Generation Press have expanded. We got busy, we needed to. You could say we’ve done so by popular demand. But we’re not just ‘bigger’, we have a brand new B2 press, housed in a new state of the art building- that makes us more capable and more competitive than ever. So thats about the big stuff (literally), but we still care just as much about the tiny stuff, the attention to detail. We continue to innovate, and we constantly strive to exceed industry standards- standards are ‘an average’ and we definitely don’t do average.
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We believe in sustainable print, and we always have done. We are immensely proud therefore to announce that we have been accepted into an EU pilot scheme to become EMAS certified- the highest possible European Certification, and 100% transparent.
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All items for GPB2 have been made using all of our guiding principles- electricity generated from 100% renewable sources, using vegetable based inks on recycled and or mixed source FSC certified paper. It is compostable and recyclable, but probably worth keeping.

— Brochure design & photographic art direction by Build.
— Photography by Jason Tozer.
— Styling by Katy Ingram.
— More Pics here: GP Image Library.

Limited Edition Poster:
Designed by Build.
We put our new B2 press to the test with a double sided Limited Edition poster. Consisting of 5 spot colours on one side and a rather epic 16 spots on the other. It is printed on a 180gsm Chromolux stock.
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GP Tube Mailer:
After a weeks work of endless mock ups and persistence, An& and Kevin came up with the final construction for our custom GP Tube Mailer, we then gave it to Build to work their magic. The tube is telescopic, it can hold up to B2 size prints & proofs. It has been constructed to be re-used many times.
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GP Van:
We were very excited at the prospect of having our van sign written, it was again designed beautifully by Build. The left side panel has a twitter speech bubble. We will be changing this through-out the course of 2012, using twitter competitions that we will make you aware of in the new year.
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On the 15th December we did a Christmas run around London in our freshly liveried new van. Delivering the Limited Edition Poster in Our Tube Mailer, it was a really fun day & was filmed by the newest member of our GP family Heather. Sorry if we missed you, we will be sending more out in the new year, so keep your eyes peeled.
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Wishing you all a Merry Christmas & even better New Year. From all at Generation Press.

— Design & Art Direction by Build
— Film by Heather Beatrice Webster (Web) / HBW (Vimeo)
— More Images Here

Sanna Annukka - Matryoshka Dolls
A1 (840mm x 594mm) Screen printed on Fabriano; one fluorescent plus three spot colours, magenta foil blocking.
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Build - Neon/Beryllium.
A1 (840mm x 594mm) Litho Print on 100% recycled Cyclus Offset; 12 spot colours plus one metallic colour.
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John O'Reilly - If The Ten Commandments Had Been Ten Questions.
A1 (840mm x 594mm) Litho Print on Zanders Zeta Micro; Two spot colours plus one fluorescent with silver foil blocking.
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Timothy Saccenti - Incursions.
A1 (840mm x 594mm) Litho Print on Gloss; Four colour process.
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In an auction to help the Red Cross Haiti Appeal, Generation Press Raised £1100 by selling Issue No.1 from each of the four posters, plus generous help from some of the unsuccessful bidders:)
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Celebrating ten years of print from the fourth generation! We like to see these posters as a thank you to the people and companies that have supported us over the last ten ten years and incentives to those in the forthcoming years. It's been a journey! Only possible thanks to the amazing team we have built over those years. We are immensely proud of our team. We look forward to the next ten years with the same enthusiasm, optimism and realism.
Bring 'em on™

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Contributors:
Build
Sanna Annukka
John O'Reilly
Timothy Saccenti
Photography: Paul Demuth

Barrie Forrest photographed (above) by Jason Tozer.
Generation Press have commissioned their very own paper as part of their amazing rebrand.
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Colorplan Barry™ is just a part of the rebrand but really highlights what Generation Press is all about, collaboration with real people with real passion for their craft. Hence it felt so appropriate to name the paper after the colour technician Barrie at Croppers Papermill in the Lake District! Creative license was used when we found out that Barrie spells his name with an (Barr)ie rather than a (Barr)y (we hope he doesn't mind too much).
The rebrand itself started life with a new logo, then developed to work as a piece of coherent communication, from a full set of stationery to this website. The different collateral that we use has all been carefully designed to interact with the customer with a different use of coloured paper and message! The main thing that Generation Press didn't want to lose was the fact that we are independent and a family run business in its 4th generation, so that's the brand!
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Letterhead and matching envelope.
-Invoice and matching envelope.
-Box labels.
-Address labels.
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Now a few words from the designers about the identity...
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We wrote this small piece to set the scene for what has for us been a very interesting journey. It was written as a sort of fancy diary entry cum bit of poetry...
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5:59 Rise & shine! From a dark & cold Walthamstow, Scrub & Michael head out of London & ‘up North’ to Burneside for a rendezvous with Barrie & Mark, colour technicians for Croppers paper mill. Sandwiches in the main office, then over to ‘The Lab’; handshakes shaken, pleasantries exchanged... ’Right, what do you want to do?...’ An afternoon amongst test tubes & bunsen burners in the old schoolhouse with Barrie (& Mark) commenced. The aim? To create a bespoke colour Colorplan exclusively for Generation Press. Yellow? No!...’Green?’. Yes! A little more yellow, a little more green... 42 years of experience put to good use.
That’s it... just right!
As a mark of respect to Barrie and his craft, we named the paper
after him (with a bit of poetic licence). GP Colorplan Barry,
born in Burneside , December 5th 2007.
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GP Colorplan Barry™ is as Scrub says just a part of the Generation Press (GP) rebrand, but an important one. It set the tone for what for us has been a very satisfying project. It seems a very long time since we went up to Burneside to meet Barrie and Mark at Croppers, just over 2 years to be precise. We wanted to really push the boat out with the GP identity, make it really special (and unique), and what could be more unique than their own coloured paper?
Once we had the Colorplan Barry™ stock sorted we then went on to design the identity. Barry™ being half of that identity, the idea being that the Barry green stock became synonymous with Generation Press.
We went through various routes, one was accepted by GP and nearly went to print but we pulled the plug and went back to the drawing board. We then settled on the idea of something that every printer tries to avoid, moiré patterns and line screen patterns. But greatly enlarged, turning them into graphic devices that we then applied to the stationery set and GPs online presence. Typography-wise we settled on a very paired back approach, leaving the over-scaled graphic patterns to really really stand out. Every item of stationery has a different pattern, or formation of pattern. Each piece is printed using a variety of processes, on a set amount of four different coloured GF Smith Colorplan stock.
We designed the GP logo alongside a typeface and a set of environmental icons (which were very important to GP) all based upon the GP mark. Nicola worked closely with Scrub on the tone of voice (an example of which can be read on the GP website), including a rather beautiful poem which we've included below, titled 'Ode To Print'—

Beauty; Tactile Print.

Paper, Ink, Plate; Plate, Ink, Paper.
Simple thinking, complex answers. Years of Learning.

Shimmer ripples sheens, gloss shards of sharp.
Sheets of flips, reams of flops. Handle with care.

To have and to hold it, fold it, stitch it; feel it, sense it, love it.

Breathe deep.

Print; Tactile Beauty.

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Introducing Barr(y)ie competition.
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For the opportunity to win one of 10 special die-cut (shown above) 'Introducing Barr(y)ie' posters, and a set of postcards all you have to do is answer the following question.
'What is Barrie's surname?'
Please send your answer in an email to blog@generationpress.co.uk
The competition closes on 14th February (2010), and will be drawn on the 15th February.

'GP is 10' is now off and running and the first lucky recipients are starting to receive their copies of our GP10 mailer!
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Packaged in a specially designed/constructed mailing box (with our own Colorplan Barry™ duplexed to the inner). Inside is a wallet holding ten items featuring contributions from Build, Sanna Annukka, Timothy Saccenti & John O'Reilly
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This is a gift from us to our customers who have supported us over the last ten years. We are very proud to have worked with Build, Sanna, Timothy & John on this project. This is also a testament to everyone here that has put the time and effort in to making all the pieces as good as they are.
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This would not have been possible without the huge contribution of the creative's involved, so a very big thank you to them!
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Most important at this time is all the people that make up Generation Press. Every detail on this has seen everyone contribute and it is their skill and craftmanship that has made this what it is - A massive thank you to all at GP.
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Keep an eye on our twitter feed (@GenerationPress) for a chance to win 'GP is 10' items.
Yet more to come! Four limited edition posters that we think are really quite special, one from each of our contributors...more info soon!

We absolutely love it and we hope you do to!

A great big thank you to Build for their wonderful design and great ideas, to Kleber for the back end programming magic! (Thanks Ben)

This web site is as much about you as it is us, we want this to be an experience for us all, even a tool to develop ideas. Printing being the way it is, is always developing and moving forward! so we want to share our experiences with you, so that the next project is always being informed by the last...

Your input is vital, we will highlight projects not just for their beauty but also to try and bring discussion to the processes to inform us all. Look out for the discussions you can contribute to.
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Enjoy, and get involved!