Book assembly styles (Binding types)

I have been researching some good, and professional ways in order to bind my book, and it's pages together, and I have found two styles that interest me most. The two styles that I wish to explore, are as follows.

Perfect Bind: For this trial, I have used a perfect (otherwise known as adhesive) bind technique. This techniques involves binding a cover and pages together by using a single spine with an adhesive solution. The spine holds all of the pages intact, in a similar fashion to the stitching method. However lacking the need to use needles and thread. If done properly, perfect bind techniques can be more stable, and secure than their stitch bound counterparts.

My perfect bound trial, 12 hours after production.

My trials did not go so well. I used a card spine, and PVA glue to attach the book together. I found the trial to be very messy, the PVA glue leaked over the edges of the spine when I placed pressure on the book in order to make sure that the spine stayed stuck onto the pages it was holding in. It is hard to gauge pressure, so this was tricky. Because of this leakage, some parts of the card were discoloured, torn, and were left with patchy areas of glue, that is highly unwanted, especially for a professional looking book.

Messy sections, that was caused by PVA leakage, and pressure.

Another problem with the trial was that the pages didn't open out naturally in the way books are supposed to. I think I made the spine a bit to wide, and this trapped the pages, stopping them from opening in the desirable way.

The spine issue, caused by making the card spine too wide.

The inside of my perfect bound book trial, detailing key elements of the perfect bound style. I will hand this book in as part of my development, to go with this unit.

As well as this perfect bind made using card, I also made one using paper, with similar issues, like the card example above.

Front cover.

Side, you can see unpleasant warping.

Again, the spine was too wide, trapping paper.

More extreme warping, later on.

http://printwiki.org/Perfect_Binding < Link to an interesting article, discussing perfect binding.

Stitching: For this trial, I have used a needle and thread to stitch a small sample book, with some pages together.

This technique involves simply using a needle and thread, to stitch the paper or card together like how you would stitch fabric.

Folded paper pages, ready to be stitched together

This technique can be trickier than perfect binding in some ways, for example in the way that the placement of the needle has to be very precisely in the centre of the paper fold. One missed entry location, and the thread can visually look uneven, and this is not wanted. Also the thread can come through the needle hole, if the knot isn't large enough. As a health and safety aspect, you can also injure yourself with a sharp needle, quite easily. This needs to be taken into account.

Precisely measured out marks, to indicate the entry and exit holes that the needle will go in and out, and also displaying the gap in which the thread will be placed.

The needle and thread being initially placed into the paper.

The stitching trial underway.

The finished stitching trial, with the loose thread and hanging needle still being required, to be removed from the sample book. You can see the knots in the thread, which are stopping the string from falling back through the holes.

My finished trial, with loose thread removed. Here I detail key elements of the binding technique, in the physical book. I will hand the book in as a development, to go with this unit.

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For the binding of my final book, I have decided to use a stitching technique, in order to securely bind together my book and it's pages. The reason for this, is because I found using stitching in my trials to be quicker, (lack of wait time for drying) and also slightly more tidier than using a perfect bound book, in my opinion. I will attach the front cover to the pages using spray mounting glue.

My needle and thread stitching, to bind the books pages together.

I took what I learnt from the stitching trial, and brought it into use for my final book assembly. I believe I did this well. Creating trials really did help me get an insight into book creation.





Thomas.

Final Piece #4

For my 4th final piece, I have created the letter 'B' using the imagery of a canine. At the start of the piece, like how I go about creating all the others, I initially lightly sketched out the outline of the chosen letter. I then drew around this form, adding in basic shapes to resemble the dog's structure. I used a primary photo that I took myself, of a sleeping west highland terrier for a reference, and to get an idea of the canine anatomy, as to be accurate as possible with my illustration.

Illustration as a work in progress (WIP).

I used a light red watercolour paint to add colour to the collar. The difference between the white fur and red collar makes for a great contrast in my opinion. I feel this illustration is very striking, and is one of my favourite final pieces for my book, It is also one of the most simplistic ones as a side note.

The illustration as more refined. I used a darker HB pencil to add a bit extra detail and tone to the fur, the difference this makes to the image, is surprising in my opinion.

The illustration, fully complete and cut out. This image was taken prior to placement in the book.

Overall, this is probably my favourite illustration in the entire book. I love the simple colours of white and red, as well as the proportions and the detail. I also love how the addition of using a darker HB pencil in certain areas of the fur, give the piece more of a varied tone. If I were to improve this piece, maybe I would added a little extra shading to the right ear, the one furthest away, to give the illusion of light.


Thomas.

Final Piece #3

For my third final piece, I created a coloured pencil sketch of a leopard gecko, in the shape of the letter 'a'. I decided to draw a leopard gecko as part of my book, because I liked the patterns and shapes of the animal, and also I had access to a live specimen, which because of this I felt meant I had more of an understanding, on the anatomical side.

The illustration as a work in progress (WIP).

For this illustration, I (like the other finals) sketched out the basic latter using a fine pencil. I then looked at a few photos of Leopard Geckos for reference (my own photos), and lightly sketched a rough line art of the animal, until I was happy with the shape. I erased pieces I didn't like, and kept the parts I did like.

The finished piece.

After finding a suitable lineart, I went over the fine pencil, to make it the final outline and then began to add such detail as the gecko's scale patterns, bands and also items like the complex eyes, mouth and nose. After the detail as complete, i added colour, in the form of pastel tones using coloured graphite pencil.

This illustration is a bit more unique than the others in the book, as it was made with coloured pencils, not watercolour paints. I love the colour tones in this illustration, and I also love how the anatomy of the head is accurate. The only gripe I have, is the tail is a little bit too small in my opinion. It isn't as wide or long as a real leopard geckos tail.





Thomas.

Final Piece #2

For my second final piece, as part of my book of illustrations. I have carried on the theme of animals, and I have taken inspiration from the animals unit. For my second final piece, I have been created an image of a lemur, in the shape of the letter 'n'.

I am really happy with this particular watercolour piece, it is one of my favourite pieces that I have created for this unit, as it really does seem to reflect an 1950's illustration style, and colour scheme. I love the tone I have used, and the brush strokes of watercolour gives that effect of 'hand painted', which is what all illustrations from the 1950's and previous were.

This image contains a colour scheme much like my 'pastel' palette. You can see this tone on the orange and greys. I based this image on all of my research on the project so far, which has involved style, colour choice, and technique choice to name a few. All of these are important research factors, that need to be taken into account with any project, or illustration.

I got the inspiration to paint a lemur from the flamingo land zoo trip, which was during the animal project. I really wanted to use this particular animal, as at first I just though the banding on the body was interesting, and then I sketched out a roughy base using a fine liner. I was so happy with this base draft, that I adapted it into a fully finished final piece, which I will adhere into my book of drawings.

If I were to improve this illustration, I think I would have perhaps altered the paw slightly, as I think the fingers are a little too short, to accurately resemble a lemurs.



Thomas.

Final Book Cover

For my book cover design, which will be placed onto an A4 sized sketchbook created by me, I have decided to go with a simplistic design, that represents, and mimics the 1950's style of children's books.

After looking at book cover examples from this 50's era earlier on in my blog.
 (Link to blog here) > http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1545632777560021951#editor/target=post;postID=5301767013712011385;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=11;src=postname

I have concluded on using the design, that I feature below. The image is a mock up, and just a basic draft highlighting the placement of text and imagery. I picked this design, after seeing that a lot of children's books from this era contained a cover with a style like the one below.

My background colour will be reminiscent of 50's pastel tones. At first I was thinking of using either white or grey, but after consideration, I have decided to use a pastel shade of blue, which looks mainly like 'sky blue'. I will use either an accurate blue toned card for this, or I will use a sponge to add blue coloured ink to white watercolour card. This will leave an interesting pattern and texture, as well as different tones of blue. For my illustration in the middle, I have decided to use an illustration of a 1950's stylised husky in the shape of the letter 'm', painted using watercolours, which reflects on my media choice research.

The front cover watercolour husky, as a work in progress (WIP)

The cover idea that I have detailed here, in my opinion captures and displays elements of my varied research, and also would allow me to attain my goal, of creating a 1950's style illustration book.

(My front cover as complete.

Thomas.

Final Piece #1 (Discarded)

For my first final piece, which will take up page one of six, I have sketched a spider using inspiration from 1950's illustration. I have tried to keep to a strict colour palette, using only 'pastel' like colours. For this illustration I used various coloured pencils, with a black fineliner pen.

I created the spider illustration by initially sketching out the letter 'M', and then lightly sketched the spider's shapes around this. After being happy with my lineart, I added a much more refined, and permanent lineart, using a 'heavy' pencil.

The idea behind using a spider in shape of 'm', was that if I was to include text in the illustration, I wanted the spider to be saying "mmmmmmmm", while peering toward a 'tasty' fly below him. This fly would be a separate drawing, and be located under the spider's body to give the illusion that the Spider is further away. The fly will perhaps be, to the right side.

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Update:
I have decided to discard this as a final piece, due to the illustration's size. In a portrait position, it does not fit in terms of width on the page, and if I were to turn it on its side, it would no longer resemble the letter 'm'. I could crop it down through a tool like photoshop, but doing so would mean the original would not be placed into my book. I feel this will make this particular drawing the 'odd one out' and I would rather avoid this.

Despite scrapping this piece. And leaving it out of my book, I still am really proud of this piece. I love how I used fine liner to go over the coloured pencil background, and create the illusion of hairs. This makes the illustration seem more believable, and more lifelike. The colour scheme sticks to the pastel tone palette, and it resembles the style of 1950s illustration. However, I wish I got the anatomy more correct. The spider only features 6 legs, and is missing 2. Also the back legs do not match he opposite sides, this makes the spider look almost crooked, in a way.



Thomas.

Book Font Research.

In this blog I will research 1950's children's illustration font styles, so that if the need of adding text arises, I can pick the right style, that will go with my illustrations straight away, with no delay.

1950's illustration as we know now, tends to contain pastel tones, so if I used for example, a blue background for a piece, or as the book cover, I will need to use a font colour that stands out on the page. A strong colour for blue, is yellow and certain shades of red.

http://image0-rubylane.s3.amazonaws.com/shops/timemachinecollectibles/7552.1L.jpg?30 < image reference at this link.

The example of books above, shows a selection of font types, and also how colour is used. As you can see, yellow text is used on the colour red, it is also used on the colour blue. This technique of using colour really allows the wording to stand out, which is what you need on a book, of any kind. So before I go into detail about my font, I just thought I'd mention font colour, as this is a very important aspect too.

This link > (http://www.acefreefonts.com/c-1950s.html) really offers a great selection of different 1950's style font-types. Some of them in my opinion are more suited for use in a children's book than others however, so I am just using this research as reference.

http://www.acefreefonts.com/c-1950s.html < screenshot of image, reference at this link.

Out of this particular webpage, the font style that seems to appeal to me most, are the ones that I detail below.

http://www.acefreefonts.com/font-12007-Floraless.html < screenshot image reference, at this link.

http://www.acefreefonts.com/font-12007-Floraless.html < screenshot image reference, at this link.

After looking for relevant books on 1950's illustration in the library here, I found this book (below). It is a very helpful book, that is based entirely on 1950's illustrations for such things as books and magazines. I will include some sample images from the book's pages here.

Image reference - Book: the 1950's scrapbook, Author:

I was also thinking about using my own handwriting, if I just make certain letters more rounded, however I would like to try and emulate an existing typefont, to be accurate with the 1950's style.


I will update when I decide on a font type.

Update:

The font type I will be using on the front cover of my book, will be the font entitled 'Floraless'. An example of this text, is toward the top of this blog page. I am still unsure of which font I will use inside, as I would like it to be different to the front cover font.

Update 2:
I have made the decision, to eliminate the use of typography and letters, except in the case of my final obviously. I feel that the inclusion of text around the letters created for learning, will act against the simplistic theme, and distract the reader from the key letter.
Also as for the front cover, I feel this would perhaps take the attention away from the illustration on the cover, and the way it looks right now, to me is enticing. It catches the viewers attention, and draws them into further examination of the book, something front cover text would lessen.

Thomas.

Development Trial #6 (Acrylic paint)

For my sixth developmental trial, I will be sticking to using mediums that create a very 'pastel' like tone, since I noticed way back in my research on 1950's children's illustration, that most illustrations contain colours that resemble a range from this wheel.

http://www.joshuakeenes.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/pastel_midring_3.09-1.jpg < image reference at this link.

I decided to paint a tree, notably the christmas tree outside the campus, since it's right on the 'doorstep'.

I began sketching the outline with a fine pen, and then added a dark shade of acrylic paint to the image. I then began adding lighter shades of green, to give the illustration tone, depth, shadow and lighting. This build up was to help make the tree look realistic, but with that cartoon like element that 1950's contains.

I found using acrylic paint to be difficult to blend. However despite this, it had a great, strong colour about it. Also because it is paint, any colour can be mixed and created. This gives materials such as paint, a good reason to use.

Thomas.

Media choice

After producing development illustrations where I used mediums that emulated my chosen colour choice, I have decided that there were two mediums that stood out. The best mediums to go with in my opinion, are the following below. I will go into depth with them also, and detail an example of my work.

Coloured Pencil: I really like the colour range that coloured graphite provides, providing I pick the right pencil shade, and also the selection of pencils, as every box has slight variations in the colour. With the right selection, it is very accurate toward my chosen palette of using 'pastel tones'. (The reason I want to use this 'pastel' colour scheme, is due to the relationship between 1950's illustration, and these tones. I found out through research that 1950's children's illustration, uses a lot of 'pastel' like tones). I found this medium emulated this tone well.
To avoid the 'sketchy' pencil look to the texture, I could utilise watercolour pencils, which would blend together, similar to the medium that I detail below. Naturally I prefer using coloured pencil to say oil pastels, so I feel the more comfortable I am with the medium, the better the work I produce.

My development trial using coloured graphite.

Watercolour: I found using watercolour a fun experience, and I found myself to be really enthusiastic when using them. Also, the colours the medium provides, can be very accurate toward the 1950's children's illustration palette of 'pastel tones', so long as I mix the right shades. And I loved how I could create any shade, of any colour with this medium, so watercolour offers a much larger range of colour than coloured pencils can allow. Watercolour also blends together better than pencils, and lacks that typical scratchy graphite appearance to it. I also simply love how using watercolours feels, the motions of the brush, and how watercolour paintings tend to have that recognisable look about them, watercolour is a very distinct medium.

My development trial using watercolour.

Thomas.

Book Cover Design Research + Draft cover plan

Although I have not decided on my book style, as in which technique it will be made in, I would like to turn my attention toward the book's cover design. A book cover is a highly important thing to think about, in most cases it is what attracts readers, and creates sales

I already know the book will be A4, this is something that I wanted to do from the start of the unit. So I already know the perfect dimensions to work with.
The book cover must reflect the theme that will be present inside the book, so obviously in my case, the cover will be 1950's related in terms of style.

To help me decide a draft for my front cover, I have taken a few example front A4 covers from a random assortment of c1950 children's books. I will display them below, and then write a summary below each one.

http://image0-rubylane.s3.amazonaws.com/shops/antiquebeak/ab6901.1L.jpg?43 < image reference at this link.

This image contains a two tone background, of simple 'pastel' colours, and a very 50's like illustration of two birds. Maybe I could create something simple, yet bold like this cover shows.

http://specificflavour.typepad.com/.a/6a013488b4d7b8970c014e60b1d2a0970c-320wi < image reference at this link.

This book features a 'pastel' green background, which works in conjunction well with the red text. If I decide to use text on my front cover, I will need to match the text colour up with the background colour.

http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mu9IXWC4yEZwn8li92jARow.jpg < image reference at this link

Like the first example I assed to the blog, it's interesting to see a similar connection to the image previous. Again, a white background, with a simple (but this time sponge textured) pastel tone, and an illustration in the middle.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTQwMFgxMTIy/$T2eC16JHJGwE9n)ySdEoBQ9CsGpjRw~~60_35.JPG?set_id=880000500F < image reference at this link.

Thought I'd include this book cover in this blog. Interestingly it's a Japanese children's book, with similar 1950's themes to the american and european counterparts. Its interesting to see how different cultures have used a very similar theme.

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/0e/f4/d9/0ef4d954e329d719669201a4aa9ac239.jpg < image reference at this link.

This book cover illustration features very simple colours, and a minimalist background.

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Research review:

• In all of the examples I have displayed, the main text body seems to be at the top of the book. This is interesting, so I will reflect on this by placing my book title at the top of the book. there are many different fonts that each over uses, but one that stands out to me most, is the top one. This font type is very very similar to the times new roman font of today. However this text type is too bland for my liking, so I will try to emulate a different style. I will research font in a later blog, and go from there.

• I have also noticed that most of my example book illustrations are roughly centred. I will emulate this by placing my book cover illustration, in the middle of the front cover page.

After going over my research, I have come up with a draft, that I could use as a basis for my book cover design. (Below)

I took into account a common theme, by seeing what was common in my random examples, and putting together a draft of what I could do for my front cover. I think it reflects 1950's children's books well, and I am looking forward to adapting on this.




Thomas.

Development Trial #5 (Chalk Pastels)

For my fifth development trial, in which I am experimenting with using different mediums to produce sample illustrations, I decided for this piece to be consisting of coloured chalk pastel. I tried sketching a canine, but with chalk, I find it hard to add detail, so I tried using a very thin felt pen, to add some basic fur like texture, and to go around parts of the lineart, that the chalk missed.

I generally dislike using chalk, or pastel like materials of any kind, however I wanted to keep an open mind with my research, and just see how it feels working with materials that are outside of my comfort zone.

First off, I have found the experience of using chalk pastel, to be very frustrating. I love the deep colours, and the fact you can blend multiple shades together, chalk is a great material for shading. However the substance is far too messy for my liking, and one accidental smudge can ruin a piece, that maybe you have spent a great deal of time on. Once pastel is on the paper, or other material, you cannot remove it, and this makes even simple mistakes, an absolute mark on the image. Apparently a substance called 'putty rubber' removes some chalk staining, but it is never going to be 100% removed, there will always be a mark.

I love how the chalk produces thick and bold lines, but they tend to be quite rough, and although I like rough lines, chalk just doesn't do justice for me, or in my opinion, my work. I have decided, that I will not adapt chalk further, into a developed final piece.



Thomas.

Development Trial #4 (Oil Pastels)

For my fourth development trial, that involves using different media to create samples of animal illustration, I decided to try out using oil pastel to draw with.

I decided to sketch out another peacock bird, and arranged the animal into the shape of the letter 'k'. I initially finely sketched the outline out on paper, and then went over it with the oils.

I found working with oil pastels, to be very difficult. They didn't offer me much in the way of precision, and accuracy, something which I love to have when making illustrations, as I love the control over line and tone. I would say however, that using oils really took me out of my comfort zone, and I just do not feel using this medium worked well. Using a medium that I generally dislike to use, might not be beneficial to me, as I like to have fun when I draw, as I always produce better results that way.


Thomas.

Craww & Mr Millerchip

Today, two very talented illustrators came into the illustration studio, one was called Craww, who created reportage like illustrations. And the other was Mr Millerchip, a very fun illustrator, who sketched such things as people, and used a lot of theme in his illustrations. The two illustrators came into the studio today, in order to give us some very useful and interesting information on such things, as how the industry works, how they got into illustration, and how they rose up to where they are now. They both provided great, detailed answers to questions that the class raised.

Craww handed out sketchpads of some of his work, which was passed around the room, after a lengthy PowerPoint on his favourite pieces, and he told an interesting background story, on each piece he displayed. 

I spent a while looking at two of his books, and I was really impressed by his artwork, that was inside his moleskin books. They seemed to be a cross between reportage, and abstract artwork, as he sketched such things like people, particularly of the femal form, and he used very abstract, and almost 'scratchy' lines. This is something that grabbed my attention, as I already love this kind of illustration style.

Mr Millerchip, went around the studio, and talked to students about their work. He came to me twice, and I had a discussion with him, about what I was trying to achieve with this unit task. He seemed very interested in what everybody was doing, and he gave off an enthusiastic vibe. After this, he gave his own PowerPoint, on his early life, how he was influenced to become an illustrator, and what inspired him. He also noted some mistakes he made early on in his career, and warned us about the dangers of contracts, and false promises given by companies to fresh university graduates. 

Both illustrators were great, and I'm really happy I had the opportunity to listen to their very useful information. I will be following them on a various number of sites, as not only was I impressed by their work, but also their personalities, stories and characters.

Thomas.

Development Trial #3 (Coloured Pencil)

For my third development trial, I decided to experiment with another medium, that contains 'pastel' like colours. This medium is coloured pencil.

This development illustration carries on my theme, of using animals that are sketched and displayed in a hybrid style, of 1950's children's illustration, and my own personal style. I will be using a 1950's colour palette in all of my developments, and final pieces.

This animal that I have sketched is of a Leopard Gecko. I took inspiration from my animal and digital unit.

I am really pleased with how this illustration has turned out, the colours resemble 'pastel' colours, and the patterns are spot on, and I will adapt this image further, and maybe turn it into one of my refined final pieces. it is my favourite development piece so far, I really enjoyed making this.

Coloured pencil was really easy to work with, and fun, however it was harder to get an even tone, due to the way graphite is, giving a kind of 'scratchy' look. Mainly because every time I sharpened my pencil, the tone of the point changed.
So far, out of the three developments I have made, I have to say watercolours was the one that I enjoyed creating the most, as I can get any tone I want, and if I use a thicker brush, I can get an even fill of colour.

I used a small range of colours, that matched the 'pastel' colour scheme. The reason why this colour scheme is so important, is because I have noticed that some 1950's children's illustrations, contain colour shades that fit closely with this wheel below.

http://www.joshuakeenes.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/pastel_midring_3.09-1.jpg < image reference at this link.

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1545632777560021951#editor/target=post;postID=4926605380167013626;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=4;src=postname < Link to my blog, explaining 50's illustration colour.

Thomas.

Media experimentation

Now that I believe that I have identified the colour palette to go with, I will be experimenting with mediums now. Here are a list of some the mediums I can work with, that would fit the colour palette I need to work in.

• Coloured Pencils

• Oil Pastels

• Chalk pastels

• Watercolours

• Acrylic Paint

I will select the best one, or possibly two, to work with on a minimum of 6 final pieces.

I will post images of my samples below, on each media, updating as I go along with my progress. I will take time on my developments, to get a better idea of what prolonged use of each media, feels like, and ends up as.

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1) Coloured Pencil: (Gecko made with coloured pencils, arranged into the latter 'a').

2) Oil Pastel

3) Chalk Pastel (Sketchy dog made from coloured pastels, arranged into the letter 'O')



4) Watercolours (Peacock made with watercolour paints, arranged into the letter 'F').

5) Acrylic paint






Thomas.