Griffen Mill

Griffen Mill

Griffen Mill

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Griffen Mill has been Britain and Ireland’s preeminent papermakers for decades, supplying the world’s leading museums and conservators. The Paper Foundation relocated Griffen Mill from Ireland to Burneside in 2020, and in 2022 were awarded HM The Queen’s Royal Warrant for archival handmade paper.

To coincide with the move to Burneside and the appointment of The Royal Warrant, we designed a bespoke word mark for Griffen Mill. We wanted to keep a connection between Griffen Mill and the Paper Foundation, for whom we previously designed a bespoke typeface based on a design from the eminent British type founder, Stephenson Blake (1818–1990). Revisiting a type catalogue from the Sheffield based foundry, we were particularly intrigued by a design named Mazarin — a sharp and elegant serif, befitting of a queen. The Griffen Mill wordmark loosely references Mazarin’s refined proportions and crafted details, without feeling too historical.

We were also tasked with typesetting The Royal Crest which is used to signify Griffen Mill’s services to HM The Queen. The crest features Burneside Grotesque, a bespoke typeface that Atelier Dyakova designed for the Paper Foundation.

2022