Ryan writes in about creating a handmade newspaper…
The complete paper – a four page publication not far off the Berliner size – was distributed this morning at select central London locations.
Every word and every image and every mark of any kind in The Manual was drawn by a team of volunteers – mostly illustrators. The printing was also by hand, silk screened at The Print Club in Dalston. Each copy of the paper has been numbered in a limited edition of around 100.
This one-off non-profit project was organized by Shakeup Media to make a point about the future of print. We hope to show that handmade qualities can transform newspapers from ‘junk’ to collectable. We also want to demonstrate the power of print as a medium by using ink and paper in a manner that emphasises their unique touch, smell and texture.
(We are using 100% recycled 170gsm B2 size sheets folded in half and Neptune water-based ink with 10% retarder).
The journalism in The Manual is a work in progress but we are aiming for a style that is more explanatory than simply factual – the motto of the paper is “Today Explained”. And of course, being only four pages long, the paper must be extremely selective about the events that it covers.
ADVERTISEMENT
