Arctic Paper’s Munken Polar used for Rankin book

24 July 2014

Publishing

The Munken Polar grade from graphic fine paper manufacturer Arctic Paper UK has been used for Alive: In the Face of Death, a book by British photographer Rankin.

The 52-page book, which was officially launched at an event held by Rankin earlier this week, depicts a range of people, from every walk of life, who have or who are suffering from or with the effects of cancer.

London-based design firm SEA, which produced the book's artwork, chose Leeds-based printer Team Impression to print 1,500 copies. SEA had previously collaborated with Rankin, Team Impression and Arctic Paper UK on other projects.

Team Impression, which specialises in high-end print projects for a range of clients in the design, fashion, arts and property sectors, produced the book on a B1 Komori 640 six-colour litho press. It used Munken Polar 120gsm for the text papers and Munken Polar 150gsm for the end papers.

“We’ve used Munken Polar on a lot of occasions in the past and rate it highly. It’s an uncoated slightly off-white paper that is extremely smooth. It printed the job really well and the images look superb on it,” said Team Impression sales director Simon Bucktrout.

“The major challenge was interpreting the nature of the sensitive subject matter and ensuring the print was the highest quality possible to complement the high quality of the imagery. We really had to do justice to the photos and the people in them. SEA and Rankin were both really chuffed with the finished product.”

Arctic Paper UK managing director Rob Slowe said: “We are delighted that Munken Polar was chosen to be used for such a moving and emotional project.”

“With high ink coverage on a number of the images, the paper performed fantastically well. The uncoated natural paper feel was a perfect match for the sensitive subject matter.”

The book features more than 70 photographs dealing with the issues of mortality and illness, as seen through the experience of the individuals featured. It can be bought from Rankin's website for £50 with all proceeds going to Claire House Children's Hospice. The photographs were previously the subject of a BBC2 Culture Show documentary and were also exhibited at Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery last year.