Design Bindings and Boxes
A design binding is an individual work of art, where the appearance of the book or box is designed with care to act as an introduction to the contents or is a work of art itself.
Set of “A Christmas Carol”: 2023
A set of "A Christmas Carol" books was commissioned for the client's children. All are 3-part bradel custom bindings.
Diaper pattern covers.
Diaper pattern.
Leather filigree covers.
Closeup of the leather filigree over gold.
Top hat inlay covers.
The top hat is made of inlaid silk in black and scarlet.
Playing with lines.
The front cover has "extra" lines to show the victorian lamp post.
The back cover has just lines across it.
Vita Nuova: 2023
Vita Nuova was designed for the 2023 NBSS Spring Exhibit. The design was inspired by a 16th century book collector, Thomas Mahieu's private collection known for it's interlocking ribbon patterns, and the beauty of Celtic knots. Click on the photo above to go to Erin Fletcher's description on her blog "Flash of the Hand." The photo is about halfway down the blog entry.
Dante is obsessed with the girl Beatrice. I was impressed during the book at how teenage crushes haven't changed in the past few hundred years. Always drawn to bindings with textured covers, I created raised panels with the Gothic "doodled" letter "B" cut out to show Dante's obsession.
The covers are framed by a double-blind tooled line with corner embellishments.
The onlayed leather knots represent how tangled up Dante's perception of the world is with his obsession with Beatrice. The fact that they never quite connect show that it is his own obsession that is keeping him from seeing all of Beatrice.
The precision of the knots continues onto the blind tooling on the spine. This tooling continues over the endcaps and is gauffered into the sprinkle gilt head and lampblack decorated edges.
The simple color palate and geometric design of the exterior are blown away by the very organic pattern of the Italian Vein marbled endpapers. When society demands that you present one way, you never know what is going on inside.
Peter Pan: 2023
"Second star to the right and straight on till morning." The most underutilized characters in Neverland are the mermaids. This binding's scale pattern reminds us all that they are not to be forgotten. PC: KaRynn Sceranian
Gilt in the rough. This style of edge gilding gives a more antique look. Can only be done on books that are unbound. Chosen to remind us that even after the story is "over" there is still beauty to be had.
The mermaid theme continued to the inside of the binding. The leather doublure has been carbon tooled to match the outside. Black on black suminagashi endpapers were chosen to evoke the feel of water and idea that we never know what changes a small ripple can create.
I enjoyed the geometric pattern of the scales as a background for the sun and stars.
Progress of the Marbling Art: 2023
For this design, I needed something to represent the art of marbling. Concentric circles represent one method of laying color when marbling.
Lampblack ink edges, sprinkle gilt, and gauffered edge. These techniques can be added to most books. PC: KaRynn Sceranian
It is only natural that a book on marbling have marbled endpapers. The papers were marbled by the artist.
Another view showing the texture of the blind tooled pattern and the sprinkled edge.
Hiawatha by author Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and illustrator Susan Jeffers: 2022
One of my earliest memories is asking my Mom to read this book (Hiawatha by author Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and illustrator Susan Jeffers) to me again and again. I was enthralled by the images of nature and the idea of becoming one with nature the way the titular character does. I wanted the birch tree covers to guide you into the forest, into the natural world, into Hiawatha's world.
The birch trees were made using a Silhouette Cameo machine then adhered to the cover boards before covering. This technique can be used on almost any type of cover.
The front and back covers have different patterns of birch trees inviting you into the book.