Introducing Barr(y)ie – GP Colorplan Barry & Rebrand
Barrie Forrest photographed (above) by Jason Tozer.
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Generation Press have commissioned their very own paper as part of the amazing rebrand beautifully designed by Build.
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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 is the work of Build, starting with a new logo, then developed to work as a piece of coherent communication. From a full set of stationery to this website (site build/back-end by Kleber). 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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Now a few words from Michael at Build about the identity...
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We (Build) 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 (Generation Press) & Michael (Build) 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.
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