Design Principles - What is a Book - Book Binding: Coptic Bind

Design Principles

What is a book? 
Book Binding - Coptic Bind 

When researching a range of alternative book binding techniques I came across the coptic binding method. I was initially attracted to its sewn method as opposed to adhesive as from the bookbinding workshop found this to give a cleaner aesthetic. I liked the intricate stitching method used to create the book and liked the aesthetic it produced. When I was talking to my tutor he called it an exposed spine method which excited me as I thought this could work really well with my concept of taking the name of the method and adding sinister connotations, I thought the exposed spine sounded quite sinister and gave me connotations of skeletons  Based on this I have chosen to produce my book using the coptic binding method as it produced a clean unglued  finish and directly relates back to my concept. 

I also went to Waterstones to see if there were any physical examples of coptic bound books so that I could physically interact with one before making my final decision. I managed to find an example of an industrially made coptic bound book, although mass production it took away some of the handmade aesthetic that I liked such as the thick string, it added some innovative features such as placing text along the exposed spine (however I think text takes away from the character of the spine). I still liked the method and wanted to continue to use it for my outcome. 

I was unfortunately unable to book into have a tutorial with the book binding staff for them to teach me how to coptic bind however found a range of tutorials online that would allow me to teach myself independently with step my step instructions on how to produce a book that is bound using the coptic method. I plan to produce a number of mock ups using this tutorial to become confident at this finding method before producing my final outcome. 

Coptic Bookbinding Tutorial