Customer Reviews

Book Arts: Beautiful Bindings for Handmade Books

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although I sort of went crazy and bought several books on handmade books and paper crafts, when it came to actually selecting designs I wanted to try for Christmas gifts for my friends this year it was Book Arts: Beautiful Bindings for Handmade Books by Mary Kaye Seckler that had the most novel and attractive designs. Some of the ideas were similar to those illustrated in other works, but Ms Seckler's actual presentation was impressive. While some of the more elaborate designs in other books were attractive and clever, they left me as a major beginner a little daunted. Book Arts allowed me to produced satisfying results despite my status as novice.

Some of the actual patterns for weaving the signatures together were a little confusing to me. I'm used to fiber crafts like tatting and bobbin lace which have very complicated designs, so I felt that had the illustrations been a little clearer it would have been easier to do. Where the needlework was more straight forward, however, I found the assembly of the book more easily accomplished. Although I've yet to try all of the patterns, I hope to make each one at least once.

Of all of the styles offered, my favorite was the Geisha's Hideaway. It includes a small pencil box and a novel closure. I made a practice run with scrap paper and cardboard backs from tablets during a quiet episode at work and managed to complete the thing in about an hour. I've since made three others using brocade fabric and taking more pains over the precision with which I cut the covers and pencil box, and each took considerably longer, about three hours with gluing and clamping the materials. The results, however, were stunning.

I modified the author's version of the Chinese Star Book by making it a little larger and making a changeable story out of it by placing alternate outcomes from which the reader could chose into pockets at each stage of the story. I got the idea for the story from another book on making books, but chose Ms Seckler's design for the actual book.

By learning the basic techniques of each of the books and altering them to suit a desired purpose, the student should be able to come up with hundreds of clever designs. For those of you used to stamping and to scrap booking, the embellishments you might add to your product through your knowledge of those sources are legion, and you should be very satisfied with the results. .

The quality of the projects presented in this book is astounding. They are all innovative, creative, inspiring and incredibly beautiful. The different types of binding used in the projects are ingenius and unique. This is definiately one of the best book binding books on my shelf, and is great for people with a some experience. The instructions are set out in blocks of text, so beginners could easily get lost in them. Also, the layout of the pages and instructions are a little disorganised and cramped, but the calibre of the designs far outweigh the slight cons of the book.

I continue to be impressed with the caliber of books produced by Design Originals, and "Book Arts" is one of their finer efforts. I particularly like that the author, Mary Kaye Seckler, has included not only clear instructions, but templates. The photography is beautiful and her book art is inspiring. This book deserves a place in your reference library.

This book is really great for inspiring creative ways to make your art books, journals and memories books beautiful and inviting on the outside. It stimulates the artist to continue the themes of the content all the way through the book cover to cover instead of settling for a store bought, unembelished manual.

There are many diagrams, "how to" tips and project instructions that are easy to read and to implement. The photos are very good and there are plenty of them. The art books displayed are opulent and the draw you into that creative mood.

The resource guide/suppliers was a little too brief.

This book is inspirational for anyone who enjoys creating different types of books. The projects are challenging and fun, while catering for beginners through to people who have had a lot of experience in book making. All instructions are easy to understand and materials required are fully explained.This is a fantastic book!

Ever since I turned from journal connoisseur to journal maker, I've been trying to find those rare books that teach me how to make interesting styles of books without the technical jargon and confusing stereo instructions written in some language requiring babel fish to decode.

I prefer reading instructional art books that contain numeric step-by-step instructions and lots of pictures. After reading a few books in the stores on the subject and finding that most of them seemed to be written in that stuffy, old, college text book style with vary little pictures to reference, I was glad to find this little gem.

Book Arts follows a project structure, meaning that it doesn't spend too much time on the history or rhetoric of bookbinding. Seckler drops you right into the process by quickly going over a few common terms (in list format, similar to my first introduction article) and giving you a general overview of common tools used in the process. After these 3 brief pages of introduction, she starts right on on the first project. There are a total of 12 different book projects, utilizing a few different types of binding techniques, ranging from easy (the first project is a no sew) to hard (two needle Coptic stitch binding). By name, these books are:

* Memories of Paris (no sew)
* Atlas' Secret Pages
* Tag Flag Book
* Chinese Star Book
* Asian Serenity Book
* Sewing Over Tapes
* Long Tail Sally
* Raven's Foot Binding
* Geisha's Hideaway
* Serengeti Piano Hinge
* Two-needle Coptic Stitch Book
* French Tunnel Vision Book

So what makes this book so much better than many others? Well, for starters, it meets my top 2 criteria for instructional art books. The book is printed on glossy, full color paper and includes more than ample pictures and samples of hand made art books using the instructions within. Each project gives a complete materials list as well as easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions (some numeric and others not) that help you create the featured book from scratch. She also includes any corresponding templates for many of the binding projects. Seckler wrote the book in plain, friendly English and she offers many friendly suggestions while you attempt the projects. Depending on what my mood is, I can create a simple project and be done within a few hours or spent a lot more time on a more complex project.

My favorite projects in Book Arts include the Asian Serenity and the Piano Hinge Books. I also enjoy the no sew book as it's one of the nicer hard-bound book projects that doesn't require sewing with needles and a steady hand. On a side note, a great thing to do and use for the piano hinge books are chopsticks. They make perfect binding sticks! I'll frequently go to Chinese restaurants and horde everyone's chopsticks so that I can use them as the sticks that get bound into the piano hinge books.

Another big benefit to this book is its reasonable price. At $16.95 USD, it gives you a broad and artistic look at how to make several different styles of books with minimum knowledge and tools. Doug and I were talking the other day about how some books out there are written in such a way that they expect you to have nothing but the best tools and the most expensive leathers or materials to put into your books, not to mention the time and dedication needed to make such a tome. With Book Arts, you can start creating your own books with tools and materials that fit within your own budget.

I will admit that this book is geared to the art crowd, so many of the projects may look and feel a bit more artistic or "different" than your average everyday journal. But don't let that turn you away from looking at the book for what it is, an instructional device that gives you a quick overview of all the different types of books you can make and how personalized creating these books has become. The projects are standard enough that you can select the materials that you want to use to make each of your books personalized; you can either tone it down or spice it up, however you desire.

Perfect for Artists book class, a bit more advanced than the scrapbooking fad/craze. Would encourage all true artists studio and student to buy!

This book is not the one that will teach you how to bind a book. It is more like a photo album of "artistic" book designs, but they are too artistic to be really used as a binding for a book you'd actually like to read.
The designs presented can be used to create decorative book objects, that's if you manage to get how to do it, as the instructions are very scarce.

I also have Hand Bookbinding: A Manual of Instruction (Paperback) by Aldren A. Watson, and this one I can recommend, it's very instructive.

Of the several titles on this subject I've recently acquired, this one might be my favorite. It's a little warmer in tone than some I could cite, it covers a wide range of books and binding techniques, it's very well-illustrated, and it's approachable and yet never condescending. If I had to recommend single source, it would probably be this one, because it is broad and the potential for everyday applicability seems highest here.

This book was a bit problematic, as there weren't enough photos of actual binding/stitch methods. Some of the instructions have to be read very carefully while referring back to the few photos available. There are also items listed as tools that the average person just starting these techniques would not have. That being said, i would recommend it to an artist who could adapt the instructions to their own method of working. I found it stimulating and like the original designs. A few readers may be disappointed as materials used are very upscale, not cost effective. If you are able to sort through obtuse instructions, and use items you already have, then it would be a good book for those past the novice stage, but not yet at the "pro" level.