Coilwicks restores and sells high-resolution printable PDFs of British transit posters, modernist abstracts, coastal series and typographic prints from 1948 to 1979. One archive, hand-cleaned, print-ready.
Every title in the catalogue is cleaned from original scanned plates, colour-matched against a 1971 Pantone reference book held in the studio, and exported as a print-ready PDF at A2 and A3.
Fourteen restored British Railways and Underground posters, 1953 to 1968. Includes works after Tom Eckersley, Abram Games and Reginald Mount.
| Sheets | 14 |
| Period | 1953-1968 |
| Origin | British Railways / LT |
Twelve abstract gallery prints from London-based studios and the Royal College of Art print room. Geometric, two-colour, restored from original screens.
| Sheets | 12 |
| Period | 1958-1972 |
| Origin | RCA / various studios |
Ten prints from the British seaside tradition. Brighton, Whitby, Hastings, Margate. Muted ochre, teal and chalk palettes, restored from postcard-era plates.
| Sheets | 10 |
| Period | 1948-1965 |
| Origin | Seaside Promotion Boards |
Eight letterform-led pieces from Hornsey College of Art and the Central School. Single-word concrete poetry, exhibition cards and concert posters.
| Sheets | 8 |
| Period | 1962-1979 |
| Origin | Hornsey / Central School |
All four series in one download. Forty-four restored prints, each delivered as a print-ready PDF at A2 and A3, with a one-page provenance note covering the period, origin and restoration process. Annual edition, capped at 200 buyers.
Coilwicks operates from a quiet first-floor unit off Mare Street, two minutes from London Fields. Original print plates are scanned on an Epson Expression 12000XL, cleaned in Photoshop and proofed in-house on a calibrated Eizo before release.
| Founded | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Location | Hackney, London E8 |
| Process | Scan, clean, colour-match, proof, release |
| Catalogue | 44 restored prints across 4 series |
| Output | Print-ready PDF at 300 DPI, A2 and A3 |
| Format | Digital download only, no physical shipment |
The transit posters are properly cleaned, not the over-sharpened mess you get elsewhere. Printed three at A2 for the office and got an immediate noticeable lift.
Bought the Archive Edition for the studio walls. The provenance note for each piece was the unexpected detail that pushed me from "nice prints" to actually fan of the shop.
Took the Coastal Series file to Hackney Wick to print on heavy uncoated stock. Came out exactly like the proof preview on the site. Colours match the brief.
My favourite of the four series is Typographic. The Hornsey concrete-poetry pieces are obscure and Coilwicks has done the restoration that nobody else has bothered to do.
Customer service is fast and exact. I asked about A1 sizing for a single piece and got a personal reply with a workaround inside two hours. Highly unusual for a digital-only shop.
Bought as a 30th birthday gift for a graphic-design friend, sent them the download link. They printed all four series and lined them up across one wall of their flat.
We answer every email personally from the studio in Hackney inside one business day. If you need a recommendation for a London print shop or a colour-managed paper choice, we can usually point you to one.
