Hours of hand binding went into every copy of a unique book created by a collaborative group of designers, printers and print finishing companies. The Subdivide is a technically challenging project featuring the works of 30 photographers, divided into artistic and commercial work.
Printed offset by Bambra Press on its Heidelberg employing a remarkable #400 line Hybrid and 10 micron stochastic screen, the limited edition is being promoted as an exemplar of print quality.
“We’re one of the few in the country doing this level of printing,” said John Wanless, managing director, Bambra Press, on the near contone result. "The challenge dealing with dots so small is they can effectively go blind on the plate so it doesn’t show up any more. We had to make sure the image on the plate was consistent and solid.”
The book employs a unique type of binding that could only be accomplished by laborious handwork. Despite the difficulty and the cost, Ian Leckie, general manager, The Bindery, put his hand up to bind the hand-folded W-shaped cover that separates the two portions of the book.
“Each book took several hours, and lots of man-hours were spent in putting it together,” he said. “It was all hand done, all hand made. We had to be very careful to make sure the product came out as it did, we just spent the time and effort in doing it.”
“We’re very pleased with the end result. It’s a great outcome to see the finished product out there being displayed proudly by everyone,” said Leckie. “It was a joint effort between many suppliers, designers and photographers. Something to make the industry proud.”
In addition to Bambra and The Bindery the book, on high quality paper from BJ Ball, was embellished by Avon Graphics. The whole thing comes wrapped in a hand-glued slipcase from Foldercorp.
“It’s a wonderful collaboration between many talented people and great companies to keep print at the forefront of the creative mind,” said Tony Bertrand, BJ Ball marketing guru, who thought up the project as part of his ongoing mission to encourage the creative use of print.