In the midst of all that, I did manage to finish one book project. It was a blank book commissioned by a friend’s company, for the retirement of one of their longstanding designers. It’s a chocolate company, and they ordered a blank book to be displayed at a trade show for the employee’s colleagues to sign and wish her well.


Overall I was pleased with the final product, especially considering it was done during the chaos of packing & moving. This was the last book I made in our previous home at Roads End – a truly special place deep in the woods of North Chatham County. Even as we enjoy the start of our experience as first-time homeowners, and we enjoy being back in town within walking distance of groceries and beer, we definitely miss it.
But back to the book. I loved the way the cover paper performed. It was a fairly heavy, stiff lokta paper, so I was concerned that it would overreact to the moisture in the glue and warp the covers. To compensate for that (and the overall heft of the book), I doubled the thickness of the boards. In the end it worked fine, and the rich brown paper gave the book an appropriately chocolaty feel. A complementary bright red lokta paper served to frame the cover images nicely, and also made a good wrapper for the book as a finishing touch.

The paper I used for the inner pages was also heavier than what I usually use. Instead of Mohawk Superfine I used a medium weight Arches paper, which was a little thicker and less likely to let ink bleed through. The weight & texture gave the book a much more luxurious feel. Also to that end, I tore the paper for all of the pages by hand, giving them a satisfying ragged edge.
Next week we get serious about converting our new garage into a studio. Before and after photos will be coming soon, and after that, many new books!

