Realising ambitious design through print
Inscription: The Journal of Material Text – Theory, Practice, History, is a publication that combines academic discussion with the work of book artists, printmakers and writers.
Launched in 2020, the journal looks beyond the codex to explore the nature of writing surfaces and mark-making in its widest sense — from hand-press printing to vapour trails in the sky, and from engraved stones to digital text.
Each edition is published in a limited run of 500 by Information as Material in partnership with Leeds Beckett University, with design by Michael Kelly Studio and Fraser Muggeridge Studio. The editorial team — Dr Gill Partington, Simon Morris and Professor Adam Smyth — brings together guest artists, poets and writers in residence to create a journal that is as much an object as it is a platform for ideas.
At Page Bros, our role is to turn this vision into reality: combining specialist techniques, careful production and close collaboration with the editors and designers to deliver a printed piece that is both innovative and beautifully made.
Challenging print production in exciting ways
Printing Inscription has meant working at the limits of what print can do. Across the first five editions, we have delivered drilled holes through the centre of the journal, randomly placed cut-outs, used 13 different Pantone inks alongside four-colour process, mixed paper stocks and complex bindings. We work closely with the editors and designers to balance ambition with practicality, ensuring each idea is realised to the highest standard.
Alongside the journal itself, each edition is accompanied by additional printed works including art prints, bookmarks, photographs, and even an LP record, making every issue a unique multimedia experience.
“Since establishing the publishing imprint Information as Material in 2002 we’ve published around seventy books. Over the years, we’ve made several of these books with Page Bros. and have always been delighted by the fine quality of their work and their attention to detail. In 2018, we printed a book with Page Bros. called Catch-Words by Nicholas D. Nace and it is, without a doubt, the most beautifully printed book in our entire back-catalogue. So, when we decided to start the Inscription journal in 2020, there was no competition — we wanted to work with Page Bros on this complex project. Because our project is invested in the history and materiality of the book, we love to push the extreme limits of what is possible with print in each new edition. We don’t necessarily make for the easiest clients, but Page Bros has always listened carefully, been good-humoured, advised us on what is possible and never failed to deliver a top-quality finished product on time. We are delighted to be collaborating with them on this radical printing project.”
- Simon Morris, co-editor of Inscription and co-editor of the publishing imprint
The finished piece
The journal has gained international recognition and is collected by leading institutions including Yale, the Huntington, Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Stanford, Tate and the Max Planck Institute. Described by the Times Literary Supplement as “a shot in the arm for academic publishing,” Inscription has become both a platform for cutting-edge research and a striking piece of print in its own right.
Having produced five editions to date, we look forward to the new ways Inscription will push the boundaries of print even further in the next edition.
