I remember several years ago it was my first day at a particular freelance gig and one of the animators asked me what I do for fun. Probably because it had been ages since I had any free time I froze up completely, not being able to think of anything cool or remotely interesting to share. I don’t even remember what abomination I eventually stammered, but at least today I can present to you one of my many hobbies:

Bookbinding!

And bookbinding + up-cycling = a very happy d*ro =)

I needed a new sketchbook so I thought I might as well keep up my skills and do a little side project of my own while I wait for my current projects to come back to me from the clients. It took about 5-6 hrs total to make it, from cutting the pages down, folding them into a text block, cutting the board and the board covers, gluing and covering them, piercing the boards and the pages, and finally sewing it altogether. Perhaps not entirely economical when it comes to time, which is probably why hand-sewn books or artist books are more fine art than commercial art, but when you have a custom-made hand-bound book of your own, it feels pretty awesome.

A close-up of the Coptic-binding spine–I matched it to the horizontal lines in the design of the cover.

Overview of my sketchbook.

Front Cover:  reused vintage wrapping paper I saved from when I was young (I’m very sentimental).
Inside Cover Sheets:  Pre-torn and aged blue construction paper I randomly found discarded somewhere several years ago.
(100) Pages: up-cycled copy paper saved from the fate of a trash can at my mother’s office. Before every employee printjob is a cover page with a 2″ header to separate them from each other. Without a recycling bin this page becomes a complete waste of paper, so my mother has been saving the pages dutifully for at least 6 yrs now to recycle them at home. Thanks, mom!
Back Cover: scrap of gold paper I saved from some past RISD-days art project. If there is a decent amount of paper left from a project (or if I see it misplaced in a trashcan) I will rescue/save them for future use, organized by general size first, then color/type. A little neurotic, but what graphic designer doesn’t love a personal library of paper??? At any rate, this gold paper was sitting next to a reptilian textured paper that made some sort of discoloration and texture on it, but I don’t really mind it.

The nice thing about this type of binding is that it lays flat no matter what page you are on (as opposed to, say, a perfect bound book) and its exposed spine and flush cover is truly beautiful.

A big thanks to Suzi Cozzens for teaching me all the paper making and book-binding goodness I know!