Bad Service
I have to confess to a strange experience that happened to me lately. I’ve been making a portfolio folder for a new client recently. Everything was fine. Folder was covered with bookbinding cloth and a layer of paper over the cloth.
I have to confess to a strange experience that happened to me lately. I’ve been making a portfolio folder for a new client recently. Everything was fine. Folder was covered with bookbinding cloth and a layer of paper over the cloth. Continue reading →
When my wife and I visited Switzerland earlier this year, we tried a short marbling workshop at the Paper Mill Museum in Basel. Then she told me: "But why aren't we doing that all the time at home?" So, target acquired!
In this chapter, Ben and I discuss the new structures introduced through his project Bookbinding Out of the Box, his upcoming tutorials, and reply several questions from the community.
More than 20 years ago Karli Frigge a renowned Dutch bookbinder and paper marbler started a new fair for bookbinders in Belgium. There is a long tradition of bookbinding and papermaking in this part of Europe. There also is a tradition of bookbinding fairs in the Netherlands. However, this new event started as a tiny thing in a back room of a cafe in Antwerp. Continue reading →
Several weeks ago, I wrote about my first experience with soft weights. I had to construct a fake curved spine for a box. It is not possible to use flat weights to press a rounded surface and I had to find some other solution. On our kitchen, I found two synthetic fiber bags and filled them with rice and buckwheat seeds. It worked! Continue reading →
A recent discussion at the Facebook account of Huhu Hu (a bookbinder from Quzhou, China) has made me to analyze myself and to think about how I interact with my clients. It all started as a call for a bit of advice on repairs and restoration of a cloth-covered book (you should probably read that too), but soon we were talking about the rates and prices for bookbinding services. Continue reading →
I’ve decided to make a follow up to the previous post. I wrote that sometimes it is hard for me to set a “fair price” on my bookbinding and book repair work, while I understand that bookbinding is a very special sort of work that shouldn’t be undervalued. Continue reading →
The second part of this episode is mostly dedicated to the Q&A. However, we dedicate some time to discussing leisure, work-life balance, and keeping up-to-date with current restoration and conservation trends.
We talk to Kalin Daskalov - Stopan - a bookbinder from Bulgaria who tries to create the modern style of Bulgarian bindings from scratch. His works are heavily influenced by the folk art of the country. But you can also see his personal style.
Neste tutorial vamos examinar as diferentes partes de um livro (a anatomia do livro); conhecer as diferentes partes de um livro vai facilitar-lhe a compreensão dos restantes tutoriais e será uma ajuda inestimável no seu percurso de encadernador. Continue reading →
Bookbinders always produce lots of offcuts. Paper, leather and book cloth are usually manufactured in sizes that are at least a bit larger than you need for your book. You also cut many elements a bit larger to trim them to exact size during the later stages of making a book. Continue reading →
This is the first part of our talk with Ben Elbel from Elbel Libro bindery and Bookbinding Out of the Box project. We discuss Ben's path to becoming a bookbinder, and then he shows around his studio in Haarlem, Netherlands.
Every year, six Designer Bookbinders' fellows are chosen to create six unique bindings for the books shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Our first guest is Mark Cockram with his binding for "No One Is Talking About This" by Patricia Lockwood.
Earlier this year, Mark Cockram created an unusual exhibition space for books at his studio that is only 76x34x18.5 cm in size. Since that moment he has had several exhibitions there. And that's exactly what we are going to discuss during this Bookish Talk!
One of the most overlooked aspects I see from amateur bookbinders is their choice of adhesives or glue; many of whom rely on PVA as a ‘one-glue-fits-all’ solution. Whilst PVA is a good option for many aspects in bookbinding it almost certainly shouldn’t be used over other more suitable adhesives. Continue reading →