January 2013
1 post
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Catlin Guide 2013 Preview: An Interview with...
The 2013 Catlin Guide features a selection of 40 recent graduates to watch: and we are proud to say that once more we were tasked with printing the beautifully boxed book. Here we meet one of the artists: New Sensations shortlisted RCA graduate Steven Allan, a Scottish painter who specialises in anthropomorphic depictions of everyday objects.
Steven Allan – There’s Always Time for Tea.
Has...
June 2012
1 post
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We printed the official 2012 Thames Diamond...
We couldn’t talk about it before the event but now we are pleased to blog about our involvement with producing the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant official brochure. Principal Colour printed the programme that you see being held by Boris Johnson and the Queen’s aide, and which was read by thousands of people who flocked to the Thames to celebrate the Jubilee just over a week...
March 2012
3 posts
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Creating a corporate branding book for Skype &...
We’ve got some gorgeous Skype corporate branding manuals printed by Principal Colour to give away, but first, it’s down to the nitty gritty of production for a high quality print project such as this… Here our director Martin Darby describes how to produce white on white print for a Case Bound book, and how to find out what kind of binding suits what project best.
A few...
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Print Giveaway and Interview: The making of Draft...
Draft Magazine issue 005, featuring Brangelina by Jon Kessler
Martin Darby explains how Principal Colour set about printing a high quality project such as Draft Magazine. Which just so happens to be our latest giveaway: read on to find out how you can secure your copy of this rare magazine.
Draft is a beautiful high quality art and photography magazine that you printed between 2005 - 2008....
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Print Giveaway: Bottle of Britain Campaign Booklet...
In the first of a couple of blogs we discuss some of director Martin Darby’s favourite print projects with Principal Colour - which are available as giveaways to interested readers of this website. First up the Shepherd Neame brewery’s Bottle of Britain Campaign.
So, Martin, tell us all about the accompanying booklet that you have produced to go with this long running...
February 2012
2 posts
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An interview with Pretty Green Look Book designer...
Creative design agency One Big Company designed the new S/S 2012 look book for Liam Gallagher’s clothing brand Pretty Green, which was then printed by Principal Colour in Kent. This beautifully made object was inspired by record sleeves and features stunning photography shot on London’s Hampstead Heath. We caught up with designer Dave Uprichard to find out what goes into putting a...
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Introducing the Pretty Green Lookbook designed by...
London Fashion Week kicks off next week, so it’s only fitting that this week we are working on the print production of the new lookbook for Liam Gallagher’s clothing label Pretty Green. Here’s a quick sneak peak of the running sheets - as you can see it features some beautiful atmospheric photography. We’ll be sharing the full look book soon, alongside a Q&A with...
January 2012
3 posts
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CAFOD: 50 Years, 50 Voices Anniversary Photo Book
This month we have been delighted to print an anniversary photo book for the Catholic aid agency CAFOD – 50 Years, 50 Voices - which marks 50 years of the charity’s work, bringing ‘hope, compassion and solidarity to poor communities, standing side by side with them to end poverty and injustice.’ CAFOD works with people of all faiths or none in more than 40 countries across the...
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An interview with Justin Hammond, Curator of the...
We are very pleased to announce that we have just printed the highly collectible The Catlin Guide for 2012: the premiere place to discover the best new graduate artists from across the UK. We decided to quiz curator Justin Hammond on the history of The Catlin Guide. Read on to find out more!
You are about to launch the 2012 edition of The Catlin Guide at the London Art Fair, between the 18th...
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The Final Pictures of the BBC Children in Need...
Eagle eyed readers of our tumblr feed will remember that we worked on the BBC Children in Need photo album to accompany the BBC Christmas advert. There was only one copy of the book made, which is to be sold for charity (Children in Need). This is your only chance to see the beautiful inside of the book unless you win it at auction! We especially urge you to check out the polaroid pics with...
December 2011
5 posts
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Fiat Mug of Tea Promotional Mailer with USB Stick,...
To round off our posts before Christmas we thought we would end on a blog about one of the most interesting and unusual projects that we have worked on this year.
Back in July 2011 we worked on a job for Fiat, aimed at fleet car buyers and designed by TAG UK. The promotion consisted of a ceramic tea mug with the Fiat logo on the side and a USB stick designed to mimic the colour and shape of...
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BBC Children in Need 2011 Christmas Photo Album...
Here’s the (nearly) final BBC Children in Need official Christmas photo album with a knitted reindeer front cover, as blogged about previously here. Now all that needs doing is a touch of bespoke calligraphy labelling on each page, then the next time you see the album will be for auction on Blue Peter and The One Show!
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BBC Children in Need Bespoke Photo Album of...
Director Martin Darby updates us on one of the current print projects at Principal Colour:
I am sure everyone has seen the new BBC Christmas advert, Consider Yourself One of Us! When they shot the advert single polaroids were taken of everybody who starred in it (46 I think) and all of them were individually signed (apart from the Cyberman for obvious reasons). We are now making a one off...
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The Principal Beano: a day out with Margate FC
Last weekend (Saturday 3rd December) the Principal Colour office headed down to Margate on an Only Fools and Horses inspired jolly, thanks to our friendly relationship with Margate FC: we have done the printing of the Lottery Super Draw Membership Cards for Cliff Egan(CEO of Margate FC) for the last 4 years. We called this the Principal Beano to Margate. Director Martin Darby answers my...
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An interview with Stratis Kastrisianakis,...
We introduced Nakedbutsafe magazine to you in our last blog post - it’s a beautiful new arts magazine with a conscience, produced in Greece but available worldwide. Now it’s time to speak to co-founder Stratis Kastrisianakis in more depth.
What does Nakedbutsafe mean and how did you decide upon the name for your new magazine?
Nakedbutsafe means that our magazine tries to be...
November 2011
4 posts
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Introducing Nakedbutsafe Fashion and Art Magazine
Here’s a sneak peak at the new Greek photography based fashion and art magazine, Nakedbutsafe, which we printed recently. The first issue came out in August 2011, with the next one due out in January 2012.
At the start of the job we ran a series of scatter proofs to check the colour balance of key images and then once the job was up and running sheets were sent to Athens on a daily...
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An interview with graphic designer Simon Loxley,...
Designer Simon Loxley is a multi-talented print designer and writer who has worked on some fantastic projects over the years, including the creation of the beautiful Ultrabold magazine for the St Bride Library, printed byPrincipal Colour. Following the highly successful Critical Tensions conference last week we decided to check in with him and find out a bit more about his career. You can read...
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Simon Loxley explains his love for St Bride...
We have worked with print designer Simon Loxley to produce Ultrabold magazine for the St Bride Library for many years. Here he explains what drew him to start the publication for ‘The world’s foremost printing and graphic arts library.’ Over to you Simon….
I first started visiting St Bride Library about ten years ago, when I was researching what was to become Type: the...
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Spot UV Varnish and High Build UV on Antalis...
Spot UV Varnish is commonly used to add a bit of extra gloss to print jobs in specific places of interest, and it is applied via a silk screen process where the ink is dried and cured with an ulta violet light (hence the name). Originally it was only possible to use Spot UV Varnish on coated paper because it would be fully absorbed on uncoated paper, but now it is possible to use High Build UV...
October 2011
6 posts
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WatchOrnan Rotem of Sylph Editions demonstrates how to close his foldout Xu Lei brochure for Asia House, printed on Fenner Paper by Principal Colour.
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WatchOrnan Rotem of Sylph Editions demonstrates how to open his foldout Xu Lei brochure for Asia House, printed on Fenner Paper by Principal Colour.
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An interview about Lithographic Print Design and...
Meet designer Ornan Rotem of Sylph Editions. Over the last five years he has worked on a series of high profile book and brochure design projects with Principal Colour. I spoke with him to find out more about how this relationship works, and what it takes to produce something wonderful in print.
What dictates your choice of paper and print? And how important is fine quality in a publication -...
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Coated or Uncoated Paper?
This is often the question…. and will need to be specified at an early stage when starting out on any print project. Many designers prefer the tactile feel of uncoated paper but it often has the downside of turning images dark or muddy. Coated paper is much flatter in texture so it tends to feel sleek and slippery, but the bonus is that it will reproduce all images brightly and accurately.
...
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The great flood of 2000 and how the ducks saved us
In the year 2000 Principal Colour experienced a dramatic flood, the result of which was that they ended up in their current premises next to the train station at Paddock Wood, near Tonbridge in Kent. But what exactly happened, and what’s up with the duck? Martin explains…
We originally set up in East Peckham which is close (too close, as it turned out) to the river Medway –...
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