Written by coach and author Scott Cranfield, The Wise Bear Stories is a series of six powerful storybooks for four to nine year olds. The stories help children “dissolve anxieties, develop confidence and master their emotions”. Targeted at families and schools, they are designed to help raise happy, confident and independent children.
Written by coach and author Scott Cranfield, The Wise Bear Stories is a series of six powerful storybooks for four to nine year olds. The stories help children “dissolve anxieties, develop confidence and master their emotions”. Targeted at families and schools, they are designed to help raise happy, confident and independent children.
Print consultant David Arkell of Andprinted was approached by the Wise Bear books’ publisher, Tricorn Books, to manage the print production. Tricorn Books have worked with David on many publications previously and so they understand the value of getting him involved in the process as early as possible.
As the books were to be retailed it was important to consider both aesthetics and affordability. Finding the right substrates for printing was key to meeting this criteria.
The solution
With considerable experience in selecting papers for the printing of books, David had products from Antalis in mind that he knew would fit the bill.
The books, which are A5 in size, are presented in a protective slip case, which meant a total of three substrates that would work well together were needed to achieve the desired level of finish.
For the slip case, David selected Invercote G 1-sided 300gsm, commenting, “It’s a good, substantial product that holds up very well as a slip case”. The cover was printed on Claro Silk 350gsm, which David has used many times before on account of its reliability; and for the text pages, Edixion Offset 170gsm was used for its good value and “lovely crisp bluey - whiteness” that prints well.
An initial run of 1,000 sets was litho printed and a second smaller run of 500 was printed digitally. “The great thing about these papers is that they run brilliantly on both litho and digital presses, so we were able to use the same stock for both runs”, commented David.
The result
Both Tricorn Books and the books’ author, Scott Cranfield, were delighted with the finished result.
The books can be purchased from the dedicated website, The Wise Bear Stories.
The technique print:
Litho print on a Heidelberg Speedmaster B1 4 colour XL106 with coater unit utilising in-press
control colour management
Digital print on an HP Indigo 10,000 with HD print heads
Slip case and covers laminated on a Billhofer MFK 102 laminating machine, creased and die-cut on a Heidelberg Cylinder.
PUR bound on a Muller Martini Allegro print binder
Tip: David advises: “ Keep it simple – make sure the images are not too dark, as they will get darker when printed on an uncoated stock; and print to the standards of ink weight – too much ink again makes the images go darker and not enough makes them look washed out.
Make a white paper dummy with all finishes beforehand to ensure the books fit snugly into the slipcase.”
Invercote G
Invercote G is a one-sided solid bleached board with an ultra-smooth surface. This product is designed for graphical products and prestige packaging where an exceptional aesthetic result is desired.
Claro Silk
Claro Silk is part of the Claro range of high bulk, high white paper with a unique feel. It is available in three finishes: Gloss, Silk and Bulk, and a large range of weights and formats.
Edixion Offset
Edixion is a versatile, uncoated paper range for all your printed applications in offset and pre-print.
