the wingman project

§II.13 · PRINT & COLLATERAL · THE MEDIUM WITH NO UNDO

Ink on paper,forever.

Print isn't dead. It's selective. The right piece still moves the needle: a wholesale deck that closes the buyer, a direct-mail piece that pulls a 30% response, a lookbook that lands in exactly the right hands. And unlike everything else you ship, a printed thing cannot be updated, A/B-tested, or un-sent. There is no hotfix for ten thousand catalogues. That is not the risk of the medium. It is the authority of it: paper says we meant this.

Put it on press Feel the stock

SPECIMEN FAN · S.01–S.06 · 120 → 350 GSM

The first decision isn't the design. It's the paper.

The digital world is loud; a well-made book, card, or poster quietly wins the room, and the win starts in the hand, before the eye. Weight, thickness, tooth, smell. We keep a working library of stocks and choose each one on purpose, never by default. Six we keep reaching for:

F-1 · THE FAN DECKSIX STOCKS · WEIGHT DRAWN TO SCALES.06 · MUNKEN PURE120 GSMS.04 · GMUND BIO CYCLE250 GSMS.02 · COLORPLAN PRISTINE270 GSMS.05 · FEDRIGONI SIRIO NERO350 GSMS.03 · GF SMITH NATURALIS350 GSMS.01 · MOHAWK SUPERFINEivory · eggshell148 GSMTHE FAN OPENS · 120 → 350 GSMheld, not scrolled
F-1 · THE FAN DECKMUNKEN PURE120GMUND BIO CYCLE250COLORPLAN PRISTINE270FEDRIGONI SIRIO NERO350GF SMITH NATURALIS350MOHAWK SUPERFINE148held, not scrolled
  1. S.01Mohawk Superfine148 gsmivory · eggshell · the quiet default that never feels like one
  2. S.02Colorplan Pristine270 gsmpure white · smooth · for ink that has to sit perfectly still
  3. S.03GF Smith Naturalis350 gsmwarm · lightly toothy · you feel this one before you read it
  4. S.04Gmund Bio Cycle250 gsmrecycled · flecked · the conscience with a visible grain
  5. S.05Fedrigoni Sirio Nero350 gsmdense black · uncoated · for foil, edge paint, and nerve
  6. S.06Munken Pure120 gsmbulky · bookish · pages that turn the way pages should

SET IN THE IMPOSITION · EVERYTHING WE PUT ON A SHEET

Business cards, line sheets, decks, lookbooks, direct mail. All of it.

Twelve objects, one discipline: each trimmed, folded, and finished as if it were the only thing we make. Laid out below the way a printer would lay them: on the sheet.

  • P.01Lookbook64 pp
  • P.02Business cardsletterpress
  • P.03Brochuretri-fold
  • P.04PosterA1
  • P.05Mailerenvelope set
  • P.06Catalogue128 pp
  • P.07Thank-you cardA6
  • P.08Care guidebooklet
  • P.09Press kitfolder
  • P.10Line sheetwholesale
  • P.11Deckbuyer-ready
  • P.12Direct mailcampaign

FULL COVERAGE · TWO HITS OF THE SAME INK · NOTHING PALE ABOUT IT

FLAT SHEET FINISHED OBJECT

A crease is a hinge you get to place once.

Half of what we print has to become an object: the tri-fold that meters its story panel by panel, the mailer that opens like a gift, the press-kit folder whose pocket actually holds. Every fold is drawn before it is made: scores placed to the millimetre, the inner panel cut short so it can tuck, grain running with the crease so heavy stock folds clean instead of cracking. Get a hinge wrong and ten thousand copies are wrong the same way. So we don't.

F-2 · THE FOLD MAP · FLAT SHEET → FINISHED OBJECTSCORE FIRST · HEAVY STOCK CRACKS IF YOU DON'TABC−3 MM12FLAT: SCORED, NOT YET BENT · PANEL C CUT SHORT TO TUCKSCORE,THEN FOLD1PANEL C COMMITS FIRST: THE HINGE LANDS ON THE SCOREFINISHED: OPENS PANEL BY PANELFM-02 · MAILER: OPENS LIKE A GIFTFM-03 · PRESS KIT: POCKET + CARD SLITSVALLEY: FOLDS TOWARD YOUMOUNTAIN: FOLDS AWAYTRIM: THE KNIFE'S LINEGRAIN: LONG, PARALLEL TO EVERY CREASE
F-2 · THE FOLD MAPABC−3 MM12FLAT: SCORED, NOT YET BENT1PANEL C COMMITS FIRSTFINISHED: OPENS PANEL BY PANELFM-02 · MAILERFM-03 · PRESS KITVALLEYMOUNTAINTRIM

TOLERANCES, HELD

SCORE
heavy stock is scored before it bends, never just folded
GRAIN
long, parallel to the crease, so the spine folds clean instead of cracking
SHORT PANEL
the tucking panel is cut 3 mm shy, so it actually tucks
CRACKING
prevented on the drawing, not retouched in the photo

THE PRESSDOES NOTDO DRAFTS.

So we behave accordingly, and we ship through partners we've trusted for a decade of jobs. Real paper, real ink, real binderies. Here is the machine our files are built for, and the five operations every piece goes through.

F-3 · SECTION THROUGH THE UNITOFFSET LITHO · DRAWN IN SECTIONINK FOUNTAIN: THE SPOT COLOUR, MIXED TO RECIPETHE TRAIN:INK MILLED THINDAMPENING: WATER WHERE INK ISN'TPLATEcarries the imageBLANKETthe rubber handshakeIMPRESSIONthe squeezeTHE SHEET, BLANKPRINTED: NO UNDO FROM HERETHE NIPink meets paper, once.DELIVERY: COUNTED, JOGGEDFEEDER
F-3 · SECTION THROUGH THE UNITINK FOUNTAININK, MILLED THINPLATEthe imageBLANKETthe handshakeIMPRESSIONthe squeezeBLANKPRINTED:NO UNDOTHE NIPink meets paper, once.DELIVERY: COUNTED, JOGGED
  1. 01SPECDesigned to real print specs, with a real printer in the conversation from day one, never re-engineered for press after the fact.
  2. 02CRAFTThe same rigour as our digital work (type, hierarchy, grid) and then the two layers screens don’t have: paper and finish.
  3. 03COORDINATEPrinting, proofing, delivery. We run all three, and we stand at the press while it runs.
  4. 04LIBRARYEverything lands in an editable library, so the next version ships fast instead of starting over.
  5. 05DIGITALDigital-first versions for email and site, built alongside the physical piece: one design, both worlds.
Bring a job to the press

THE FINISHING ROOM · ONE TECHNIQUE AT A TIME

Six finishes. Each one is a handshake.

A finish is the part of the piece that talks to the hand instead of the eye, and restraint is the whole craft. One technique, placed exactly, beats five fighting for the same square inch.

  • F.01Letterpressdeboss, no ink lift: type you can read with a thumb
  • F.02Foil stampmatte brass · 4 pt rule: light does the printing
  • F.03Embossblind, no ink: the page remembers the die
  • F.04Die-cutcustom die, half-bleed: the edge becomes the design
  • F.05Edge paintblack, 3-sided: the card announces itself sideways
  • F.06Soft-touchcover only, interior uncoated: contrast you feel

DELIVERED DONE · NOT DUMPED ON YOUR DESK

  • G.01Printed pieces, deliveredBoxed, counted, and at your door, not a tracking number you have to chase.
  • G.02Digital versions of every assetEach physical piece ships with its email- and site-ready twin.
  • G.03Editable source filesThe living library. The next run, the next version, the next year, all yours.
  • You don’t source the printer.
  • You don’t call about proofs.
  • You don’t inspect shipping boxes.

Need a book, a card, a catalogue?

We'll design it, spec it, and stand at the press while it runs.

Start your print job