Client:
Filament PD

Brief:
Product design, engineering and innovation agency Filament wish to create a publication to tell the stories of the people they design products for, and the impact of these products on their lives, to celebrate their 10th birthday. Filled with short reads, inserts and human centred stories, the unique publication will showcase the agency’s best work and serve as a landmark piece to be treasured and enjoyed by the team, industry and customers alike. Showcasing how design in Scotland changes and evolves, the publication will serve as a collection – to be held onto, built upon and added to over Filament’s years to come.

Services:
Graphic Design; Publication Design; Editing; Print Management

Specification:
Binder, 260 mm × 310 mm × 50 mm; Text, 200 mm × 280 mm; Rollfold insert, 908 mm × 280 mm

Typefaces:
Sunday Masthead, Dennis Grauel; Basic Sans, Daniel Hernández; Courier New, Adrian Frutiger and Howard Kettler

Stock:
Edixion uncoated, 150 gsm; Claro satin, 150 gsm Cromatico, 150 gsm; Colorplan Mid Green, 175 gsm

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Client:
Jaz Jagdeo

Brief:

Photographer Jaz Jagdeo commissioned us to create a singular publication that would serve as both a portfolio piece and a conceptual extension of his practice: a body of work exploring masculinity, identity and the politics of visibility. Building upon an existing fashion editorial, the aim was to move beyond the limitations of the digital feed, where images are fleeting and easily diminished, and instead craft a physical publication that could articulate the deeper social questions underpinning his work.

Central to the brief was the need to connect Jagdeo’s photography to broader conversations around gender, equality and perception, using print as a medium for reflection rather than display. We were tasked with designing a tactile, sculptural publication that would slow the reader’s encounter with the work; creating something intimate, intentional and rooted in material storytelling. The piece needed to draw inspiration from In Praise of Shadows, using the philosophy of darkness, subtlety and ambiguity as a guiding framework.

Format, materials, structure and sequencing all had to echo these themes: creating a physical experience where light, shadow and touch actively shaped meaning. The publication needed to hold photography, poetry and crafted interventions within a cohesive form, producing an object that felt as thoughtful and layered as the ideas it contains. Through this, the final outcome would not simply showcase images but make a statement: that how we see – and what we choose to see – is inseparable from how we value identity, gender and difference.

Services:
Graphic Design; Publication Design; Editing; Print Management

Specification:

Concertina, 404 mm × 198 mm; Folder, 420 mm × 297 mm

Typefaces:
Shuei Mincho Pr6, Dai Nippon Printing

Stock:
GF Smith Cromatico, 150gsm; Takeo Satogami Dark Grey, 116 gsm

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Client:
Garvald Edinburgh

Brief:

Garvald Edinburgh commissioned us to create a printed companion to their ceramics exhibition, initially envisioned as a simple pamphlet documenting the work produced by members of their creative studios. As we began to understand the extraordinary process behind the ceramics – rooted in ancient pit-firing techniques, communal making and Garvald’s ethos of social therapy – the project quickly expanded into a more ambitious proposition.

The brief became the creation of a one-of-a-kind artbook that would honour not only the finished pieces, but the deeper themes that shaped them: transformation, patience, community and renewal. Our task was to develop a publication that treated print as an extension of the firing process itself. We explored how paper could echo clay’s capacity to record heat, marks and time; how a book could act as a tactile proxy for the labour, unpredictability and elemental rhythms of pit-firing. Alongside this, the publication sensitively weaves together photography, maker quotes, field notes and contextual writing into a cohesive narrative that foregrounds the voices and experiences of Garvald’s community of artists with learning disabilities and autism.

The final object functions as both archive and advocacy: a piece of fine art publishing that embodies Garvald’s belief in the value of creative work, collective process and meaningful inclusion. The brief called for a design approach that resisted polish in favour of truth: a layered, material-driven publication where every burn, blemish and texture served a purpose. In this way, the book would stand not only as documentation of three summers of communal making, but as a living artefact in its own right; a reminder that transformation is most powerful when shaped slowly, collaboratively and with deep respect for the people and processes at its core.

Services:
Graphic Design; Publication Design; Editing; Print Management

Specification:
Binder; 250 mm × 310 mm × 70 mm; Text, 210 mm × 297 mm; Catalogue, 420 mm × 297 mm

Typefaces:
Neue Montreal, PangramPangram; Azeret Mono Upright, Displaay

Stock:
Gmund Bier Weizen, 170gsm

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Client:
Cro+Kow

Brief:

To explore how publishing might evolve within a circular, low-impact future, we initiated a two-day creative residency with collaborators, members and friends Sylwia Kowalczyk and Simon Crofts. The intention was to interrogate what we keep, what we pass on and what forms our creative legacy when traditional print processes are stripped back.

As a team, we gathered in Sylwia & Simon’s studio to collaborate on Sylwia’s Speculations project and test how far we could push a magazine before it is no longer considered to be a magazine. Following on from our two days with Sylwia & Simon, we were tasked with creating a unique publication to document our findings. Instead of producing a polished publication, the brief called for a rapid, instinctive piece that captured the energy of the experience itself – a record of conversations shared, sketches doodled, recipes discussed, questions posed and observations generated in real time.

The aim was to create a publication that functioned almost like a field diary: a distilled snapshot of boom saloon’s ethos, internal thinking and cultural DNA, produced with minimal waste and maximum candour. We created a small, hand-finished zine that demonstrated the principles of circularity through its very construction. The publication was created from a single sheet of paper, cut and folded into form without binding or excess materials, and completed within an intentionally constrained 25-hour window.

Unedited and unproofed by design, the zine had to embrace imperfection as method, allowing spontaneity, constraint and material limitation to shape both content and form. The final piece serves not as a traditional magazine, but as a raw, intimate artefact; proof that sustainable publishing can be playful, immediate and deeply human when process, concept and material are brought into alignment.

Services:
Branding, Graphic Design, Publication Design, Editing, Print Management

Specification:
Full, 594 mm × 841 mm; Folded, 126 mm × 176 mm

Typefaces:
Neue Haas Grotesk, Christian Schwartz; Consolas, Luc(as) de Groot; Editorial New, Pangram Pangram; Times New Roman, Monotype

Stock:
Uncoated, 170gsm

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Client:
Label Ventures

Brief:
Bringing together the world’s most pioneering studios, Label Ventures act as the record label of the agency world – ever on the pulse with the brightest minds in strategy, tech and design. To showcase this extraordinary collection of mavericks, Label Ventures commissioned us to create a new publication. This served as a keepsake for those whose ideas filled its pages, along with their own networks, potential clients and people of interest throughout the creative and digital industries. It became home to the misfits and pioneers whose ideas drive us forward and challenge us to break new ground – inspiring all who read it and marking out Label Ventures as the go-to for innovative communities of people striving for a better, more connected world.

Services:
Branding, Graphic Design, Publication Design, Editing, Print Management

Specification:
200 mm × 260 mm

Stock:
UPM Fine Offset, 250 gsm; UPM Fine
Offset, 150 gsm; UPM Fine Offset,
170 gsm

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Client:
Creative Informatics

Brief:
An ambitious research and development programme based in Edinburgh, Creative Informatics brought our world-class creative industries and tech sector together to explore how data could be used to drive ground-breaking new products, businesses and experiences. As part of this, research was conducted into the changing day to day of creative practitioners across Ireland and Scotland, leading to a desire to collate these insights into a physical publication to showcase the project’s legacy. We were commissioned to bring together 12 interviews with creative practitioners and six essays from academics to explore what creative practice looked like in an ever changing world. The tone of voice of the publication needed to be approachable, raw, honest and relatable, exploring the human elements of our working day to day and interweaving the stories of subjects across Ireland and Scotland. International design styles were a strong visual anchor developed throughout, used to bring cohesion and flow to a publication collated from coast to coast. Editorial and photography were collaboratively sourced, with boom saloon fully editing and curating all submissions to ensure the creation of a powerful, flowing publication rich with lived experience.

Services:
Graphic Design; Publication Design; Editing; Print Management

Specification:
Dust jacket, 620 mm × 275 mm; Text, 210 mm × 275 mm

Typefaces:
Monument Grotesk, Dinamo; Monument Grotesk Semi-Mono, Dinamo

Stock:
Colorplan Pale Grey, 175 gsm; White offset 170 gsm; White offset 120 gsm

Coming soon

Client:
Rathbones

Brief:

An investment management company with a strong emphasis on leading us forward, Rathbones provide a service imbued with responsibility, tradition and trust. Consistently working to create a lasting legacy, their support extends from clients into our broader society, communities and environment. A prime example of this is the yearly arts event – sadly cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19. In light of this, Rathbones wished to fill the void created by the cancellation of this important client touch point.

To do so, they commissioned us to create a special set of Rathbones keepsake postcards. Looking to existing events, we commissioned three emerging artists to create a one off artwork for the postcard set. These were then designed, printed and packaged with the inclusion of a note from Rathbones. Sent out to existing clients, the postcards created a tangible presence within their day to day lives whilst simultaneously creating a potential new business stream generated by the clients themselves, as they were encouraged to use the postcards to keep in touch with their own networks at a time when so many were feeling more isolated than ever.

At once supporting the arts through the most challenging of times, engaging with existing clients and opening the door to new networks, this very special postcard set chimed with the empathy, collaboration and connection ever at the fore of the Rathbones approach.

Services:
Branding, Graphic Design, Publication Design, Editing, Print Management

Specification:
148 mm × 105 mm

Stock:
Uncoated, 400 gsm

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Client:
North Edinburgh Arts

Brief:
Art for Grown Ups at North Edinburgh Arts approached us to explore the creation of a community-led publication capturing a recent collaboration between their drawing group and a local women’s lunch group. With more than forty drawings, paintings and handwritten notes generated during the project, the ambition was to develop a tactile, conversational publication that could be shared around a table, exhibited and used as a catalyst for continued dialogue between participants. Central to the brief was an emphasis on co-design: the women themselves had already raised funds towards production, and the process of shaping the book needed to deliver just as much community value as the final piece. Working within a modest budget, we were asked to advise on format, materials and binding, produce early physical samples to support group decision-making, and define a structure that balanced image count with an emphasis on ease of handling and shared viewing. The final publication required sensitivity to the spirit of the project – celebrating everyday creativity, local connection and collective authorship – while ensuring the publication remained accessible, durable and true to the social purpose at its core.

Services:
Graphic Design; Publication Design; Editing; Print Management

Specification:
Text, 170 mm × 212.5 mm; Insert, 138 mm × 172 mm

Typefaces:
CoFo Gothic Variable, Contrast Foundry

Coming soon

Client:
The European Social Work Research Association

Brief:
The European Social Work Research Association commissioned us to create a unifying visual identity for their 2018 conference in Edinburgh – requiring a graphic strong enough to front their website, conference publications and promotional materials, yet flexible enough to work across postcards, handouts and a printed book of excerpts. With a desire for a concept that subtly referenced Scotland while remaining abstract and rooted in themes of social connection, we delivered an artwork that encapsulated the spirit of contemporary social work: collaborative, human-centred and future-facing.

Services:
Graphic Design; Publication Design

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