DESCRIPTION Isaac Spiewak & Sons Book CLIENT Isaac Spiewak & Sons DATE November 2009 DESIGN CREDITS Creative direction: Josh Chapman Art direction and design: Michelle LeClerc PRINT CREDITS Trade Secret Press TYPE CREDITS Neutra Display Drafting

QUANTITY PRODUCED 50,000 PRODUCTION TIME 3 months (November 2009-January 2010) DIMENSIONS: WIDTH × HEIGHT × DEPTH 5 in × 5 in PAGE COUNT 76 PRINT METHOD Offset PAPER STOCK Cover: 120 lb. silk cover Inner Pages: 120 lb. silk text Belly Band: 100 lb. gloss text All papers FSC certified. NUMBER OF COLORS Cover: 1 Metallic + 1 Spot Color/ 1 Metallic Spot Color Interior: CMYK + 1 Metallic Spot Color Bellyband: 1 Metallic + 1 Spot Color VARNISHES Cover: Silk aqueous coating with a spot gloss varnish Interior: Silk aqueous coating Bellyband: Gloss aqueous coating BINDING Perfect binding OTHER Die-cut bellyband

Since 1904: House of the Golden Fleece is a book that spans the
history of the Isaac Spiewak & Sons company, a promotional piece that would teach, stimulate, and promote the brand within its own group. With the wealth of materials available in the company archives, it began to be conceived more as an art
exhibition than a brand piece.

A volume such as this one usually includes at least one production detail that stands out. More often than not, it strikes the match that lights the fire of what can become a production nightmare if the proper solution can’t be found.

Working closely with the print manager, we explored several options for the cover. One process involved laying down a spot UV and overlaying the hydrophobic Soft Touch aqueous to settle where the UV wasn’t, providing two distinct textures. Unfortunately, the fine lines were getting lost. We also attempted a clear foil stamp but due to the reflective white paper, the indentation didn’t create the level of contrast that we had in mind. Ultimately, we decided to go with something far more hands-on: A
clear spot varnish, tinted with a Metallic PMS directly on press.

The cover features a subtle spot gloss varnish over an overall Silk aqueous coating. The varnish was hand-mixed with a Metallic PMS color to a final value of around 10%. The subtle metallic ink causes light to absorb differently, effectively making it legible in an unassuming way. This solved the problem of allowing the spot gloss to be readable on solid white without the alignment issue that presents itself when printing gloss over a color. It was quite an experiment, but the results are outstanding. The graphic appears very slight in low light and vibrant in direct light.

An ingenious solution to a common problem, and a good inspiration for a future project.

A digital version of the book is available in the history section of the Spiewak website.