The presentation box our albums come in has a long history. Developed for us in 1995 by leading designer Donna Hoyle, it combines two graphic elements: a 17th Century Italian text, and a series of leaf and heraldic devices including our own Cherub. It doesn’t even bear our name, but to us, and our customers, it’s a key part of our identity, like Tiffany’s Blue Box… but maybe not as famous! The Box even survived a total rebranding in 2008, when we couldn’t bear to part with it. It was another seven years before we refreshed the design, and even To View More >>

This post on Cam Grove’s Instagram made our day, and we so agree that first impressions are lasting impressions. I once read an article in PDN about photographer's studios, and this one photographer was explaining how he had dropped thousands of dollars on buying this particular handle for his front door. He reasoned that the first physical contact that prospective clients had with him and his business was when they opened the door to his studio. He wanted that initial touch to immediately convey all the things intrinsic to his business; strength, substance, craftsmanship... To View More >>

My hands are how it all started, making a leather handbag for my mother. I am a woman of the craft. Creating things by hand is something that I've mastered over time and fallen in love with. Not just leatherwork and bookbinding but needlework, cooking and much more. Over the years as Queensberry grew I got busier and busier, and, for much of each year, I've put this aside. But today I was reminded how much I've missed working with my hands … the feeling, the respect for my craft, the getting back to a space that fills me with love. Why is handmade so special? To View More >>

I run the Queensberry Bindery - never say "factory"! It’s a great privilege, and we do enjoy watching visitors gasp and smile at how much handwork and care goes into making a Queensberry. So this week, as we release our new packaging, I thought I'd show you how even our presentation box is a handmade product! We love handmade, and we love the companies that practice it, so we felt right at home with Glenn and the team at Artrite. They do a lot of fine art screen printing for New Zealand artists like Dick Frizzell, Stanley Palmer, Michael Smithers and the late Don Binney. You can see some To View More >>

I believe that to succeed in this “industry" we need to fully engage our heads and our hearts, and Sonya's post demonstrates how truly engaged she is. It was about the albums she’s been keeping of her two daughters since they were born, and it reminded me of another album that Heather made years ago. So here am I, hand on heart too… Twenty-one years ago we hired a professional photographer. It was our daughter Adrienne’s birthday. Stephen was coming home from Australia with his fiancée Sonya to meet the family. Heather's Mum and Dad had long passed To View More >>