OUGD504 Type in Context - Book Binding and mock ups of alternative layout.

Book Binding Recap Induction.

After signing up for the book binding recap I was able to look through a collection of inventive binding techniques that I would not have considered. The various stitches each change the overall style of the books something that can be appropriate to the different target audiences. During the induction I showed the technician my small printed publication just to give them an idea of what I wanted to do and asked what binding would the see best. I highlighted that I would be embossing each letter and wanted the book to lay flat. As each of my pages would be separate she suggested perfect binding but that there are limitations with this like the pages often fall out and is difficult to get the binding perfect ironically. Coptic stitch was put forward as an alternative however the pages would have to be spreads and not single pages for the binding to work. This stitch allows the pages to be laid flat show in the image above. 

I drew out this sketch to see if this would work for my publication and the order to best communicate my A-Z, as well as A-Z pages would have to be spreads and not separate pages so would the half page inserts with the descriptions. This would mean more blank pages but would be a much more interesting binding and change the overall style of the publication to work with the images more effectively.

During this induction I created this 5 hole stab stitch with a hard back cover, I found this very useful to get back into the mindset of bookbinding, creating mock ups I have found really helps with understanding finishing quality and realising sizes as this is difficult to gage when just looking at the content on screen. 

I spoke to the technician about learning the coptic stitch and as a few others in the induction wanted to as well we arranged another induction at 10 30 the next day.

Before this I wanted to test out how the publication would look in this new format. I created another mock up of images one in A3 print outs and the other A4. Using just place holder text for the descriptions and black and white images so I could see how it would read and flow through the publication.

The images above show how the descriptions would be read with the image shown first without text then the two descriptions (A and B) then with the half page the availability to see the other image without the description. After this double page there would be a blank double page with showing the negative embossings. As shown above, using a interesting stock would make this page seem more engaging to the reader.

Printing my publication in two sizes allowed me to see what worked with the images best, the smaller sizes was more effective as it was more hand held, as the images are of objects this hand held style seems more appropriate. As well as the binding would be complex in this larger format. If the publication is more hand held it could be carried around the Orkney's if needed as well as being read as a coffee table book. This binding is appropriate to both target audiences in the project. Combining a guide book style with an art and design book will be an intriguing challenge but the final results will be more inventive and engaging. Again printing out this mock up helps understand formats and sizes and see how the book might read.