MAKING CONCRETE SEXY
FOR STRUCTURAL
REPAIR SPECIALIST BALVAC
The challenge
When I met with Sandy Doull, the commercial director, who had been at Balvac for over 25 years, it turns out he had saved a load of archive material from the business that included ledgers from the first year of trading and glass slides from the 1930s – 1960s.
It was a designers dream, all this amazing source material to play with, but the volume was extensive. After wading through countless stories, news clippings and slides, we were finally able to agree a budget and page plan. The stories include the famous Summit tunnel fire in Lancashire, secret bank buildings, and a stolen dogs ear!
The approach
The design itself is understated. A complementary pairing of fonts and simple colours allow the photographs and stories to engage the reader.
I art directed a photoshoot with Claire Wood Photography who was commissioned to document the artifacts, and a number of technical drawings were recreated in complementary style.
The book text pages printed on Omnia by Fenner Paper, and the litho print and finishing was by Galloways Printers. This paper gave a lovely tactile feel and sat nicely with their history. A gorgeous blind emboss in concrete coloured colorset paper on the outer cover finished the design off.
“Amazing company, I’m very pleased with not only the quality of the work they produce but also the turn around time to complete any project put to them.”
JASON RODGERS
DIRECTOR
ABODE PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT LTD.
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