9 newspapers hot off the press in January

Every month, we put together a roundup to show all the creative ways our customers use newspapers. This time, see how brands like New Balance and Sipmith use newspapers to elevate their pop-up events and flip through a mini guide to typography techniques - plus more! Keep scrolling for 9 inspiring projects hot off the press in January.

Icy icon

Take a frosty journey through 50 years of The North Face's iconic parka in this limited-edition zine. Design agency The Collected Works created an entire design system for the occasion but the “pièce de résistance” according to The Brand Identity is the zine, printed on our traditional tabloid.

The look and feel of the zine, which features The North Face’s original logo on the cover, is “reverential to the history of the brand, yet rooted in modern design.” Inspired by the outdoor company's vintage catalogues, it explores the cultural significance of the parka through archival imagery and interviews with athletes and activists including Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Quannah Chasinghorse.

Pop-up pourfection

All aboard! London-based ginmakers Sipsmith transformed a 1950s bus into the Martini Express for a snazzy pop-up in Covent Garden last month. Visitors got to flip through the Swan Gazette, printed on our traditional tabloids, while sipping a personalised martini.

"The newspaper was the perfect finishing touch and we're so happy Newspaper Club exists!"

“The newspaper brought a sense of nostalgia for a bygone era," says creative lead Georgie Nash. “We were delighted when an exquisitely dressed couple jumped aboard the Martini Express and completed the crossword on the back page while sipping hot mulled sloe gins. The newspaper was the perfect finishing touch and we're so happy Newspaper Club exists!”

Type tutor

Letter Nerd is a compact exploration of lettering techniques from type designer Alanna Munro, printed on our digital minis. Covering proportions, vector drawing, spacing and kerning, Alanna describes it as “a little course in a book” - it even comes with a Certified Letter Nerd sticker because “by the end of it, you’ve earned it!”

“People have been loving it!” says Alanna. “I sold more preorders than I thought I would before I even had the books delivered into my hands.” She adds that she's also using it as a marketing tool, sending copies to art designers to get her letting services on their radar.

Bonus tip from Alanna: “The digital mini size fits perfectly into comic book plastic sleeves! When I package them up to send them to people, it looks like I had the plastic covers custom-made – so professional!”

Shoe showcase

New Balance and ASOS teamed up for a winter pop-up, hosting a series of creative workshops to launch their new shoe collaboration. Creative agency Gung Ho designed a broadsheet for the occasion, featuring large-format campaign imagery and doubling as flower wraps for free bouquets.

“Huge thanks to the Newspaper Club team for printing and delivering quickly to hit our tight deadline,” says chief creative officer Gareth Davies. “We were absolutely delighted with the newspapers.”

Optical odyssey

Feast your eyes on the tenth edition of The Spectacle, published in the tenth year of Cubitts! The mini newspaper is a deep dive into hidden messages and Easter eggs planted in the eyewear brand’s history, which includes the momentous launch of The Spectacle in 2018:

The eagle-eyed Cubitts fan who can piece together the clues will win a prize hidden somewhere in the UK. (Learn more on their website and pick up a copy of The Spectacle in a Cubitts store to join the search.)

Design dispatch

Creative studio Company Policy wrapped up the year with Off-Line, a digital tabloid showcasing their favourite projects from 2023. They also took the opportunity to put their new studio typeface, Out Of Office, to use in print!

"People are even framing a piece of it or tacking it to their office wall!"

Founder Adam Katz says they’ve received “a bunch of nice notes” since sharing the newspapers. “People have loved it and we've heard some people are even framing a piece of it or tacking it to their office wall!”

Bubbly wrap

Cheers to this festive design from Fatcork! Sent to members of their Champagne Club in December, the digital tabloids included pull-out wrapping paper for gifting bottles of bubbles.

“We had such a remarkable response after sending the newspaper out,” says designer Anna Boswell Abel of Cast and Company. “It allowed Fatcork to connect on a deeper level with more personal messaging and more space to design a memorable experience. Newsprint has a timeless appeal and it's a warm and welcoming accessory for a product delivered to people’s homes.”

Finance feud

The Brawl Street Journal is a fictional photo essay, created using Midjourney and Photoshop, that imagines the outcome of a trading floor spat on Wall Street in the late 90s.

New York-based designer Craig Ward says the concept was inspired by a (much smaller) real-life event in 2014 and the reportage-style imagery draws inspiration from the contorted characters in Robert Longo’s Men In The Cities series and from newspaper imagery around September 11th.

“I thought it might be fun to put something out informally in a small format,” says Craig about publishing the project as a mini newspaper. “The title plays on The Wall Street Journal (incidentally a client of mine) and newsprint felt like the perfect stock and format. Everyone has been really positive.”

Family flashback

Creative couple Kelly and Justin Kerr swapped the standard holiday card for a 16-page visual recap of their year, printed on our digital broadsheets. They crafted a family facts crossword puzzle and even sold ad space to friends’ businesses, raising over $5,000 to support local foster children ahead of the holiday season.

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