own, just for them. Brooke’s photography from America and Canada paired with Marsha’s stylistic response has resulted in ‘Workbook’ and a damn fine piece of creative.
This is how it started: Brooke speaks to Catherine Doggett about her trip to North America. After some earlier discussions about working together, printing the photos seems a good fit. Catherine then thinks about Marsha and her awesome styling work and hey presto, a collaboration is born. Ortolan then joins the picture to provide some graphic design prowess, paper is meticulously selected by internal, democratic voting, a few production meetings, loads of phone calls and emails and some more production chats, an exhibition at Modern Times takes place and in the end everyone’s a winner!
This commercial print piece has become not only a beautiful, inspirational project but a testament to collaborations that work. The right creative, people and paper (choosing Strathmore worked super well because the paper has even ink lay down, produced nice solids and sharp image production). An interview on the pair’s creative process appears on the Modern Times blog which is worth checking out.
Other than the offset printed Workbook, we also ran out a dry toner version and some postcards (two offset and one digital on an Indigo machine) to show the results you can achieve using both printing methods. This is becoming more important with the need to include print components in a campaign and both long and short runs. You want the paper to match between presses and with a bit of craftiness when it comes to production, you can achieve an excellent result. Your paper specialist can run you through everything when they visit.
Some tips on production:
A lot of work was done in the pre-press stages. It was crucial with the photographs particularly, to take out any shadows so we opened the mid tones. Not much had to be adjusted on press as a result.
We printed the offset book line screen not stochastic.
Strathmore is a true white ie not blue white. The Ultimate White adds a small amount of yellow into the mix, so be aware of this in the file preparation stage. You can compensate for it on press but you may as well do it before then.
For the offset job we ran the Smooth sheets on a coated profile and the Wove ones on an uncoated profile. The line screen was 225.
For the digital job we ran it on a coated profile as the colours were much more vibrant with this setting.
Print specs:
Workbook cover – Strathmore Premium Wove Glacier Mist 270gsm + holographic silver foil. Section sewn, drawn on cover + white buckram tape on spine.
Workbook text – section 1 (16pp): Strathmore Premium Wove Ultimate White 118gsm. CMYK + PMS9244 U (pink) and PMS9040 U (blue) with emboss on first page. Section 2 (8pp): Strathmore Premium Super Smooth Ultimate White 118gsm. CMYK + PMS9244 U (pink) and PMS9040 U (blue). Section 3 (16pp): Strathmore Premium Super Smooth Ultimate White 148gsm. CMYK + PMS9040 U (blue).
Postcards (offset and digital) are a mix of Strathmore Premium Wove Ultimate White 352gsm and 432gsm.
Dry toner book:
Printed on a Xerox Colour 800 with a spot gloss varnish done in line on the Xerox.
Cover: Concept Vellum Ocean Mist 352gsm + white gloss foil and singer sewn spine.
Text – Strathmore Premium Wove Ultimate White 148gsm and Strathmore Premium Super Smooth Ultimate White 148gsm. Clear Gloss Varnish on p1 and pp17-24.
Let’s stick together, come on, come on let’s stick togetheeeer. Yes, these are lyrics from a famous song but they also represent our sticky side, Doggett Labels that is. We’re talking labels made in-house to give you the chance to get your paws on some super quick. If we don’t have the label you want, select the size and material and we’ll make it for you. And if you’re still not sure, you can visit our dedicated website section where you can search by shape, height/width, labels per sheet and sheet size. There are loads of uses for labels you may never have considered so we’ve included some for you below.
In a nutshell, we have:
A HUGE range of templates and sheet sizes.
Labels available in these sheet sizes: A4 (210x297mm), CG (225x330mm) and SRA3 (320x450mm).
Custom jobs aok.
Materials include: white laser, white gloss, matt white synthetic, translucent synthetic, Buffalo Kraft, matt white synthetic and fluorescent (green/orange/pink/red/yellow
Applications: warehousing, logistics, despatch and freight functions, address labels for letters, parcels and packaging, office use (files, folders, organisation and storage labels), product labels for branding, pricing, specials and use by date, closure seals (food, packaging, boxes, envelopes), hospital applications (radiology, admission), pharmaceuticals, CD/DVD/other media.
If you don’t already have a flyer like the one pictured, call your paper specialist.
AWE is an Australian ‘cosmeceutical’ range. That’s not a made up word! Cosmeceutical means products that are a blend of cosmetic and pharmaceutical active ingredients to create a unique biological effect. Sounds a little bit fancy really. The range is also natural, luxuriant and eco-friendly. AWE also offers Ayurveda skin care (pronounced eye-your-vay-da), a 5000 year old holistic medical system from India designed to rejuvenate the mind and the body. Due to popular demand, the range will soon be available nationally.
To celebrate their growth, a new product brochure was created. Printed digitally on Maine Recycled – Silk 150gsm, the natural sheen of the paper gives the brochure a luxurious, fresh look. Lindsay Spencer from AWE shares: “Using a recycled stock was particularly important as we wanted to remain true to the brand’s ethical ethos.”
Seesaw recently designed Jardan’s new retail brochure and it’s a stunner. Featuring their latest range of gorgeous modern furniture and homewares, we know what we’ll be asking Santa for Christmas!
If you have been to one of Jardan’s showrooms, you want to touch and feel everything, it is definitely an experience for the senses. The retail brochure was designed as a tactile printed piece for Jardan’s customers and clients. Sort of like bringing the showroom straight into their hands. Featuring Grange Offset 135gsm cover and 110gsm for the text, the natural, uncoated paper ties in nicely with Jardan’s colour palette. Grange Offset also comes with a stack of environmental credentials that echo the strong sustainability values that are so integral to the Jardan brand.
In collaboration with the Jardan team and extended creative family, the much loved Australian brand has a refreshed new identity that captures the heart and soul crafted into every irresistible Jardan piece. Seesaw explains: “The interlocking ‘J’ logo mark is reminiscent of an interlocking heart with the woven fabric inspired forms that create the ultimate Jardan seal of quality. It is a mark that encompasses the developed positioning statement – Jardan. Made for life. We are thrilled with the result, as are our clients.”
If you want to get your paws on a beautiful Jardan brochure, they’re now available in their showrooms across Australia.
The newest addition to our Doggett Digital range is Tacky Dry, a range of unique polyester products certified for use on all popular dry toner machines (only). Durable, tear, resistant and waterproof, the products run great, print great and have excellent toner adhesion. We don’t need to say too much more really.
Andy Ashton has produced another set of winning tacky images to continue the Tacky (for Indigo machines) story. The porcelain flamingo with the doilies is almost tacky chic. Did we just say that?
White super permanent: A high quality decal solution for projects requiring a permanent fix. Available in white only.
Applications: appliance labels, warehouse external signage, construction dumpsters, freezer labels, water heater labels etc.
Crystal Cling: Non adhesive cling used for interior and exterior applications. No solvents are needed for fixing or removal. It’s a true clear cling making it great for window applications.
Applications: shop specials, car window stickers, in store advertising, changeable window graphics eg stained glass look, fire safety signs, operating hours signs etc.
White Repositionable: A great alternative to vinyl because it won’t stretch when removed from the surface and will keep its shape even when reapplied. The face stock is a woven polyester fabric material, which is water, tear and UV resistant. The removable adhesive will not only stick to virtually any surface, it’s also repositionable, so it can easily be moved again and again. It’s like a magnet, but better, because you’re not limited to just metal surfaces. Painted walls, wood cabinets, glass and metal are all approved surfaces.
Applications: counter mats, custom educational products, employee of the month wall posters, event door and wall signs, interior car labels, laptop skins, magnets, hallway decorations etc.
Super Tuff Poly: This is a unique product because it’s tough but soft and is double sided. It has the positive characteristics of both polyester and paper. It is water and tear resistant and has the excellent durability plus its feeds, prints and handles print finishing processes like paper does. It even folds cleanly, which is really unique compared to other digital synthetic sheets.
Applications: Airline and hospital tray liners, boat manuals, book covers, bookmarks, maps, children books, coasters, construction plans, golf scorecards, heating and cooling tags, hiking luggage tags, maps, menus, place mats, racing bibs, tab dividers, tags, tape measures, tree tags, wristbands.
A key component to creating outstanding work stems from clear communication between you and your supplier.
You’ve spent hours inspecting every detail. Polishing each pixel and picking the perfect colours. The design is complete and the client has signed it off. They’re tickled pink with the work you’ve done so far and now it’s time to turn your design into physical and functional expressions of their brand. There’s a deadline on the horizon and you’re about to release your work into the wild.
So what’s next? Here are five helpful tips to make sure you get a great result.
Do your homework Find out how your tools interface with the tools of your supplier. Before you send off your work, do your best to gain a reasonable overview of how your supplier gets their work done. By understanding what happens with your PDF after it hits their inbox and before it rolls off the production line, you’ll be better equipped to not only avoid common pitfalls, you’ll also be more able to design in a way that produces results unique to that medium.
Ask questions The only stupid question is the one left unasked. In a collaborative effort, this goes both ways. Be prepared to ask any and all questions you have about the project, and expect your supplier to fire a few back too. If they aren’t seeking a deeper insight into your work, they are not interested and they are not a collaborator.
Tell them what your expectations are Clearly specify what you’re after, both in a physical sense (size, shape, colour, texture, quantity, quality) but also in a way that communicates the overall objectives of your brief. A good supplier will respond to all the information you give them.
From there – you should be able to get a reasonably accurate estimate for your project.
Visit your supplier Shaking hands with the people that produce your work has immense value. Just like working with your client, you need to be able to trust and understand the people that you’re handing your baby (design) to. Bring your client if you can.
You’ll want to make a minimum of one visit, but two is better: before and/or during production. If you can take a look at the production process beforehand, you’ll be able to see the materials in the flesh, and pick up a slew of samples. If you can iron out the kinks before you begin, you might not need to visit during production.
Be prepared with a list of questions and a keen ear.
Keep designing All the back and forth, questions and discussions over the project will be worth nothing if they aren’t actioned. Make sure you understand the responses to your questions. You may need to redesign your work to fit within the production methods and the production methods may need to be rethought to achieve the design.
Image by Magdalena Ksiezak
About Simon Hipgrave – he’s the co-founder of The Hungry Workshop, a design and letterpress studio in Northcote, Victoria.
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