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Epson backs return to NEC for The Print Show

Wed, 25 Apr 2018 15:33:32 +0000

Phil McMullin, sales manager of Epson UK, has said that the company is looking forward to building on its “big success” at The Print Show last year, with plans to showcase further opportunities at the 2018 event.

IMMEDIATE MEDIA CO MAKES MAJOR INVESTMENT IN LEADERSHIP TEAM AS IT LOOKS TO ACCELERATE GROWTH

Ashleigh Grady — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 15:11:52 +0000

Immediate Media Co, the special interest content and platform company, today announces three major appointments to its Leadership team, significantly strengthening its strategic and e-commerce expertise.

Alison Forrestal is appointed Group Managing Director; responsible for driving digital growth, innovation and strategic development across a portfolio of Immediate’s market leading brands, including cycling, weddings and gardening, as well its advertising sales groups.

With a proven background in customer engagement and new product development, Alison previously headed-up retail and partnership operations for Media at Amazon. Prior to this, Alison successfully ran a number of businesses for multi-national beverage producer Diageo, in Russia, America and Australia.

Katy Gotch takes up the new role of Director of Business Development, with a remit to develop Immediate’s M&A strategy, in addition to new product development and incremental revenue growth strategies across the business.

With 20 years senior management and consulting experience, Katy has worked with some of the UK’s leading multi-channel retailers, including Dixons, Boots, EE and Homebase. Katy was Director of Group Strategy at the Home Retail Group, where she initiated and drove the development of the partnership between Sainsbury’s and Argos which ultimately led to the £1.2bn take-over of Argos. Most recently she was Director of Strategy and Customer Experience at Sainsbury’s Argos.

Andrew Gabriel joins as Group Managing Director for Immediate TV, overseeing Immediate’s TV Shopping channels, Jewellery Maker and Sewing Quarter.

Andrew has 25 years’ senior experience in marketing, e-commerce, purchasing and growth development for large international multi-channel retail, private equity and start-up businesses. Prior to joining Immediate Andrew was MD of TV shopping channel Ideal World, which was sold to Blackstone Private Equity in 2015. Andrew has also held senior positions at Staples Europe and Dixons.

Immediate Media CEO, Tom Bureau, says: “As we enter the next stage of the Immediate journey, we are focused on growth through M&A and developing our existing digital and e-commerce businesses, on top of our amazing print engine.

The appointments of Alison, Katy and Andrew bolster our strategic, M&A and e-commerce expertise. They bring a wealth of experience of identifying and delivering new business opportunities to drive growth across multiple platforms, and further strengthen our already talented leadership team.”

The Printing Charity in dedication to education

Wed, 25 Apr 2018 14:00:51 +0000

The Printing Charity and The Stationers Foundation has highlighted the importance of education in the industry, by supporting the BPIF Masters Programme by offering a bursary of £6,000.

Can print be the answer in the fashion industry?

Wed, 25 Apr 2018 10:01:08 +0000

Can print be the answer for a more environmentally friendly fashion industry? The question may seem like an odd one, but recently, designer Stella McCartney spoke out on how damaging fashion can be for the environment—an issue she has always tried to fix in her work—because of the waste and how products are sourced.

Indigo Ross moves in on Deltaprint

Wed, 25 Apr 2018 10:01:08 +0000

Sudbury-based design and print firm Indigo Ross has pulled off a stunning business move by taking over their rival Deltaprint in a timely merger.

Mutoh to introduce ValueJet 1638U at Fespa 2018

Wed, 25 Apr 2018 08:51:42 +0000

Mutoh Europe will use Fespa 2018 to introduce its ValueJet 1638UR, a 64in wide dual head, dual lamp UV LED roll-to-roll printer.

JPK UV printer to get Fespa 2018 launch

Wed, 25 Apr 2018 08:48:38 +0000

MS Printing Solutions will launch its high capacity JPK UV printer at Fespa 2018. Based on the JPK water-based ink model, the new multipass printer aims to fill a growing need for high-volume UV LED roll-to-roll production, with primary customers expected to be traditional flexo or helio users who want to convert to digital printing.

Simpson Group invests in Infigo Software solutions

Wed, 25 Apr 2018 08:44:58 +0000

POP and POS specialist The Simpson Group has employed Infigo Software to help develop its systems. The PSP’s online print manager Rachel Tait, explained: “We chose Infigo software for the continued growth it will allow our business and the exceptional user experience it will provide to our current clients, as well as for a seamless integration with our new Tharstern MIS.”

GMG ColorProof 5.10 sports improved layout tools and workflow automation

Wed, 25 Apr 2018 08:43:58 +0000

To close the gap between traditional proofing and mockup creation the new GMG ColorProof 5.10 and GMG OpenColor 2.1.5 support Epson SC-S80600 for the creation of colour accurate and reproducible prints.

From Croatia with Love

Steven Heller — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 05:38:43 +0000

Otto Antonini (1892–1959) was born in Italy and later moved to Zagreb, Croatia, where he became a popular illustrator. After graduating the Accademia di Belle Arti, he became an illustrator much in the art deco style. The cover comps here, drawn from an exhibition catalog at Muzej grada Zagreba in 2006, are from Svijet (World) from 1926–1932. Antonini was a visual editor and the main illustrator of the illustrated weekly (the first issue of which came out on February 6, 1926). He also founded and edited the satirical Bishop magazine, and under pseudonym Strihnina published acerbic cartoons. He was also known for designing and illustrating postage stamps.

The deadline for the Regional Design Awards has been extended, but only until April 30.

Your judges: Sagi Haviv, Rebeca Méndez, Nancy Skolos, Alexander Isley, Chad Michael, Gail Anderson and Justin Peters.

The post From Croatia with Love appeared first on Print Magazine.

Meet the Judges: Nancy Skolos

Callie Budrick — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 05:00:19 +0000

Meet the rest of the star-studded panel of Regional Design Awards judges: Sagi Haviv, Rebeca Méndez, Alexander Isley, Chad Michaels, Gail Anderson, Justin Peters

For more than 35 years, PRINT’s Regional Design Awards has been honoring excellence across all channels of design. Whether you’re a freelancer, part of a large agency, an in-house creative or even a student, your unique work could reign supreme in this widely celebrated competition.

Behind each RDA is a panel of A-list design experts ready to unearth fresh talent and shine a spotlight on groundbreaking ideas. In this series, we will interview each judge and take a closer look at some of the spectacular work they’ve created during their career.

Nancy Skolos: Bio

Nancy Skolos works closely with her husband Thomas Wendell to challenge the boundaries between graphic design and photography. In 1980 they opened Skolos, Wendell + Raynor in Boston. Around this time, their studio gained success in the 80s when technology made it possible to make “the invisible visible.” Their partner Kenneth Raynor left the Boston area in 1990 and Skolos-Wendell carried on as a duo. By 1993 their studio had been featured in Eye magazine where they were labeled as “techno-cubists.”

Throughout their career, the duo’s approach has matured and their client base has grown, but they’ve kept to their impassioned roots experimenting with photography and design.

Together, Skolos and Wendell have authored two books: Type, Image, Message, published by Rockport in 2006, and Graphic Design Process, published by Laurence King in 2012. Skolos has been teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design since 1989 and believes that teaching graphic design is as vital as the practice itself.

Skolos and Wendell have had their work showcased in collections at the MoMA, The Israel Museum and the Museum of Design in Zürich. In 2017, the two were awarded the AIGA Medal for their work “pushing the boundaries of art, design and technology with a distinctive vision to find connection among disparate forms.”

Do you have a driving philosophy behind your work?

My partner Tom Wedell and I communicate visually by synthesizing graphic design and photography. We have spent decades analyzing the unique characteristics of words and images—both consciously and subconsciously—and setting them in motion to fuse narrative with sensation.

What was the most important roadblock you faced as a designer?

Our most important challenge has always been to find a balance between taking risks and producing coherent communication.

What would be impossible for you to give up?

Colored pencils.

Have you ever entered the RDA before?

Yes. I think it’s fascinating to see the influence of context and place on design. As far as I know, Print’s Regional Design Annual is unique in this way of curating and categorizing work.

As a judge, what are you hoping to see from the region you’re evaluating?

The smartest and best work.

The post Meet the Judges: Nancy Skolos appeared first on Print Magazine.

The true cost of sublimation

Tue, 24 Apr 2018 13:12:41 +0000

With the boom in the dye-sublimation printing sector continuing to gather momentum, one of its key technology players has warned sign-makers to take ‘hidden costs’ into consideration before they make the leap into producing soft signage, personalised products, and textile-based graphics in-house.

Newspaper group merger thrown into doubt

Tue, 24 Apr 2018 13:12:41 +0000

The acquisition of Northern and Shell by Trinity Mirror has been thrown into doubt by Culture Minister Matt Hancock reports the business website City AM.

Local press exposes print's 'Bonnie and Clyde'

Tue, 24 Apr 2018 13:12:41 +0000

With help from Print Monthly, the Barry and District News has exposed the dodgy dealings of the print farmer Neill Malcom Stuart John.

Bluetree Group to challenge Europe

Tue, 24 Apr 2018 13:12:41 +0000

After being named the ‘One to Watch’ from the UK in the European Business Awards, Bluetree Group are appealing to the public for help, as they challenge to become ‘European Public Champion’ and overall winner of their category. The award’s final stages will take place in Warsaw, Poland in May.

Tiger Rag: Attitudes toward Hyphenation and Rag Settings

Paul Shaw — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 12:20:31 +0000

Register today for the free course “5 Skills Every Design Needs to Know.”

Paul Shaw investigates the history of both justified and flush left, rag right settings, and takes a look at contemporary hyphenation practices—and issues like the modern-day design allergy to hyphens.

This essay began as an inquiry into contemporary hyphenation practices in books and magazines, but quickly spread to include an investigation of the history of justified and flush left, rag right settings. In turn, that investigation threatened to lead to others as it became clear that language, typeface choice, point size, line length and paragraphing styles influenced the quality of these two text formatting approaches. Thus, as with anything involving typography, it turns out that even something as humble as the hyphen is inextricably linked to larger issues. Most of those larger issues will be ignored in order to keep this essay from becoming a novel.

The hyphen is an unprepossessing character. Yet, it elicits loathing among many contemporary graphic designers. They do what they can to avoid it. They turn off hyphenation when setting text flush left, rag right. They try to minimize the number of hyphens in a row at the end of lines in justified text setting. Where did this attitude come from?

The hyphen was originally invented by the Greeks to aid the reader to overcome ambiguity in scriptura continua (writing without word spaces). According to Paul Saenger, author of Space between Words: The Origins of Silent Reading (1997), it was introduced, along with other diacritical signs and marks of punctuation, into Latin writing in the late 2nd century or the 3rd century when the Romans adopted the Greek style of scriptura continua. From the 8th century onward the hyphen was used as a consistent sign to correct an inappropriately placed space in separated writing, including words broken across a line.

In producing his Bible, Johann Gutenberg copied medieval scribal practices as well as the textura of local German manuscripts. This meant that his character set included numerous ligatures, abbreviations, and alternate narrow letters that enabled his columns of text to be justified and yet have close and consistent word spacing. And, like the scribes, Gutenberg employed hyphens to link words across lines. His hyphens are angled double lines and, remarkably, they are hung in the margin. Consequently, the pages of the Gutenberg Bible are beautiful. In the design and use of his hyphens Gutenberg had solved some of the problems that confront modern typographers. [Fig. 1]

Fig.1: Detail of page from the B42 Bible of Johannes Gutenberg (1455). Note how the hyphens hung in the margins as well as the use of ligatures (e.g., colatis in line 1) and abbreviations (e.g., Regnate in line 7) to achieve justification with even word spacing.

While Gutenberg used an enormous character set to achieve a consistent texture, subsequent printers dispensed with most of the ligatures, abbreviations and alternate forms as unnecessary. They realized that, unlike scribes, they could achieve justification by distributing space within a line. Yet, hyphens continued to be essential for line breaks, though hanging hyphens disappeared because they made composing metal type more complicated. Jenson, Ratdolt and Aldus used angled but single hyphens, while the latter also introduced the horizontal hyphen we know today. No one seemed to be overly concerned with the number of hyphenated lines in a row. Four in a row can be found not only in the Gutenberg Bible, but in such other celebrated books as the Nuremberg Chronicle (1492) printed by Anton Koberger, the polyglot Bible (1569–1572) of Christopher Plantin, and the Médailles sur les Principaux Evenements du Règne de Louis le Grand (1702) set in the Romain du Roi. [Fig. 2] In the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili printed by Aldus Manutius there is at least one page with five hyphens in succession: two diagonal, two horizontal, and one diagonal. (It should be noted that diagonal hyphens not only fill space better than horizontal ones, but that they take up less space laterally.)

Fig. 2: p. 88 from Médailles sur les Principaux Evenements du Règne de Louis le Grand (1702) set in the Romain du Roi. Note the three hyphens in a row at top right; and the use of an ampersand in place of “et” in several places.

[Click here to see the Liber Chronicarum (the Nuremberg Chronicle), and note the four hyphens in a row midway down the page (f.1r). Click here to see the Biblia Regia (polyglot Bible), noting that on the right-hand page there are four hyphens in a row in the italic column and five in a row in the Greek column. And click here for the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili printed by Aldus Manutius (1499).]

There is no information about what printers thought about such situations. It is not until the late 18th century that hyphenation—or word division as it was styled—first appears in printers’ manuals. John Smith, author of The Printer’s Grammar (1787), approvingly says, “It shews a good judgment in a Compositor, to prevent Divisions, or any other Point, to fall too repeatedly upon one another, at the end of lines, especially where a syllable may be got in, or drove out, without much difficulty.” But exactly how many broken lines in a row is unacceptable he does not say. Nearly one hundred years after Smith, John Southward, in Practical Printing (1884), was more explicit: “Our first advice, however, to those about to divide would be simply, ‘Don’t.’ If you can prevent it by altering the spacing, do so; but the spacing should not be glaringly different to that of preceding and following lines … Two successive lines ending with a divided word are unsightly, but three should never be permitted, except in very narrow measures.” Unfortunately, Southward’s book is visually unsightly, pockmarked with large word spaces—including double spaces after punctuation—and paragraphs indicated by a combination of indents and line spaces. [Fig. 3]

Fig. 3: p. 99 fromPractical Printing by John Southward (1884). Note the large word spaces following a period and the unnecessary line spaces between paragraphs.

Theodore Low De Vinne, considered to be the best printer in America in the latter half of the 19th century, wrote a quartet of books on printing practice, including one entitled Correct Composition (1901). Unlike Smith or Southward, he refuses to make any rigid pronouncements on the proper number of hyphens in a row, concluding that, “A strict compliance with all these rules is impracticable in the ordinary measure without the cooperation of an author who is willing to shorten or lengthen the words in a line by substituting synonymous words or expletives that will prevent the objectionable division. There are few authors who will take this trouble. Without doubt, words always appear better unbroken, but the breaking of words may not be so unsightly as the breaking up of a general uniformity of the spacing between words.” Only eight times, though, does De Vinne resort to as many as three hyphens in succession in his 489-page book—two of them in explaining word division in German. [Fig. 4]

Fig. 4: p. 83 from The Practice of Typography: Correct Composition by Theodore Low De Vinne (1901). One of the few instances where three hyphens in a row occur. The double word spaces following punctuation was typical of 19th-century typography, even that of De Vinne.

De Vinne’s and Southward’s books are both marked by loose word spacing, a hallmark of 19th-century typography, instances of the feeble printing that spurred William Morris to establish his Kelmscott Press. Although Morris is known for sparking a revival of robust typefaces, his contribution to typography is often overlooked. He copied Nicolas Jenson’s use of angled hyphens. But more importantly, his emulation of the Venetian printer’s dense and even text blocks triggered an enduring preference for close word spacing in text. [Fig. 5] Geoffrey Dowding, author of Finer Points in the Spacing and Arrangement of Type (1954) praised Jenson, noting that “one of the essentials of well set text matter—a striplike quality of line” is only achievable with consistent close spacing. [Fig. 6]

Fig. 5: p. 3 from The Golden Legend of Master William Caxton (Kelmscott Press, 1892) designed by William Morris. Note the angled hyphens and the use of ampersands in place of “and.”

Fig. 6: p. 2 from Eusebius printed by Nicolas Jenson (1470). Note the close word-spacing and the angled hyphens.

The desire for a dense but even color in blocks of text led Dowding to assert that “it is infinitely preferable to have a number of break lines succeeding each other than to have widely word-spaced lines.” In support of his point he approvingly cited an unnamed book by Plantin that, despite having 10 hyphenated lines in a row on one page, had impeccable word spacing. Jan Tschichold was in agreement with Dowding. In his Penguin Composition Rules (1947), he wrote, “Words may be freely broken whenever necessary to avoid wide spacing, as breaking words is less harmful to the appearance of the page than too much space between words.” [Fig. 7]

Fig. 7: p. 15 from Finer Points in the Spacing and Arrangement of Type by Geoffrey Dowding (1954) showing the close word-spacing he advocated. He was indifferent to the presence of widows in bookwork, remarking that they did not matter unless on the last page of a chapter.

Dowding urged close spacing after punctuation (something taken for granted today but lacking in 19th-century typography and much ordinary printing of the first half of the 20th century), proposed hanging hyphens in the margin, and controversially suggested the use of the ampersand in place of “and” to save space (though not for every instance of the word). The latter idea was not as radical as it seemed because early printers frequently used ampersands to adjust the spacing of lines and achieve a justified block of text. It was also an idea propounded (and demonstrated) by Eric Gill in An Essay on Typography (1931).

In fact, Gill was even more willing to challenge convention than Dowding. Not only did he liberally use ampersands for “and” but he also used contractions (e.g., “tho’”), and superscript letters (e.g., “production”) to achieve even spacing. But most importantly, he advocated that text be set flush left, rag right (though he did not use that phrase) as not only more natural than justified setting, but as the best way to guarantee consistent word spacing. He considered the insistence on justified text to be nothing more than a superstition, remarking that “even spacing is more important typographically than equal length.” In his view justified text existed to satisfy man’s desire for neatness. [Fig. 8]

Fig. 8: p. 106 from An Essay on Typography by Eric Gill (1931) showing his use of ampersands and superscript letters.

Gill’s encouragement of such antiquated practices as the use of ampersands, contractions and superscript type not only reflected his background as a letterer and lettercarver, but also suggests that he too yearned for neatness. Otherwise, his desire for natural line endings should have led him to accept loose rags.

Gill is apparently the first person to advocate flush left, rag right setting for text blocks. In the 1920s the proponents of die neue typographie (“the new typography”) in Germany clung to justified text in their works even as they railed against central axis typography. Their focus was on titles and headings, not on continuous text. [Fig. 9] This limited perspective continued with the Swiss modernists in the 1930s and 1940s. The earliest example of flush left, rag right setting after Gill that I have been able to find is Max Bill’s essay “über typographie” in the April 1946 issue of Schweizer Grafische Mitteilungen. Yet, the texts of later publications designed by Bill are set justified. The first Swiss designer to set his texts flush left, rag right on a consistent basis was Karl Gerstner, beginning with a special issue of Werk in 1955.

Fig. 9: p. 11 from Die neue Typographie by Jan Tschichold (1928). The text is justified with four hyphens in a row.

Bill’s essay is notable for its lack of hyphens, while Gerstner’s texts (e.g., kalte kunst? [1957] and die neue graphik [1959]) use them sparingly. Neither man aimed at achieving the near-justified look that Gill sought. But their rags were tight.

In his retrospective Karl Gerstner: Review of 5 x 10 Years of Graphic Design, Etc., Gerstner emphasized his pioneering use of flush left, rag right text in Werk, but in his influential essay “Integral Typography” (1959) he avoided the topic entirely, including his views on hyphenation. Instead he guardedly observed the following: “Today typographers use both sans and Roman type, set books both symmetrically and asymmetrically, use both flush left, ragged right and flush left, flush right. Today everything is stylistically allowable, allowable from the point of view of up-to-dateness.” [Fig. 10]

Fig. 10: “Integral typography” from Designing Programmes by Karl Gerstner (1964). Note the “bad” rags of the final two paragraphs, one with a “weird shape” and the other with lines too even and too short.

Gerstner was not alone among the leading Swiss designers of the 1950s through the 1970s in ignoring the subject of hyphenation. In his summary of “the ‘new’ typography” in 1961, Josef Müller-Brockmann insisted that “spacing between words should be uniform” but made no comment about flush left, rag right setting or hyphenation. Emil Ruder in Typography (1965) said only that flush left, rag setting is marked by “Even spacing, hence uniform grey.” However, he must have approved of hyphens because his text has them. [Fig. 11] Similarly, it can be presumed that Armin Hofmann was in favor of hyphens because Armin Hofmann: His Work, Quest and Philosophy (1989) uses them liberally (with up to four in a row) to achieve a rag as tight as Gill’s. It should be noted that Gerstner’s rags are looser than those of Hofmann or Ruder, suggesting that he tried to avoid hyphenation as much as possible without abandoning it entirely. [Fig. 12]

Stuart Davis, Paul Rand and Rappaport’s Toys

Steven Heller — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 05:02:58 +0000

I just realized, after digging deep into my subconscious and Google too, why I have an affinity for Paul Rand’s work. It starts with tonsils. Having them out, that is. I was seven, and I had them out at the Civil War–era Columbia Hospital on Second Avenue and 20th Street. It felt in every way that it was still the Civil War era (the hospital was torn down after my ordeal).

My parents promised that as consolation I could have not one but three presents from Rappaport’s Toy Bazaar on 78th Street and Third Avenue. It was a poor man’s F.A.O. Schwartz, but I didn’t care. Rappaport’s was co-owned by Seymour Schwartz (no relation) and Harold Ostrover, his partner and brother-in-law. My mom knew Harold.

They wrapped everything in their signature polka dot paper (prior to Yayoi Kusama too), which inspired Stuart Davis’s 1951–1952 “Rapt At Rappaport’s” (above) a painting of abstract shapes, primary color and letters now at the Hirschorn Museum. “Rapt” has certain similarities to Paul Rand’s own abstract collages and lettering designs. And although I knew about Davis’s painting because a small copy hung near the cash register, I had yet to learn about Rand. Subconscious being what it is, I became interested in the Rand work (especially El Producto), no doubt, because of the Davis painting, which, no doubt, was directly connected to Rappaport’s. Incidentally, I don’t recall all three gifts, but I did get a Fort Apache set based on the Rin Tin Tin show, which had nothing to do with polka dots, Davis or Rand.

The deadline for the Regional Design Awards has been extended, but only until April 30.

Your judges: Sagi Haviv, Rebeca Méndez, Nancy Skolos, Alexander Isley, Chad Michael, Gail Anderson and Justin Peters.

The post Stuart Davis, Paul Rand and Rappaport’s Toys appeared first on Print Magazine.

Meet the Judges: Justin Peters

Print staff — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 18:17:50 +0000

Meet the rest of the star-studded panel of Regional Design Awards judges: Sagi Haviv, Rebeca Méndez, Nancy Skolos, Alexander Isley, Gail Anderson, Justin Peters

Justin Peters: Official Bio

Justin has been solving complex branding challenges for top-tier consumer brands, professional services companies, nonprofit organizations, and governments around the globe for over two decades. As CSA’s Executive Creative Director, he leverages deep understanding of global markets, geographies and cultures to breathe fresh and enduring life into brands of all shapes and sizes.

Justin is a legacy member of the CSA family. He began his career here 25 years ago and has grown into the creative leadership role for signature clients, including Assurant Health, Disney, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sesame Workshop, and The White House Millennium Council. After 15 years at CSA, Justin moved on to travel the world, serving as Global Executive Creative Director for international branding agency, Siegel+Gale. He lived, worked, and spoke across the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, while leading engagements with Google/Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, Ingersoll-Rand, Tata Group, Dubai Telecom, GE Real Estate, Aetna, and Rotary International.

In 2015, Justin returned home to CSA with a wealth of experience and an unshakable belief in the power of design to transform businesses, brand experiences, and people’s lives. Since his return, Justin has been integral in keeping CSA’s renowned creative work fresh and focused for clients new and old.

A native New Yorker, Justin is a lifelong member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, and a design critic at Rhode Island School of Design and The University of the Arts. He has received multiple design awards, internationally and domestically, including the Presidential Design Award for his work with the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum.

How did you get into the design industry?

I studied Graphic Design at the University of the Arts, in Philadelphia. After graduation in 1991, I moved back to NYC. That summer I received a call from Ken Carbone asking me to come in for an interview at Carbone Smolan Agency (CSA). Both Ken and Leslie Smolan had graduated from UArts (formerly Philadelphia College of Art). Turns out that one of my design instructors had recommended Ken reach out to me. It was a great example of the UArts alumni community in action. I worked my way up the ranks at CSA over the next 14 years.

Can you tell us about the most complex branding challenge you’ve faced and how you and your team solved it?

While at Siegel+Gale, I had the distinct privilege of leading the brand development and launch of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Science, engineering and higher education have emerged during the last few decades as the essential tools of diversification for any country competing globally to achieve economic growth and create high-wage jobs. Economic development based on investments in science and higher education has become nothing less than a global race.

KAUST would play a key role in the overall economic development strategy of the country—a strategy designed to address the long-term challenges facing national prosperity, such as an economy that is highly dependent on the export of oil and the fact that about 40% of Saudi Arabia’s population is under the age of 18, which poses the challenge of employment and job creation.

The challenge was to create a holistic branding program that would position KAUST as a unique community of leading scientists and engineers, independent in spirit, but united in their desire to build an unprecedented institution that advances both science and society.

The program was the most comprehensive I had worked on, and it included the following:

Deep cultural immersion
A brand positioning that would engage an international audience of top researchers, staff and students
A verbal and visual identity system that would perform in multiple languages across platforms and touchpoints while resonating with local, regional and global communities
A dual-language naming system that would include all the streets, facilities and features of an entirely new city on the shores of the Red Sea
Recruiting communications and events
Campus environmental branding and wayfinding

A major consideration for success was not only assembling a team of influential people in the education, science and technology space, but also ensuring that cultural concerns and nuances would be addressed through close partnership with local and regional thought-leaders.

True collaboration between all the disciplines and stakeholders throughout the process was essential to meet the client’s high expectations and the incredibly tight deadlines.

In 2010, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology awarded Master’s degrees to 292 pioneering graduates, 15 months after the university opened.

You’ve worked with many big brands, from Disney, Sesame Workshop and Chicago Symphony Orchestra to Google/Motorola, Hewlett-Packard and Dubai Telecom. Does any one client relationship or project stand out as a favorite? Why?

One of my favorite design opportunities was to build and launch the Moto X brand. Google had just acquired Motorola and was poised to release its first product, the Moto X phone.

Googlefying the classic Motorola identity was a really fun study in balancing brand voice, legacy and other equities. The merged brand had to be clear, compelling and credible for a tech-savvy audience that not only knows what they like, but inherently knows “Brand.”

The merger didn’t last long, but when Google sold Motorola to Lenovo, many of the identity moves we made survived.

Having traveled extensively—the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Asia—and having developed a deep understanding of global markets, geographies and cultures, is there anything you can share that might help other designers and creative directors to breathe new life into an international brand?

Here’s an article I wrote on Finding Humanity in Global Design.

If you weren’t living and working in the U.S., where would you choose to live and work?

I loved living and working in London, probably because it has a similar creative energy to New York. It’s also a great walkable city. It’s really important for me to have time and space to think outside the studio, but not quiet space—space full of stimuli. Any city that you can walk around and constantly be inspired, challenged and surprised by works for me.

What’s the biggest example you’ve witnessed of the power of design?

The launch of the refreshed Dale Carnegie Training brand was an amazing experience.

It’s rare moment when a company’s global conference features the Visual Brand Toolkit at the center of the keynote presentation. But in December 2016, that’s exactly what happened at Dale Carnegie’s Biannual Convention.

Dale Carnegie needed a verbal and visual brand refresh that could help their already- proud and deeply connected employees and trainers articulate the company’s value to younger generations around the world.

An entirely reconceived visual toolkit was at the heart of the rebrand … more color applied with purpose, more authentic and engaging photography of actual clients, trainers and training experiences; localized marketing tools and identity assets in local languages … and all of this put into action through motion and video narratives.

The brand was unveiled at the convention and received by the thousands in attendance with a joyful and tearful standing ovation. They finally had the tools to share how they felt about the brand and its role in transforming clients’ lives. It was an incredibly proud moment to be part of. A true testament to the power of design.

During your time as a design critic at Rhode Island School of Design and The University of the Arts, what has surprised you most? (e.g., anything about design education or today’s students?)

I’ve been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to work with design students around the world, but interestingly, my ongoing collaboration with NYU Stern School of Business comes to mind.

I’ve been working closely with adjunct associate professor Fran Gormley, who leads the Branding + Innovation Lab for advanced MBA students seeking real-world consulting experience. The Lab works with clients including MasterCard, Time Inc. and National Geographic on real-world strategic marketing challenges.

Over the past four semesters I’ve consulted with the Lab, including embedding designers from our studio into the student working teams. The designers provide the vital bridge from strategic and conceptual thinking to engaging and actionable visualization.

Not sure if it’s a trend, but it should be. Having design and design thinking as an integrated component of education, regardless of level or focus, would make for much clearer and compelling thinking and output. Starting with MBA student seems like a natural starting place.

What are you most proud of when it comes to your life and/or career?

In 2008 I relocated from Siegel+Gale’s London office to Dubai to help build the agency’s Middle East presence. While based in the Middle East, I was immersed in cultures and business environments that were incredibly educational and inspiring.

After nearly two years working in and around Dubai for clients based in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, and being able to visit amazing countries like Jordan, Syria and Egypt, I returned to New York with incredibly useful international experience and a new role as global executive creative director.

The post Meet the Judges: Justin Peters appeared first on Print Magazine.

The secret of a printing success is Welsh

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 13:19:53 +0000

The Welsh printing company Y Lolfa based in Tal-y-bont has expanded its machine range by bringing in a digital press to complement its litho offering.

Stephens and George speeds up with investment

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 13:19:53 +0000

Printing company Stephens and George has moved to enhance its output speed by committing to a major investment that will see all of its presses running at 18,000sph.

Xerox Partners with PrintReleaf to Help Customers Reach Sustainability Goals

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 12:13:00 +0000

UXBRIDGE, U.K., April 23, 2018 – Xerox managed print services (MPS) customers will have the opportunity to contribute to the reforestation of global forests through Xerox’s new partnership with PrintReleaf. Based on a theme of “you print one, we’ll plant one,” PrintReleaf leverages paper usage reporting and equates the number of trees needed to reforest that usage on an equivalent basis in geographic areas of need.

Xerox customers around the world will be able to sign up for PrintReleaf as an add-on to a managed print services contract. Through an online portal, Xerox will help customers select the managed forestry projects where their trees will be planted, in addition to tracking and reporting on their direct reforestation impact.

“From our Green World Alliance program to the Xerox Print Awareness Tool, we have long been known for our dedication to sustainability,” said Wendi Latko, vice president, Environment, Health, Safety & Sustainability, Xerox. “With PrintReleaf, now we’re able to take that commitment one step further by empowering our MPS customers with a an industry certified service that will accelerate and promote their efforts as stewards of the environment."

“Xerox’s roots in sustainability make it an ideal partner for us in our continued work towards a more sustainable planet,” said Jordan Darragh, CEO and founder, PrintReleaf. “This partnership holds great potential as we expand our network of PrintReleaf users and reach new reforestation goals.”

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About PrintReleaf

PrintReleaf is the only technology platform that measures customers' paper usage and equates the number of trees needed to reforest that usage on an equivalent basis. The patented PrintReleaf technology not only tracks paper consumption, but also monitors PrintReleaf reforestation partners to ensure fulfillment. Market-leading companies with a passion for the environment and a progressive concern for advancing environmental stewardship, together with their customers, rely on PrintReleaf to provide a nexus of partnerships involving forestry, technology, and business. For more information, please visit www.printreleaf.com.

About Xerox

Xerox Corporation is a technology leader that innovates the way the world communicates, connects and works. We understand what’s at the heart of sharing information – and all of the forms it can take. We embrace the integration of paper and digital, the increasing requirement for mobility, and the need for seamless integration between work and personal worlds. Every day, our innovative print technologies and intelligent work solutions help people communicate and work better. Discover more at www.xerox.com and follow us on Twitter at @Xerox.

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Media Contact:

Sonia Panchal, Xerox

+44 (0)1895 84 2877

sonia.panchal@xerox.com

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Inprint Litho looking Komfi with UK first

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 12:06:50 +0000

Inprint Litho, also known as Better Printing, has become the first company in the UK to invest in a Komfi Amiga 52 thermal laminator.

SOS to run live demo of Acuity LED 1600R at Sign and Digital UK

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 11:22:49 +0000

SOS will run demonstrations of the Fujifilm Acuity LED 1600R at Sign and Digital UK at the NEC this week.

Tecna Display celebrates second Queen's Award for Enterprise

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 11:22:12 +0000

Tecna Display has taken a second Queen's Award for Enterprise, having received the first award in 2012. It won the accolade for outstanding achievement in the category of international trade.

Delga Press installs first HP Indigo 12000 HD

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 11:03:24 +0000

With the heightened attention on plastics, printers can now seize the opportunity to move into packaging printing. Delga Press, an already established packaging print-service-provider (PSP), has invested in the HP Indigo 12000 HD digital press, which can further enhance opportunities through personalisation, variable data, and special edition work.

Inkless printing: Holy grail within reach

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 11:03:23 +0000

World-wide commercial success using inkless printing technology has been the holy grail of the global industry for decades, but achievement of this goal has eluded successive developers—Lumejet being the latest to try and fall short.

GIS clinches another Queen’s Award for Enterprise

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 06:45:27 +0000

GIS has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2018 for International Trade, in recognition of its outstanding growth in overseas markets from 2015 to 2017. This is the second time that the company has won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, having received its first award in 2013, also for outstanding international sales growth.

ColourGate to show new 3D system at Fespa 2018

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 06:44:05 +0000

ColorGate will present a new 3D capturing and digital reproduction solution at Fespa 2018. The scan-to-print system is based on the Metis Surf 3D scanner combined with ColourGate’s Rip and color management software for decorative digital printing applications. Growth in the direct to object printing segment is also prompting ColourGate to show Measure Mount. The manually adjustable device can be adapted to cylindrical shapes with diameters from 2 - 20 cm in a few steps so that the scanning lineal supplied with the measuring instrument is optimally positioned above the shaped body to be measured and output profiles can be generated. At the show Colourgate will also highlight its Adobe PDF Print Engine based Rip software families Productionserver, Filmgate and Proofgate as well as Productionserver range for ceramic, décor, packaging and textile applications.

Art Of Design Language

Steven Heller — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 05:47:48 +0000

Register today for the free course “5 Skills Every Design Needs to Know.”

When Ryan McGiness started showing his work in the late 1990s one critic, Carlo McCormick, believed his revival of arcane argot of non-self expression looked to be yet another, admittedly inocation of Pop. It was and was not.” The early explorations in the terse language of symbols and icons, McCormick continues in “The Forest of Signs,” an essay in McGuiness’s new book McGiness: #metadata (Damiani), “are remarkably just as articulate, spot on, funny and fresh today as they were at the time. . . . McGinness was storming the back rooms of capitalist coercion where the merchants of desire were divining the lexicon of identifiers by which everyone would come to read the corporate landscape.” He went beyond Pop into a post-Pop hyper criticism and has since continued laying it bare.

Ryan McGinness (b.1972, Virginia Beach) grew up in the surf and skate culture of his home. His paintings, prints, sculpture and installations are created in the manner of Pop Art and incorporate the graphic elements of public signage and corporate logos, as well as images from art history. The fusion of influences establishes his unique language as a multi-faceted reflection of contemporary visual culture.

McGinness received his BFA. at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University, and worked as a curatorial assistant at the Andy Warhol Museum. He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. His work is included in many public and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA; and The Charles Saatchi Collection,

His new eponymous book includes paintings and installations that reveal his fluency with commercial language and their function in both informing and enlivening society. I aske him to talk a bit about the place his new work has in his overall blurring of the lines between art and design languages.

Internal Logic, 2017, acrylic on linen, 85 x 60 in.

Where is #metadata situated in relation to your work within the graphic design sphere?

The #metadata body of work was borne out of a frustration with seeing artwork reproduced without the metadata, or correct captioning—the information about the work that tells us what we’re looking at. Even the New York Times does not properly caption artwork. I think it is irresponsible to show a simulation of a thing without describing what that thing is. The simulation then becomes the thing, and that is dangerous, because it means we lose our sense of reality. Perhaps this is really my own fear of losing my own sense of reality and having it replaced by simulation. I’m a sensualist, and I love making things—things that confront our bodies in a shared space-time that can only be experienced IRL. I started making paintings that included the captioning of the work in a very self-referential way, but then I destroyed those paintings and started making paintings that looked like they were paintings of my paintings—where my paintings became symbolic paintings. The paintings within the paintings look as if they are reproductions or reference other paintings that exist in our real world, but in fact, they are primary productions—paintings made site-specifically within the larger picture planes (which are symbolic presentations of the studio with the studio floor, wall, and paint buckets). I like that the paintings within are simultaneously secondary and primary expressions. They are symbols with no referents.

Evidence, 2017, acrylic on linen, 84 x 60 in.

You were one of the pioneers (post–pop art) of design as art language. What was your impulse to merge the disciplines?

I think the key word is “disciplines,” because the disciplines are closely aligned, but the practices and industries are worlds apart. I am so thankful and fortunate that I went through a disciplined design curriculum at Carnegie Mellon University. I feel like I still do dot and line studies every day. And I have a very process-driven approach to making images. I can’t just sit down and make a beautiful drawing. I have to make numerous sketches that get developed in order to finally arrive at a solution. Even thinking of drawings as solutions comes out of a design discipline. The disciplines diverge when we look at who is defining the problems. My problems come from within (and I have lots of problems!) With “design as art language,” I assume you mean using a design aesthetic and a design process to create works of art. The process I touched upon (sketch development, for example), but the “design aesthetic” is a bit trickier. I think this where a significant contribution to art history can be made—in the aesthetic crossover from design to art. That is what I have been trying to do by using the visual language of universal signs and symbols in order to create my own original images. That process is a subversion of that authoritative visual language that has historically been dictated by the state or corporation.

Studio Floor, 2017, acrylic on linen, 84w x 60 in.

For me, the meta part is the references to the art and design worlds within your pictures. Am I imposing myself on your work?

Oh, the meta part is much simpler. I’m interested in the information about the work—everything from making paintings of paintings to fetishizing the tools for making the work, like the Squeegee Trophies and Screen Combines (paintings on used silkscreens).

But … you should impose yourself onto my work! That is what is exciting about art, and that’s exactly how we find meaning. Meaning is a projection onto work, not a broadcast from the work. As Duchamp claimed, the viewer completes the work by accepting it as art and attributing meaning. It is within this gap—between the artist’s intention and the viewer’s interpretation—where we find the poetry of art. And, it is this gap that differentiates art from design. Within the design industry, the burden of communication is placed squarely on the shoulders of the creator. If the work fails to communicate the intended meaning, it is the failure of the designer, not the viewer. The sender must accommodate, or design for, the receiver. There is an audience in mind. One of the alienating aspects of art is that the same burden is flipped onto the viewer. This is why a lot of people are frustrated when looking at art. The failure to “get it,” makes people dismiss a lot of art. An entire art marketing industry attempts to fill this communication gap. A meaning-machine has emerged to help sell the meaningless to the meaning-seekers. The only function of art is to be art. Art is most appreciated by those who know themselves well and can bring something to the work. Art wants to have a conversation, but if the viewer has nothing to say, art will have nothing to say. Art folds in on itself, and this is where I am now with my own work and the metadata series.

Script Kitties, 20216, acrylic on wood panel, 69.5 x 51.125 in.

The critical mass of your output is huge. I’m always in awe (or as your book notes, “aww”) by such obsessions. Why are you so obsessed with image, color and icon?

I grew up in a surf and skate culture where graphics added value to otherwise ordinary goods like t-shirts, surfboards, and skateboards. Art was the differentiator. Art defined what was cool. The act of going into a skate shop and looking at oil on wood panels is no different than going into a museum and looking at oil on wood panels. It’s an aesthetic experience, and I wanted to understand that experience. Why were some graphics cool and some corny? Why were some paintings good and some bad? I wanted to understand the underlying principles. I wanted to understand the power of cool graphics, and I wanted to assume that power for myself. I could not afford the cool brands, so I painted my own skateboards and made my own t-shirts. When those things were valued and desired by my friends, I felt empowered. I wanted to know more. I soon learned that the discipline was called graphic design, and that’s what I went off to study. Still today, my goal is simply to make the coolest paintings I can.

Making Someone Else’s Bed, 2015, acrylic on linen, 84 x 60 in.

Just to satisfy my own curiosity, what is the deep dark symbolism in the paint buckets that are conceits in many of these works?
The secret is that the buckets are empty! In fact, they’re just symbols of paint buckets on the symbolic studio floor that are holding up my paintings that are really just symbols of my paintings. Resting paintings on paint buckets (or paint cans) is a standard procedure many artists employ in order to keep their work up off the floor. In my own studio, I actually use wood blocks, but wood blocks do not translate visually to communicate the gesture. I also like the idea that the the material in the buckets (paint) is used to support the painting.

The deadline for the Regional Design Awards has been extended, but only until April 30.

Your judges: Sagi Haviv, Rebeca Méndez, Nancy Skolos, Alexander Isley, Chad Michael, Gail Anderson and Justin Peters.

The post Art Of Design Language appeared first on Print Magazine.

Weekend Heller: Machiavelli on a Well-Ordered Republic

Steven Heller — Sat, 21 Apr 2018 05:04:13 +0000

Register today for the free course “5 Skills Every Design Needs to Know.”

Stanley Marcus of Neiman Marcus had a love of books, design “and all things aesthetically elevated,” writes Fort Worth–based designer Jack Summerford and friend of Marcus. He had a small publishing entity called “Nonesuch Press” and “small is the operative word. Most of his publications were miniature books.”

Summerford designed one of the books for him, and they became friends for about the last 10 or 12 years of his life (he lived to be 98). “Almost every time we met (usually for lunch, but occasionally in his office) he would give me a small gift; this piece is one of those gifts.” In the footnote on the piece [pictured below] you will see that it was actually a gift to Stanley and his wife from Bill Wittliff, a well-known Texas screenwriter, novelist, publisher, photographer, etc.

“Now comes the six degrees part. My dear friend Jack Unruh illustrated a couple of Wittliff’s books and became a friend. Wittliff provided the foundation for the Southwestern Literature Studies program at Texas State University, and Mark Busby, the director of that program is a friend. I do not know Wittliff, however.”

Summerford recently found this beautifully designed piece, and it has a certain sad resonance today. It is with his permission that I present Wittliff’s gift to Marcus for the current generation to ponder.

The deadline for the Regional Design Awards has been extended, but only until April 30.

Your judges: Sagi Haviv, Rebeca Méndez, Nancy Skolos, Alexander Isley, Chad Michael, Gail Anderson and Justin Peters.

The post Weekend Heller: Machiavelli on a Well-Ordered Republic appeared first on Print Magazine.

Do not let apathy cost us the earth

Fri, 20 Apr 2018 23:23:16 +0000

Following the decision by Print Monthly to join the Carbon Balanced Paper scheme, Brendan Perring investigates how you can protect the planet and your bottom line at the same time

Zechini feels need for speed

Fri, 20 Apr 2018 23:23:16 +0000

Zechini has reacted to an increased demand for shorter run lengths within the book-making sector by launching its new Zechini Roby Zero casemaker.

Medical Marijuana Packaging: The New Frontier

Callie Budrick — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 16:32:30 +0000

Enter Now

Editor’s note: This piece originally ran in the 2017 fall issue of Print magazine.

Medical marijuana packaging is a new frontier. And Jeff Johnson, founder, owner and designer of Replace in Minneapolis, has just completed a brand and packaging system for Vireo cannabis products.

If you were anywhere near a college campus, public park or jam band concert this 4/20—the annual stoner holiday celebrated on April 20—the pungent skunk-like smell was probably so pervasive that you could be forgiven for thinking that marijuana was completely legal in the United States. Despite Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recent counteroffensive reminiscent of 1980s saber rattling, the rules around cannabis are quickly changing and the rest of the U.S. is moving on. Weed is now legal in eight states. While many legislative kinks have yet to be worked out, the industry is already a booming business. In just a few years recreational marijuana use has moved from a verboten pastime to a market force.

State-sanctioned use of the drug has long been under significant fire from cultural conservatives, but the vast majority of voters in legalized states don’t seem to mind the new odors—or the significant tax streams they generate (last year Colorado collected nearly $150 million in marijuana taxes, with much of the money going to public schools). The American public at large has even developed a certain fascination with the new “green economy,” as evidenced by a slew of reality TV shows with punny titles like “High Profits,” “Weed Country” and “Bong Appetite.” Horticultural innovation and enterprise have produced new varieties of weed and new ways to get high, including vaporizer pens, concentrated hash oil “pollens,” and even cannabis-infused sexual lubricants.

As the legal status of the drug has changed, so has its status in culture, and with that, its demographic reach. So it comes as only natural that the look of the industry would have to change, too.

A selection of devices from the curated online shop Tetra, which seeks to “[celebrate] the new rituals of smoking through a lens of great design.“

The cannabis market sector has been in dire need of a fresh identity to reflect its now-legal status, grown-up patrons and novel consumption methods. The cultural tropes that graphic designers have drawn on to rebrand weed are diverse. The visual reworking of America’s favorite flowering botanical began with identities for entrepreneurial growers, chocolatiers and merchants. They wanted to make it clear that they were operating businesses of good repute. The key was to trash counterculture tropes of years past; the dispensaries of Denver don’t have the Bob Marley tapestries, black-light posters and grungy furniture you’d find in an Amsterdam coffee shop. Instead, they opt for the sterility of a high-end juice bar. The patchouli and hemp aesthetic of High Times magazine has been eschewed for clean functionality. Colorado’s dispensaries are literally that: points for dispensing a product. You’re not allowed to use, or even open, items in-store.

When marijuana first hit the market in Colorado just over three years ago, graphics ran the gamut—from illustrations that their products were for hand-rolling tobacco only. Slowly but surely, the smokescreens of the past are blowing away.

Cannabis product Plus Gum eschews the typical—and outdated—marijuana aesthetic for a fresh look.

So what’s next?

The developing public health conversation around the packaging and sale of cannabis products in recreational-use states is the place where designers have the most opportunity to emerge as leaders.

In 2015, Colorado proposed new rules for the labeling and potency of weed-infused edibles. The tighter regulations came after several cases in which children unwittingly ingested edibles, thinking they were regular sweets. Design guidelines for pack- aging are in the works, and developing them is an opportunity for creatives of all stripes to collaborate with public health, law enforcement and other civic officials in new and interesting ways.

Streamlined growing and harvesting methods have made it possible for people to get much higher levels of THC into their bloodstreams, but there are few dependable methods for dosing and measuring new marijuana products. There is great potential to utilize basic information design to help new users understand the high different strains deliver. This might take the form of a numerical ranking system, or a multi-colored heat spectrum. Additionally, designers can be deployed to create safe storage mechanisms for cannabis products. In Denver, stores are already required to sell products in a childproof vinyl bag (the locking mechanism, which takes two hands to open, is more powerful than a pill bottle and will probably serve as a deterrent to overly stoned adults, as well). Other storage solutions have been developed by savvy entrepreneurs, many of them women. Jeanine Moss, a 62-year-old who started smoking to treat post hip replacement pain, developed a line of aroma-control handbags and clutches. Designers and architects are also beginning to create interiors, point-of-sale units and storefronts that allow dispensaries to blend into their neighborhoods.

The issue of how the government would label legal marijuana was not at the forefront of policy makers’ minds as Colorado rapidly rolled out dispensaries in January 2014. However, politicians and designers watched as Washington state—which took a more cautious approach in bringing pot to the market—blundered the logo of their oversight authority. The original seal seemed dashed-off: It featured a jagged cannabis leaf in the outline of Washington state. It looked more like a dorm room flag than a new government agency. The regulators, who are lodged within the state’s liquor control board, quickly rescinded the seal and have yet to develop a new one. Learning from Washington’s mistake, Colorado developed a we-mean-business crest to be applied to all marijuana products. It features a shield with an angry eagle and the words “Department of Revenue: Marijuana,” encircled by “Criminal Enforcement Division.” It is a concession to the old-school graphics of authority and trust, playing on the same conservatism that keeps U.S. currency so bland, even as the state government moved to rebrand with a perky mark featuring a cartoony mountain top.

As the Cheech and Chong take on marijuana draws its final hit, designers and other media makers have been—and will continue to be—key in the shifting cultural connotations of cannabis.

In 2015, the Colorado House convened an Edibles Work Group that included elected officials and representatives from child welfare, food safety, law enforcement and marijuana organizations. The collective was tasked with developing a “universal symbol” that would distinguish, say, “Chewy Ganja Granola Bars” from garden-variety granola. Conspicuously absent in the group were designers—and it shows. The symbol they ended up with to signify cannabis content reads as “! THC” lodged in a fire diamond. While this symbol is an improvement on the “Criminal Enforcement” shield (that it will supplement, not replace, it should be noted), it leaves much to be desired.

On the whole, designers need to actively work to insert them- selves into the marijuana conversation, and in so doing prove the very real worth of design in communicating public policy. One hopes that Colorado will collaborate with designers to develop new, intelligible packaging, perhaps something along the lines of the Nutritional Facts label that other recreational-use states could also adopt. It will take time and money, and the convening of people from disparate fields: design, public health, the community, science. Carrying out testing with users will be iterative and probably not cheap, but, with some hundreds of millions of dollars in pot-related revenue, the state can likely afford it.

The U.S. at large is having its marijuana moment, and this is a formative, defining time. As the culture of Cheech and Chong’s take on marijuana draws its final hit, designers and other media makers have been—and will continue to be—key in the shifting cultural connotations of cannabis. The challenge now is to prevent the industry from sliding back into the past visually, especially as some policymakers try to turn the clock back legally.

In such movements, though, it’s usually only a matter of time before progress wins out. So while the future may seem uncertain, it is, undoubtedly, fragrant.

Sam Holleran is a writer, interdisciplinary artist and educator investigating topics in graphic culture and urbanism. He has worked with the Center for Architecture, the Design Trust for Public Space and the Center for Urban Pedagogy in New York City. He is currently at work on a book about visual literacy.

The post Medical Marijuana Packaging: The New Frontier appeared first on Print Magazine.

Adare SEC beta test Hunkeler CS8

Fri, 20 Apr 2018 11:15:50 +0000

Adare SEC has become the first company in the UK to beta test a new cutter from Hunkeler, through Friedheim International.

WATCH: Print 7 News - the most important stories

Fri, 20 Apr 2018 10:04:23 +0000

After De La Rue lost the contract to print the blue passports post-Brexit, the security printer was due to challenge the decision but has now accepted the loss; Quinns The Printers has helped one student into the world of work with innovative idea; How Agfa has charged to the forefront of the industry; and print industry credit intelligence group ICSM's concerns over print chemical firm.

Rudy VanderLans’ Still Life

Steven Heller — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 05:27:53 +0000

Rudy VanderLans is best known with Zuzana Licko, as editor of Emigre magazine and co-founder of Emigre Fonts. But just as Licko has turned her talents to making ceramics, VanderLans has long practiced photography. He has already published with Ginko Press two books Still Lifes, California and Still Lifes, USA, and for more than a year has been sending limited-edition books of photographs titled Archive to friends as a work in progress. I have been happy to be on the mailing list yet have been asked not to write about them until now. VanderLans agreed to tell me more about these new, curiously private offerings.

Your ARCHIVE, small booklets of photographs sent to family and friends—of which I am honored to be one—speaks to your overall fascination with natural and man-made still life. Where does this interest in “stillness” come from?
Perhaps the stillness in my pictures is partly the result of omitting people from my images. I have a difficult time photographing people. I’m shy around them, plus I can’t control them when they move around in my picture frame. In general, I do approach my picture making like I do composing a page. Structure, composition and color are very important to me. I try to get every element to sit perfectly in place. That kind of attention to what exactly should fit in the frame creates a certain stillness, and it suits my approach, which is probably heavily influenced by my work as a graphic designer.

Some of your photographs are captures of the ravages of time, space and weather. Of course, the still life is a literal description, but is there some other, let’s say, emotion at play?
There’s definitely all kinds of emotions at play as I’m photographing, and I’m trying to sort it all out as I’m doing this. I like making these contemplative images where you can imagine yourself in the scene. That’s another reason I leave out people. Humans are wired to focus on faces and people, so when there’s people in the picture, they tend to occupy the space and draw all the attention and everything becomes very literal. Pictures that are empty of people have a kind of mystery to them, which allows for all kinds of interpretations.

But while I omit people, I am very interested in what people do, and what they do to the environment. However, I’m not a photographer who is trying to make a political point about how we’re raping the environment, and I’m also not trying to show the beauty in garbage, because both those genres have been covered pretty well by others. I’m interested in human enterprise of all kinds. Sometimes there’s a certain sadness about the things that attract me. The unrelenting yet often impossible efforts of humans to try and develop the desert, for instance, is a recurring theme. Other times it’s the ingenuity or incongruity of what I come across that attracts me, and next it’s just the plain emotional beauty of color that strikes me about a scene that makes me point my camera and make a picture.

As far as I can tell, the majority of your pictures are west of the Rockies. What is this fascination?
Yes, and in particular California. I’ve traveled elsewhere to make pictures, but I do keep coming back to shooting pictures in California. It’s my adoptive home and it’s my backyard, so to speak. Growing up in Holland, I was always fascinated with California. It seemed like all the cool music, movies, television series, art and books came from California. So when I moved there, and I still have that feeling, I felt a nostalgia for places I’d never been to but that somehow seemed like I knew intimately. And I’m an avid reader of novels and history relating to California, so I often know what I’m looking at beyond what’s in front of me when I’m out and around photographing.

I mentioned this in my introduction to Archive, but I imagine that over time I hope to create a comprehensive visual record of all of California as a kind of homage to a place that welcomed me as an immigrant and made me feel at home. A comprehensive record of California is pretty much impossible to do, but it helps me stay focused. And in the end what may set my work apart most will be the sheer number of miles I’ve traveled and towns and cities I’ve visited within California.

You are known for type—and for pioneering digital type. How, if any way, does ARCHIVE, which I understand is a prelude to your next book, Still Life, California 2, fit into your type and design life?
Let’s just say, Emigre Fonts is my National Endowment for the Arts, or my Fullbright. In other words, Emigre Fonts sponsors my travels and the time I spent shooting and putting together my photo books. Otherwise there’s not much of a relationship. Although I do get to use some nice typefaces in my photo books.

Are there other landscapes that you have your eyes on?
The book I’m just now finishing is Still Lifes, Tokyo and was made after I spent three full weeks hiking all over Shibuya and Shinjuku in central Tokyo. I imagined I was following in the footsteps of people like Daido Moriyama and Nobuyoshi Araki, whose work I love. And there’s a flood of younger photographers doing beautiful work such as Tamaya Koyuki. I was never much aware of any of this, as I’m still catching up with the history of photography, but the Japanese have a long and rich tradition of using the book as the primary vehicle to show photography, with gallery exhibits given secondary consideration. I met with a few of these small specialty photo book publishers and it was exhilarating. I think in general the photo book is becoming ever more prominent within photography which gives me hope because it’s right up my alley. It combines the two things I like doing most: graphic design and photography.

The deadline for the Regional Design Awards has been extended, but only until April 30.

Your judges: Sagi Haviv, Rebeca Méndez, Nancy Skolos, Alexander Isley, Chad Michael, Gail Anderson and Justin Peters.

The post Rudy VanderLans’ Still Life appeared first on Print Magazine.

ABS UK embarks on new journey

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 17:14:45 +0000

In a challenging industry such as the print industry, the key to survival is making smart decisions and investing in equipment or the company itself, which can ultimately offer your customers the best possible service or add to your existing portfolio.

Trelleborg takes flight with Vulcan

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 17:14:45 +0000

Trelleborg has expanded its range of metal-back offset blankets for newspaper printing with the launch of ‘Vulcan Metal Times’, a solution the firm says offers a host of improved benefits.

IFS and Pro Co ignite spark in print buyers

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 17:14:45 +0000

Pro Co has set up an educational scheme that hopes to spark an inspiration to push the boundaries of creativity. In partnership with Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS), the collaboration has print buyers in mind.

Mimaki progresses IoT developments

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 13:37:22 +0000

Mimaki is progressing Internet of Things (IoT) developments with Digital Printing Connection, which aims to help users incorporate Mimaki printers into production lines for unattended on-demand production and mass customisation through communication with robots, conveyor belts, inspection devices, sensors and other peripheral equipment. The first two solutions to be introduced within this new development are MDL commands and Mimaki Job Controller. MDL commands are used to control Mimaki printers from customer production systems and through peripheral devices. They manage printer operation including commencing print production and adjusting the position and height of the print substrate table. They also provide information on remaining ink amounts and errors from the printer side. Mimaki Job Controller is software that communicates with the printer for transmission of optimal printing data and printing conditions. It also automatically starts production, connects a printer and a robot in a production line to feed print jobs using a conveyor and collects the printed items after printing. For those using MDL commands, an optimum system can be built using Mimaki’s Software Development Kit, available for download from the Mimaki Global website.

SGIA names sustainability winners

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 13:29:24 +0000

In the US the Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) has presented 24 member companies with its 2018 Sustainable Business Recognition Awards for demonstrating efforts in 2017 to improve employee health and safety, reduce environmental impact and increase business efficiency.

Mid West Displays opens refurbed showroom

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 13:28:21 +0000

Mid West Displays has unveiled its refurbished showroom at its Shrewsbury HQ, housing its display, signage and PoS products, most manufactured in-house at the company’s two manufacturing sites in the Midlands.

New offering from Aslan

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 13:26:05 +0000

Aslan is offering a new laminate developed for rollup and popup systems and optimised for the required widths. The self-adhesive PP film EcoSoftTouch Aslan SL 109 has been designed for indoor use and digital printing processes using solvent, eco-solvent, latex and water-based inks.

Massivit signs distribution deal

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 13:25:31 +0000

Massivit is extending its reach by signing a distribution agreement with Digital Dot for its products in the Benelux. Digital Dot assumes responsibility for sales, installation, technical support and maintenance of Massivit 3D’s portfolio, which comprises the Massivit 1500 Exploration and Massivit 1800 3D printers and its Dimengel material.

Colourbyte sets inspiration target for SDUK 2018

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 10:43:09 +0000

Colourbyte has said it will use its stand at Sign and Digital UK this year to help inspire visitors to expand their business into new, profitable markets.

Fujifilm newly developed innovative imaging technology that leads to automated pathological diagnosis.

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 10:00:00 +0000

Fujifilm introduces Acuity Ultra

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 09:15:50 +0000

Fujifilm has provided detail on the new printer it alluded to last month. The Acuity Ultra - available in 5m and 3.2m models and with up to eight colour channels - will be shown for the first time at Fespa 2018. It has a throughput of up to 236m2/hr and is capable of printing on three rolls simultaneously.

Eptanova shows off ink breakthrough

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 09:14:27 +0000

Italian-based Eptanova will use Sign and Digital UK to show new Light Diffusing inks for printing on transparent materials and that are visible only when illuminated by a dedicated LED light.

Flowered Polish Type

Steven Heller — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 05:58:24 +0000

Most people in the U.S. who know about Polish Posters know about the beautiful surreal cultural, film and theater images from the Communist period.

The first Polish posters appeared in the 1890s created by outstanding painters and florid letterers like Jozef Mehoffer, Stanislaw Wyspianski, Karol Frycz, Kazimierz Sichulski and Wojciech Weiss. Influenced by the Jugendstil and the Secessionist movements, understandably they painted posters that were art-related, announcing exhibitions, theater and ballet performances. Their work was vastly popular, which led to the first International Exposition of the Poster being held in Krakow in 1898. They were well respected, connected with the Academy of Fine Arts and members of the Society of Polish Artists “Sztuka” (Art).

Jugendstil, Secession, Japanism and modernist styles like Cubism were mixed with traditional elements of symbolism and national folklore. What set the Polish posters apart from their European counterparts was the emphasis placed on the highly artistic quality and flowery fluidity of the lettering, an aesthetic that in one way or another continued to characterize the Polish poster throughout the 20th century.

Jozef Czajkowski ,1912.

Jozef Mehoffer, 1910.

Gordon, “Hades.” Joyful and unhelpful things, 1911.

A.n., 1906.

Stanislaw Sawiczewski, Swiat, illustrated magazine, 1907.

Anna Ostrowskia-Gramatyka, 1908.

Stanislawa Paradowska-Gajewska, 1910.

The deadline for the Regional Design Awards has been extended, but only until April 30.

Your judges: Sagi Haviv, Rebeca Méndez, Nancy Skolos, Alexander Isley, Chad Michael, Gail Anderson and Justin Peters.

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