After his first call with us, Alan from the University of Salford’s graphic design team had two versions of the same idea in front of him: a 16 page mini newspaper for the BA Graphic Design show printed in one Pantone ink on 80gsm uncoated, or in four colour on 60gsm. He chose four colour, and Walking the High Wire became a degree show catalogue on the thinnest sheet we print onto, trimmed to a custom 240 x 168mm and given two wire stitches at the spine by our degree show catalogue printing team. It sits a touch larger than A5 and smaller than A4. We think it is a very cool and unusual take on the show catalogue, and a great piece for visitors to take away.
Pantone at 80gsm, or full colour at 60gsm?
The two routes came down to ink. A single Pantone throughout needs at least 80gsm uncoated, the lightest weight we use for Pantone work. Four colour printing can go thinner, all the way down to 60gsm, the featherweight end of our paper range.
For this catalogue we would make the same call. The pages carry solid red spreads, a pale yellow typography page, black and yellow type plates and bright student union branding, and one Pantone would have flattened all of that into a single hue. CMYK on 60gsm keeps every colour and gives the true weight of a newspaper, light enough to flex in one hand.
Our honest view on a sheet that thin: the ink settles into the fibres, and a faint trace of it can rub from page to page. On a mini newspaper that reads as character, the same way your Saturday paper leaves a trace on your fingers. If you want polished and premium, go heavier than 60gsm. If you want the inky, everyday charm of newsprint, go thin and enjoy it.
A black line walks across the spreads
The cover sets the tone on pale uncoated stock. A shower of short black strokes falls over the red title, WALKING THE HIGH WIRE, with BA GRAPHIC DESIGN SHOW in heavy black capitals and a tall red block running down beside it. Turn the paper over to find a solid red back cover listing the graduating designers and where to find them. Stack a few with alternate sides up and that white and red contrast is dynamic, exactly what a show table needs.
Inside, a thin black line cuts across the pages like a tightrope, a neat way to carry the title through the whole publication. The opening spread is solid red, with “GRAPHIC DESIGN AT SALFORD HAS CHANGED.” set in big pale capitals. Then the three years of the course appear as lines: First Line, Second Line and Third Line, each with its modules listed in small red type, from Make and Think in year one up to Explore and Autonomy in the final year. Opposite sits a grid of black and yellow type experiments, and further in an alphabet built from creased paper strips faces a page of student union labels and badge designs. The layouts are what you would hope for from a graphic design course, confident and bursting with ideas.
Twenty two minutes to add the bleed
The artwork reached us on a Tuesday evening, once every student’s work had been gathered, and by the next morning it was in prepress. Our file check showed the artwork needed bleed. Mike asked for an extra 3mm on each edge, so the background colours and images would measure 246 x 174mm, and sent our video guide to adding bleed. Twenty two minutes later Alan replied with two fresh PDFs, one with crop marks and one without. “Thanks Alan, these are perfect now,” Mike wrote back.
That 3mm is worth understanding before you build any custom size. Wherever colour or a picture meets a trimmed edge, it has to run past the trim, because no guillotine cuts to the hundredth of a millimetre and a tiny white sliver shows up instantly against solid red. Add 6mm to each dimension of your finished size and you have your artwork size. Our step by step bleed guide shows how to add it in any layout program.
Our proof followed by WeTransfer. When we checked in on Friday morning, Alan answered eight minutes later: “All this is looking great. Thanks”. “Great, we'll go to print,” Mike replied, and the following Wednesday the courier was on its way to the university’s New Adelphi Building with a one hour delivery window.
Just over the River Irwell, we also printed the catalogue for Art Theory and Practice at Manchester School of Art. If newsprint is tempting for your own cohort, order our complimentary sample papers and get a feel for uncoated stocks in your own hands before you decide.
PaperbacksA5, 44 pages, perfect bound£246for 100
Product cataloguesA5, 28 pages, stapled£166for 100