Our collaboration with artist Vincent Villéger and GF Smith brought together artistic intent and the iconic Colorplan paper range in a project where precision was the creative foundation. The brief was deceptively straightforward: translate the physical tones of GF Smith's Colorplan range into photographic works without losing what makes each colour emotionally compelling.

That is a very different challenge from colour matching. And it is the kind of challenge we find genuinely interesting.

Colour as subject matter
The Colorplan range is built around colour with real conviction. From the boldness of Factory Yellow to the restraint of Mist Grey, each shade carries a specific emotional weight. Our role was not to approximate those tones in print, but to honour them, and produce works where the colour arrived on paper with the same force and intention it carries in the original.

Because colour is not decorative. It alters mood, shifts perception, and changes the entire experience of a piece. A fractional drift in warmth is enough to undermine something that should feel precise and resolved. At this level of sensitivity, close enough is not a category that exists for us.

The engineering behind it
This is the part we get particular about.

We chose Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm as our substrate, selected specifically for its exceptionally bright, neutral base. Before the first print was made, any unintended warmth in the output profile was identified and removed. Printing was carried out on Canon PRO Series pigment machines, chosen for their ability to hold both saturation and nuance within the same output.

We did not rely on visual assessment alone. Each test print was measured using a spectrophotometer - a device that reads colour with scientific precision, producing Delta E values that tell you exactly how far a printed colour sits from its reference. Prints were measured, analysed, adjusted, reprinted, and rescanned until those values sat within strict tolerances. Virtually no margin for drift was permitted.

What it produced
The result is a collection that is bold, colour-drenched, and executed with measurable accuracy. Works that carry the emotional charge of the original Colorplan tones in a format that can be produced, reproduced, and presented to the standard the project deserves.

It is also a clear expression of what limited edition print production means to us. It is not a reproduction exercise, but a genuine act of translation, taking an artistic intention and finding the exact technical path that honours it completely.

Colour was both the bridge and the challenge on this project, and we are proud of where it landed.