Books

Bookmaking requires knowledge, a steady hand, and mostly patience. This craft that changed the dissemination of ideas has found a home at RageHaus. Rooted in quality and tradition, we explore the craft and art behind bookmaking.

Ever since I’ve been an artist, I’ve had debris. You know, those leftover parts from projects and moonlight musings. I had multiples of a few things and made a few more copies of the other things and next thing you know, I’ve got an excuse to design a cover for a personal compilation.

The book features about a dozen 11×17 xerox spreads cut and folded into an 8×10 book with a 1-color craft paper cover, all stitched together with stained twine. The pages fold out to make semi-posters. I only made 5 of these.

I decided to pay homage to Kenneth FitzGerald by typesetting his last 3 essays for Emigre. I retyped the essays straight from the source, typeset them, and finally produced the guts from a master using a photocopier. The cover art was spontaneously created out of “stock photo mailer materials” and just playing with the copier. The booklets are finished off with a florescent belly band, each book with it’s own color. The brash, loud exterior is contrasted by a formal layout and Italian-inspired typographic system. I used Frank Heine’s “Tribute” as a nod to Emigre and to the traditions Kenneth taught, as well as the contemporary ideas he embraced. Only 5 sets of books were produced.

This notepad measures 9 1/2″ x 3 1/2″. The cover is made from a repurposed file folder and the image is a block print from wood type. We pulled from various sections of the block print to ensure that each print was different. This notepad contains 50 sheets of ivory typing paper that has been perforated for your tearing pleasure. In case the perforation wasn’t enough, we also included a piece of chip board that sits above the paper, but below the cover and acts as a hard edge to tear against. Everything is held together with two bronze book screws that allow you to refill and reuse this notepad to your heart’s content.

The sketch book’s cover is a repurposed hanging file folder with a two color print. On the inside of the cover is a one color print designating an area to write who the book belongs to. Also, the first page of every book has another print that briefly describes one of the images on the cover.

The sketch book holds 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper and the cover measures 9 1/4″ x 11 1/4″. The “guts” of the book are made of 27 pages of French’s Bright White 65 lb cover stock and thrown into the mix are 18 pages pulled from a variety of publications and older books that include: a Women’s Journal (1970’s), Webster’s Dictionary (1959), Marvels & Mysteries of Our Animal World (1964), an old Flight Manual, stock photography books (1990’s) and an old art history book (1962).

When I first started developing the idea for the sketchbook, Kim suggested that I pepper in miscellaneous stuff along with the sketch paper. I thought it was a great idea and a great way to repurpose old, outdated books. Besides, I’ve always been inspired by random things I’ve found or stumbled across, and thought these pages would jump-start others’ ideas as well. All the pages were hand picked for their content and are different for each book. No two books contain the same page. I was able to compile 18 books when the day was done.

To top it off, the sketch book is bound with book screws so you can take out pages or add new ones when it’s full. We encourage the owner to reuse the cover time and time again. Use duct tape if you have to.

There’s going to be a lot of pictures dealing with these books, so we’ve given them their own Flickr collection.

More than a year later, I was finally able to organize and create this wedding album. The album incorporates many of the design aspects that were present in our wedding invitations. The book’s cover measures 12”x6” and is fabricated from wood, fabric and ribbon. The M on the cover is the result of using a fine tip wood-burning tool. The inside is composed of 150 sheets of French’s parchment paper and holds nearly 300 pictures. In between the pictures are sheets of vellum to prevent sticking. The pictures follow the time line of events that took place on our wedding day. Mixed in with the pictures are pages that have excerpts from the ceremony and reception. Three book binding screws hold the entire book together.

When I first started this project, I failed to realize how massive this book would be when finished. I am tickled by how it turned out and I think it is a perfect end to such a wonderful event.

A short, romantic book dedicated to Kim and given to her on Valentine’s Day. It uses a coptic stitching and is covered in red chili paper. The pages are filled with a short piece of writing expressing love and tenderness.

This was a birthday present for my husband this year. I decided to merge his two favorite things in life: Legos and book making. I used a Coptic stitch to bind the book so it will lie flat when open for optimal sketching. The covers are created from Lego build platforms reinforced with thick matboard. Inside, there are 36 pages of 50 lb. Strathmore Sketch Paper.

When it came time for marriage, we both wanted something special for an invitation. We were also excited to plan a very small, intimate wedding. Keeping that aspect in mind, we decided to write personal stories about how we met and the events leading up to our engagement. A small number of 50  were produced by hand.

The invitation’s cover is assembled and printed by hand. The inside front and back covers have pockets for the invitation, directions and RSVP. The book was bound using a piano hinge method. The design of the invitation is extended throughout the wedding program, wedding favor and thank you card. 

Imposing itself upon the reader, this book of “dirty” photos occupies a 20″ by 15″ space. Commanding attention, this book wants the reader to consider the elephant in the room. People try so hard to hide their collection of dirty photos, this book shouts the subject matter to the world.

A one-time book produced from five found object. All images were produced from photo-copies of the objects. The pages were arranged to create a visual narrative with little or no words.

I always had trouble remembering things. One day, I started taking the any note and leaving them in my shoe the night before, so the next day when I put my shoes on I would find it. This book contains distant and not-so-distant memories recalled in one night.