'HIDDEN SUBSTANCE' is a project that charts, explores and reinvents the language of
'printability' marks; the small graphic devices that exist within almost printed packaging.

This exhibition is a display of alternative, almost universal packaging that inverts
hierarchy in design and challenges our perceptions of visual value in surfaces and
branding.

For most people the context of the marks is during their everyday lives, particularly prior to consumption. The marks are usually located somewhere on the surface of packaging that is generally regarded as being discreet, unimportant, non-visible, non-surface and hidden. This positioning of the 'printability' marks is due to the practical process of print production. The aim of the printer is to be as discreet as possible and at all times to not interfere with the preconceived surface ‘design’. These marks are seen purely as a reference point for accuracy in colour management, colour consistency, registration etc. Their purpose is functional. They exist to assist production and as far as possible to ensure perfection. This discreet functionality is the common interface for such elements and is therefore, for the most part, overlooked and disregarded. However, over the years many designers and creatives have collected and valued these marks for an undefined quality; one of aesthetic and visual intrigue. Why should anyone take notice of theses little codes? Especially as they are positioned to be ignored, never to be referenced and almost always undetected. Bark's exhibition focuses on a new notion of the 'unbrand', a concept where they reverse the surface and explore the unseen and the alleged insignificant by creating a maverick brand.