Paperzine - News

Rob Thompson, with photographs by Martin Thompson
Graphics and Packaging Production
Published by Thames & Hudson

Some design books are sexy and imaginative, others instructive and informative, and others still decidely down to earth and unglamorous. But they all of course combine to help designers deal with the different demands of their craft, from originating ideas and perfecting pitches to realising those ideas and turning those pitches into great projects. Rob Thompson’s book, part of Thames & Hudson’s excellent Manufacturing Guides series, falls firmly into the realisation area of design, acting as a very useful reference manual on how to produce graphics and packaging effectively and efficiently for mass production, doing so in a constructive, accessible way that makes for absorbing reading.

A large part of the book’s success lies in its structure. In three sections – forming and construction; graphics production; and finishing techniques – Thompson explores 35 different production processes in design and manufacturing. His selection of projects is drawn from a wide range, as you might expect from someone who is both a teacher and researcher (at London colleges Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art) but also a practising principal designer at Nokia, and all are backed by detailed technical drawings and diagrams, and more than 400 commissioned photographs by D&AD-award winning photographer Martin Thompson. He combines individual aspects of the process to create step-by-step case studies which clearly illustrate the different processes. These are shown alongside broad practical aspects such as cost, environmental impact, speed of production and the analysis of different applications. Coupled with the clear, concise text, the result is a book that should be very useful in the design studio.