London-based StudioSmall has been working with British fashion designer Margaret Howell for fifteen years. Alongside packaging and labels – with information rendered in neat sans serif typography – StudioSmall also produces season ‘lookbooks’ for both the Margaret Howell and MHL branches of Howell’s brand. The practice’s graphic design, led by creative director David Hitner, is considered and minimal: refined compositions feature a reserved colour palette and combine full length photographs with close-up details of outfits and styling. But as with Howell’s clothing, the devil is in the details.
The photographic nature of the lookbooks means that there is a particular focus on the quality of image reproduction. StudioSmall prints the publications digitally, using a Fujifilm Jet Press to ensure that each image is reproduced in the greatest quality and sharpness to accurately reflect the details and colours of Howell’s designs and materials. As Hitner explains, ‘the colour reproduction of the clothing is very important, and with the Jet Press you know that what you sign off on with the proof will be replicated exactly in the final print run.’ The Jet Press uses water-based inks that fuse to the paper in a way similar to lithographic printing, which reduces the risk of banding when printing solid areas of colour.
Distributed to Margaret Howell and MHL stockists globally, these lookbooks are required to be both economical and sustainable. Digital printing enables StudioSmall to produce books in small runs and make book proofs with little wastage, even while working with the reduced lead times common to such projects. These benefits have led StudioSmall to expand its use of digital printing across several projects: ‘The quality of reproduction, the flexibility, the speed on the small runs and the reduction of waste are all advantages over litho.’