The Folio Life: Printing Dinosaurs

Our new edition of Steve Brusatte’s The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs was always going to be a complex project with an ambitious design. The book includes both newly researched photographs and stunning illustrated panoramas, presented as a large fold-out section. Furthermore, an immensely detailed binding illustration, printed slipcase, and finally the addition of a separate map housed in a corner pocket at the back of the book meant a multitude of elements to contend with.

 

 

We entrusted the production of this edition to Gomer Press, a relatively new supplier for Folio, having first worked with them in early 2020. Gomer is a printing and binding company, established in 1892 and still fourth-generation family owned.  They are one of the last remaining UK based book production companies and specialise in high quality work for a wide range of Fine Art and other publishers. We knew they’d be up for the challenge, and their Commercial Manager, Martin Koffer, explains how they tackled this exciting project.

 

Speaking to Gomer Press

 

The ‘Dinosaurs’ project was a great mix of different elements from a production perspective. The printed cloth case is a particular highlight and a really good example of what is possible on a UV press, which uses special inks that dry under UV light and work far better on challenging substrates than conventional litho printing. This is a very high tech and highly automated process, in contrast to pasting in the map pockets, which is still all done carefully by hand!

 

It can be quite hard to visualise how a book is produced, as it involves many different machines, starting with plate making and the presses, then folding, gathering, binding, case making, foil blocking, casing in and so on.

 

 

We are particularly proud to work with the Folio Society, whose titles present a particular challenge because of the unique way that the production is so emphatically part of the design. The books often involve unusual materials and processes which test our ingenuity and skill, but the end results are always worth the effort!