‘Manual’ is an award winning almanac of the work from the ever-inventive Based Upon Studio. As projects are completed they find their way into Manual, an on-going pictorial record of the studio output. The books are a weighty 204 pages and each edition is foil stamped with the date on the back cover. Normally, Manual is published in editions of 10 or 20 books and there will be several editions throughout the year.
Based Upon wanted to be able to share Manual with a wider audience. They asked us to find a way of retaining the bespoke hand made feel of the smaller run editions whilst allowing a larger print run and lower unit price. Until now, the books have been digitally printed on Mohawk Superfine paper, but changing from digital to litho printing meant a rethink on the most suitable paper. We decided on a paper from the Garda Mill in northern Italy. The paper is coated, but looks and feels like an uncoated paper; the soft book-white shade worked beautifully to show off the images whilst aiding legibility. Offset litho allowed us the economies that come with larger runs, but digital printing brings a colour saturation and intensity on uncoated papers that can be difficult to replicate without extensive re-working of the digital files. Hence the change to Garda. With a copy of the original edition, Paul, our production assistant attended the press pass to ensure the two versions, whilst different in so many ways, look and feel the same.
