February: Zine

          February's intellectual collaboration was a zine. It was great fun and a new experience to fill out content for a small format. Like January's collaboration, Dust of Snow, we set a few parameters and this month's were as follows: Zine Black and White Teach or Preach (2) 8.5 x 11 Sheets of Paper The nature of zines tends to be a quick and cheap way to get information out to people. They often look slapped together, finely formatted or range somewhere in between. Before beginning the project, I spent much time perusing the Zine Library…

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Paste Paper and Paste Cloth

If you have been in the book arts world even for the smallest amount of time, you have probably seen an array of paste paper and paste cloth.  It is a great decoration technique that gives the artist complete customizing ability with color and design. This is a material that I revisit often because of all of its benefits because its only limit is your imagination. I was first introduced to the wonders of paste cloth and its potential by Martha Cole during her presentation at the 2008 Guild of Book Workers Standards of Excellence. Her work is absolutely stunning…

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Read more about the article January: Jacob’s Ladder

January: Jacob’s Ladder

The third week of January, I finished a book that is part of a new activity I started with my friend, Kristen, of Space Paste Press. Kristin and I live far away from one another; I live in Indiana and she lives in Pennsylvania.  In order to spark new projects and to eliminated the inspiration lacking periods, we came up with a monthly "assignment." The first week of each month, we would give ourselves a book assignment that would have to be completed before the month is out.  With the help of modern technology, we use video chatting which allows…

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Read more about the article Alphabet Book
alligator

Alphabet Book

This semester, I sat in on a typography class. I have been really excited to have the opportunity because my training in graphic design is slim to none. Up till now, I have built my knowledge on those around me, so the class has been wonderful. The final project of this class was a type specimen book that was to show case a type face in book form. Our options were completely open.  So I decided to go with a book that displayed the font through creative content as opposed to an historical approach.  The end result was an animal…

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Read more about the article Matchbook Exercise
matchbook front

Matchbook Exercise

In order to get through slow periods of the day or when I am faced with a creative block, I create a small project that can be completed in an afternoon.  This particular book is a practice in design as well as a creative structure. The matchbook contains a group of cards with relaxation activities on each one.  The cards are tied together with a braided cord fixed with a button.  The book was designed in Illustrator using a single piece of 8.5 x 11 paper (plus half a sheet for test folding). This project was inspired by Paperiaarre who…

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