The Off-Beat exhibition, which featured at The John Rylands Library in Manchester, showcased a range of examples of early self-publishing, from the ‘International Underground’ of 1960s artists, poets, philosophers, actors and musicians.

These ‘Little Magazines’, as they were known, were often printed in small low cost runs using a stencil-based forerunner of the modern photocopier known as a mimeograph.

The exhibition was commemorated by design studio Design LSC, with a series of printed materials celebrating the Off-Beat’s raw and retro appeal. Off Beat 62.

The papers used to create the reproduction prints, postcards and bookmarks were selected from James Cropper’s ‘Kendal Manilla’ collection in a range of weights and ‘heritage’ colours.

Luigi Carnovale

Creative Director, Design LSC.

“ We often look to use papers in a way that challenges the norm. We chose Kendal Manilla because we felt it evokes a sense of that period, the colour working perfectly to complement the art and literature of the 1960s and 70s when academics and artists would take to the streets of London and challenge the order of the day. We wanted to push this idea further by using a ‘lost' printing technique from that era –thermography – which resulted in a textured, high gloss finish. ”

Luigi Carnovale

Creative Director, Design LSC.