The Premier League appointed printer BCQ Group to produce three books celebrating 20 years of the country's primary football competition in aid of the Nordoff Robbins charity.
Graphic design agency Deep Red Creative, which handled the contract, produced images of 20 footballers (Adams, Beckham, Bergkamp, Cantona, Ferguson, Gerrard, Giggs, Henry, Keane, Lampard, Le Tissier, Mourinho, Ronaldo, Rooney, Schmeichel, Scoles, Shearer, Vieira, Wenger and Zola), each signed by the player. At auction, two books made £30,000 each, while a third was later bought by a Premiership player.
How was the job produced?
The text pages were produced on 160gsm Acquerello Avorio and printed on an Indigo. They were case bound in Buckram at Maltby’s Bookbinders with the outer cover blind embossed and gold foil blocked. This was replicated on a slip case.
What challenges were overcome?
Coote said: "Producing the books was quite simple; getting the signatures was the difficult bit. To make it easier for the players and bomb-proof for delivery, each page was drilled and riveted to greyboard; the last thing we wanted was damaged pages.
"Things did not run as smoothly as we’d hoped; at one point, Beckham’s signature was looking doubtful. It arrived on the morning of binding with seconds to spare. Another player, who shall remain nameless, took two attempts to spell ‘premier’."
What was the feedback?
Deep Red Creative director Sarah Mammatt said: "Stuart’s stock recommendations, understanding of the complexity of the project and desire to help us produce a high-end finished piece were outstanding."
