I did three brand books for Saucony that I just shipped out yesterday. I was sent the sheets from the printer which I then trimmed down and bound by hand. There were some interesting challenges in this project (besides the three day deadline!). One was the transparent vellum flyleaf which had an aversion to moisture. I used a heat activated adhesive to attach it to a japanese paper hinge which was then attached to the textblock. The whole textblock was perfect bound because the designers had to send individual 11 x 17" sheets rather than folded sheets, and they didn't want to lose any information in the gutter margin if it were to be sewn. The front logo is foil stamped in silver and the back tread mark is screenprinted on.
Miniature Gardens Redux
This is an artist's book that I recently rebound. The drawings inside are my own. My training previous to working as a bookbinder is as a painter and printmaker and books were a natural progression for me from printmaking. This was one of the first artist's books I created of my own work circa 2001. Recently, I became dissatisfied with the craftsmanship and decided to rebind it. The pages are all graphite on tracing paper. As you lift one page, imagery may appear or disappear, depending on the layering of the tracing paper pages. It is a simple pamphlet stitch sewn onto a cloth hinge that then gets glued into the case. The case is based on the cover construction of Gary Frost's sewn boards binding. The covers are paste paper, created by me, over boards. The pastedowns are this amazing mustard yellow japanese paper that I drummed on. Label is from the same paper. Title letterpress printed in 18pt Univers.
Tetrascroll
An incredible article from 1977 in which Richard Minsky and his assistant, Peter Seidler, detail the process of making one of the most well known non-codex book structures, Buckminster Fuller's Tetrascroll. I am drawn to the elaborate descriptions of the process from initial prototypes and material testing to the final piece, finished the day it was to be shown (!) at MOMA. It also reminds me (fondly) of the work that occurs at Daniel Kelm's studio in Easthampton, MA, where I worked for two years--new structures, new materials, contemporary books.
Introduction
Shelter Bookworks is a bookbinding, letterpress and design studio located in Western Massachusetts, owned and operated by me, Amy Borezo. This blog will be a place where I gather and organize information on contemporary book practice as well as update you, the reader, on my own projects.