A team of four second-year design students took part in this year’s Im-Print Im-Press collaboration between Baddeley Brothers, GF Smith, Foilco and Ravensbourne University.
Twenty-year-old Will gave us an insight into the programme from his perspective.
Will commented how precise and detail-oriented the print process is:: ‘…particularly when it comes to paper selection, foiling, and making sure the design file was just perfect for the machines used.”
The Im-Print Im-Press programme is now in its ninth year, and as a new concept for this year, London and New York design agency Made Thought compiled the brief. Their concept – a duty of protection – was to identify an object (no bigger than 7cm in diameter), something fragile that requires outer packaging, and create a protective concept. This, combined with a level of expressive beauty, both through construction and decoration. A packaged innovative structure that uses material in a responsible and non-wasteful way.
Transforming ideas into a physical product
Will continued: “Every small design decision has a direct effect on the final outcome, and collaborating with these huge machines I had never used before made me aware of how creative ideas are translated into physical form.
“It became less about physical utility and more about creating a metaphorical and poetic interpretation of preservation, as I feel like the connection between artist and listeners is disconnected with the ruling of streaming services.
“I wanted to be part of the program because it felt like an opportunity to push beyond digital design and engage with the tactile world of print as I feel I was lacking with hands-on-work. The chance to collaborate with established industry partners on a real brief offered valuable professional insight and experience. And of course, the opportunity to see our work become reality.
Team effort
Will wants to pursue a career in creative direction and brand identity design within the fashion and luxury sector, with a strong focus on visual storytelling and concept-led work.
He said working with others was a positive experience and allowed the concept to grow through different perspectives.
“I worked closely with Tallulah on pretty much everything, and together with everyone, we shaped the project into a stronger and more coherent outcome. The team effort allowed us to combine different strengths—conceptual thinking, technical design, and practical problem-solving. Each person contributed something unique, and this helped balance creative vision with realistic execution. As two of us were in Graphic Design and two in Illustration it was a good mix.”
“The brief challenged us to create a piece of print that celebrated and showcased music in a physical form. Rather than designing packaging for a tangible product,
The gap between concept and execution
“Baddeley Brothers guided us through the technical aspects of production. Advising us on the digital aspect (more specifically, spot colour, alignment, etc.) to explaining specialist print finishes and construction techniques. Their expertise helped bridge the gap between concept and execution, ensuring the project was both innovative and manufacturable (sic). It opened my eyes to that world of design as I am always on the computer.
“The main challenge was balancing creativity with practicality. Our concept was abstract—protecting music as an idea rather than a product—so we had to find ways to make this physically viable within the structural and production constraints of print, as having a limit on paper size was difficult to work around, especially the foiling process. This required refining ideas to make them both conceptually strong and technically achievable. The hardest part of the project was definitely the design file in Adobe Illustrator as we kept running into issues.”
Baddeley Brothers director Charles Pertwee added: “This year’s project was tough, demanding creativity and the ability to format production-ready files. This is increasingly an issue we come up against where digital creativity dominates the creative output. The entire team, with Will and Tallulah at the forefront, gained insights at all stages of concept, design, communication, and implementation.”
