OUGD504 - Brief 3 - Bookbinding Workshop

OUGD504: Brief 3: Type In Context

Bookbinding Workshop

Perfect Bind

The primary benefits of perfect bound books are that they look professional and a strong aesthetic while remains less expensive to produce that hardback books. The square spinal edge formed by the perfect binding method allows for the book’s title or other information to be printed on the spine (something the saddle stitch and spiral binding methods do not offer.) In addition, perfect bound books can be printed in Short Runs and are a great candidate for On Demand Printing. This provides copious benefits to book authors as well as cost-conscious organisations.

Perfect Binding works well creating a professional aesthetic however is temperamental with the facilities provided within the college, we can only produce a perfect find with PVA glue not specialist glue used in industry as this requires a machine process to set the glue. Due to these draw backs pages can often warp or fall out due to the properties of the PVA glue making it an unsuitable option for manufacturing my book. 

Saddle Stitch 

Saddle stitching has a vast range of benefits including; 

• It is the least expensive binding method.
• The turn around time is generally quite fast.
• It can be used for very short production runs…for example, 150 books.
• Books can be made with a heavier weight cover or as “Self Cover” books. Self Cover means the cover is the same weight of paper as the interior pages.
• It allows for books to be made in a wide range of sizes – small like a pocket guide or large like a road atlas.

Produced with the right materials these publications can look of a very high quality and can be equally as engaging as more expensive production methods such as hard back covers. From my research I found a vast range of the specialist books found in Village book shop were saddle stitched or perfect bound, this assures me that this binding method is popular within the niche of art/photography books and would be a viable production method for manufacturing my publication. 

Saddle Stitch with hard cover 

The cover of a modern hardcover book is generally made from pieces of thick, rigid paper board. This dense board is commonly covered with a glossy coated paper for improved appearance and durability.  Because the front and back covers are inflexible, they must be created with a flexible hinge area near the spine to allow the book to open and close easily. Hard Cover binding is the most expensive binding method and is used for books that see frequent use such as textbooks and cookbooks, or when longevity is important such as a bible, yearbook or other keepsake.

Due to the small size and page count of my publication it would not be feasible to produce a hard cover publication. In addition to this it also would fit my aesthetic of a relaxed informal guide as the hard cover connotes text heavy educational book. The high production cost means it would be more expensive as a commercial product requiring a higher price point. 

My Publication; 

Based on this workshop and independent research into other binding methods my publication will be bound using the saddle stitch binding method as it is the most appropriate. The binding method is simple and minimal similar to the aesthetic of my book and will suit the scale of publication creating a small pocket guide aesthetic that adds minimal bulk with the binding method. The cheaper production cost is avatagnious in a commercial context and will appeal to the target audience as a range of similar publications found through my research also use this binding method. I aim to use high quality materials and detailed stock choices to add a well designed tactile feel to the publication and pose it as a upmarket book as opposed to a cheap stable bound photocopied zine. These materials will play an important part of the final outcome elevating the quality of the resolution and directly appealing to the target audience through the use of specialist stock and production methods. 

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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

Design Principles - What is a Book - Book Binding

Design Principles

What is a book? 
Book Binding 

To get me thinking about how I will physically produce my book we were given a book binding workshop. This would show us how to create a range of good with different binding methods so that I would have a good idea of the style of book I wanted to produce when I produce my publication. We started by produced three different types of books; 

• Saddle Stitch Bind 
• Perfect Bound 
• Concertina

Saddle Stitch

The saddle stitch bind was definitely the easiest book to produce. The process involved folding the pages and using a cradle to hold them in place while I created holes along the spine of the book, We where then taught how to thread the book to bind it together which met in the middle where we tied a knot and cut off the excess. Finally we used the guillotine to cut the edged of the three exposed sides which ensured an accurately clean edge to the book. I really liked this process as it was simple and effective. I liked the minimal aesthetic of the outcome as it looked clean neat and contemporary. 

Perfect Bound

The perfect bound book was the most time consuming and my least favourite. This process involved applying glue to the spine of the book and covering it in gauze to strengthen the spine, I then had to wait for this to dry. Although we then added a cover and secured the spine with a wrap around layer of book rim. My book functioned properly however I was not happy with its aesthetic, The tutor told us it was very difficult to make perfectly as you have to be very accurate with the glue however I must have applied too much which made the spine warp slightly. I like a clean aesthetic and felt the perfect bound book looked messy and relatively amateur. I feel as though with practise I could perfect this however was not keen overall production method. 

Concertina

Similarly to the Perfect bound book the concertina book also had a long process that involved the use of glue. We covered grey board in book rim and individually folded and glued pages back to back to create the folding mechanism for the concertina. We then glued this folded insert to the hardback covers and placed it in a clamp to secure it. I liked the effect this gave as it looked professional with the hardback cover and innovative folding mechanism however the pages had warped slightly due to the glue. When I enquired about alternatives I was told I could also use spray mound or print on one large banner and fold the pages from one large sheet. I liked the effect of the concession book however felt it would be appropriate for photography or artist books that are predominately visual. 

I enjoyed the bookbinding workshop as it was physical and a practical way to learn new skills that will be invaluable in further briefs. In regards to brief 2 I feel I have researched a range of different book binding techniques however want to conduct further before making my final decision. My favourite out of the three trailed here was the saddle stitch bind due to its simplicity, I also prefer this technique because it didn't use any adhesive which gave the outcome a clean finish which I particularly liked.