High-End Photobook Booklet Printing with Colorplan Cover

270x215mm Booklet
4pp Cover onto 175gsm Colorplan Ice White Cover
28pp Text onto 170gsm Silk (3mm Spine)
Full colour throughout
Trimmed, collated and wire stitched

Client Quote

“The colour wasn’t as important as the feel of it in the hand.”

Supra-Structures is the kind of photobook that wins you over quietly — stark, spacious, and really confident in its edit. We printed it as a custom wire-stitched booklet with a tactile Colorplan cover that contrasts beautifully with the smoother silk inner pages, letting the images stay crisp while the object still feels soft and considered in the hand.

The design does a lot with very little: neat typography, generous white borders, and precise reproduction that holds detail in subtle tones — exactly what this wintry, architectural work needs.

Explore related options: our photobook printing service, the step-by-step Ex Why Zed print journey, and our paper sample packs.

About the Book

This is a high-end photography booklet built around Norwegian landscapes and structure — ice textures, engineered forms, and calm, open scenes that give you space to look. The pacing is confident: full-bleed moments land like interruptions, then the white-framed spreads slow everything down again.

That mix of restraint and impact is where this book shines — and it’s why material choice matters here.

Print Specification & Materials

Sam moved from an early idea of a coloured Colorplan cover to a clean Ice White cover with blue text, prioritising the tactile feel over the colour itself. That decision really suits the subject matter: stark, textured, and quietly premium.

Final spec (as printed):

• Format: 270 × 215mm booklet
• Cover: 4pp on 175gsm Colorplan Ice White
• Text pages: 28pp on 170gsm Silk
• Print: Full colour throughout
• Finishing: Trimmed, collated, wire stitched

If you’re planning something similar, you’ll find practical setup help in our wire stitching set-up guide and quick pricing via the instant quote calculator.

Design Details

The cover is deliberately minimal — a field of Ice White stock with subtle blue typography — which sets expectations straight away. Inside, the silk stock adds a gentle sheen that helps photographic detail read cleanly, especially in the darker, more textural images.

The layouts make a smart move: images are often framed by white borders, giving each photograph its own “gallery wall” moment. It also keeps the book feeling airy, even when the subject matter is dense or industrial.

The Client’s Print Journey

Sam came to us with a clear format in mind and asked for a saddle-stitched (wire-stitched) version after reformatting the project. There was also a practical cover question — could the cover text be printed in white? We don’t currently print white ink, so we talked through the options and Sam landed on Ice White Colorplan with blue text instead, keeping the premium paper feel front and centre.

We then booked the job in for 50 copies and moved through proofing before production.

How Ex Why Zed Helped

• Material guidance, not guesswork: we helped steer the cover decision so the finished book matched the intended feel in-hand.
• Practical, human support: quick answers, clear next steps, and a proofing stage before anything went to press.
• Sharp reproduction: the photo detail and subtle tonal range hold up beautifully on the silk inner pages — clean, crisp, and controlled.

Takeaways for Your Next Photobook Booklet

• Let paper do some of the “design work”. A tactile uncoated cover paired with smoother inner pages creates contrast without adding visual noise.
• White borders aren’t “empty space”. They slow the reader down, make sequencing feel intentional, and help quieter images land.
• Keep typography modest when the edit is strong. Small, neat type can feel more premium than shouting.

If you need white ink, plan early. Sometimes the best answer is changing the concept (like Ice White stock + coloured text) rather than forcing a workaround.