From the pulpit

Directory was founded back in 2007.

Xtreme Information saw it as sitting alongside Contagious magazine but with a special focus on direct marketing.

Hence the name Directory.

In the fourteen years since then, direct has changed and Directory with it.

What hasn't changed is that we still try to showcase work that provokes some sort of response from its audiences.

A click, a like, a share, a tweet.

As a consequence, we rarely choose to feature print ads, unless they are innovative or important in some way.

For instance, in Issue 57 we featured a newspaper ad which was printed with ink mixed with holy water, blessed by a bishop. This could be turned into a convincing lookalike for a Palm Sunday cross for church-goers, thus sparing many palm trees from defoliation.

Also in Issue 57 we showcased a full-page press ad from Buzzman Paris for Burger King with the arresting headline: 'Order from McDonald's' (to support workers in the food industry). Through PR and social media, this one ad ended up with a billion media impressions. Such is the power of a compelling idea.

We appreciate great examples of print when we see them.

See Doritos on page 12.

And see our cover.

The image is part of a startling print campaign for WWF from Colenso BBDO, Auckland. What looks like a photograph of the night sky is, in fact, an image that dramatizes the fact that there are now 500 times more microplastics in the ocean than stars in our galaxy.

Agency: Colenso BBDO 
Client: WWF 
Title: Microplastics 
CCO: Levi Slavin 
ECD: Simon Vicars 
CD: Dave Brady 
Copywriter: Ellen Fromm 
Art Director: Harry Skelton 

Our partnership with Xerox

One of the reasons for choosing this particular ad is because it shows off what can be done with the Xerox Iridesse print system.

Now, I could pay lip service here and thank Xerox for their support in 2021 and leave it at that. (And we are genuinely thankful, let it be said.)

Or I can tell you the truth.

Which is that working with Xerox has massively improved the magazine.

Our last cover, taken from a painting by Graham Fink, is a celebration of creativity in lockdown. It was printed for us in the USA at Xerox HQ.

Thanks to the tests Deana Conyard ran over in Rochester NJ, it is sensational. No other printer in the world could have given us that blend of fluorescent pink and silver.

This is what creative collaboration is all about.

Sharing a common goal – to go beyond the ordinary to achieve remarkable results.

This cover does the same, I think.

It too has been printed on an Iridesse machine with six-pack inks that print metallics such as gold and silver as well as whites and clear varnishes.

From concept to 'WOW'!

If you want to know more about how print tech is changing what designers and art directors can do, Xerox are running a couple of events in the UK.

September 15th – 'From Concept to 'Wow'!

Xerox specialists will be working with a selection of designers and art directors to go beyond CMYK.

And you can learn about the Directory front cover competition.

I want the best-ever cover for Issue 61, out in December. The brief is: go beyond CMYK to celebrate creativity.

Think metals, think fluorescents. Over in New Jersey they're excited about a new 'in-your-face' orange ink they've developed.

Got any hot orange ideas?

Then tune in on September 16th to 'Designing Dreams Into Reality' webinar and learn how to design for six-ink printing. Our very own Darren Eagles will talk you through how our covers have evolved and improved.

And, with your input, are about to become sensational!

To learn more about these two Xerox events and for an invitation to attend, email me ([email protected])