Book Binding Design Ideas – Design Binding, Βιβλιοδεσία, δερματόδετη βιβλοδεσία, καλλιτεχνινοβτεχνινοβεχνινοβεχ βί J.R.R. Tolkien, leather strap, Lord of the Rings, Lotr, Middle Earth, Tolkien
I read The Lord of the Rings right at the beginning of high school, right after The Hobbit. I’ve described the latter’s effect on me in a corresponding post, so I can only say at a glance that LOTR’s beauty, scope, and depth completely absorbed me.
Book Binding Design Ideas
I was extremely lucky because when I finished the books, the movies started coming out. Nothing like them had come before and – dare I say – since. Those who haven’t had the chance to see them in theaters for the first time have no idea what kind of experience they’re missing out on.
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Ms. K. originally commissioned me to bind the trilogy as a unique gift for her husband, who has also been greatly influenced by Tolkien’s work. The Hobbit was actually ordered after the trilogy, but since it would be finished first, her cunning plan was to use it as a distraction so that he would be completely unaware, so there was more to come…!
The Lord of the Rings is an epic story. It deals with many complex themes of war and its effects on those who find themselves in it, the value of life, inner struggles, pain and enduring it, forgiveness, friendship, good versus evil, all in a way that is much more complex and rich than usually given credit for. With this in mind, I felt the bindings should be respectful, solemn in a way. They should look and be well made, beautiful, but not in a way that draws attention to them and away from the story. This resulted in an aesthetic that contrasts with the graphic and whimsical decoration of our binding for The Hobbit, reflecting the differences between the two stories.
The design is by Miu, who brought it and made the drawing that I later used to work on the decorations. The idea behind it was to show the important places found in each book, drawn with only one continuous line (apart from some decorative elements), an allusion to the journey of society.
Some of the locations were quite easy while others proved quite challenging, with Hobbiton being the most difficult. The final design is elegant and impressive while their minimalism complements the wonderful texture of the leather.
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Although The Hobbit was completed first as a binding, its marginal painting was actually intended as an exercise for the more difficult ones intended for LOTR. The idea was that it would trick the eye enough to see it as a continuation of the marbled papers -and vice versa- at a glance.
When we got to do the border paintings for LOTR, the process was pretty good. I would prepare the book blocks by sanding them to a very smooth finish and then Mia would paint.
She made many tests on books I have left for this purpose, and after some time she succeeded in getting the result as close as possible to the marble sheets, and giving these splendid edges.
This would not have been possible without the help of Glenn Malkin who has made a great video demonstrating this technique and kindly answered a few additional questions we had. Be sure to check out his channel as he has quite a few how-to videos that I’m sure binders of all levels will find interesting.
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The maps in the original edition were printed as end sheets that prohibit re-use, so new ones had to be made. As in the case of The Hobbit, I had them printed on expensive cotton paper that can only be obtained at one place in Athens, which happens to be very far from the bindery. But it was worth it as I wanted the maps to feel as real as possible, textured and exciting to look at.
If you’ve been following my work, you already know my penchant for circular titles, which I consider one of my trademarks. As such it was easy to create circular titles for LOTR, One Ring and all…
However, this, as with many other aspects, was a challenge. I’m getting a bit technical but bear with me as you may understand how even the smallest details in a binding can often require troubleshooting.
The difference in length between the titles (with the 1st and 3rd books being quite long as opposed to the 2nd) created layout issues. The circle of titles should be the same for all 3 books and at the same time it should look directly at the thinnest spine, the one in the second volume. After much experimentation, which involved layering the longer title over many different circles, I found the optimum radius.
Bespoke Bookbinding — Allsopp Bookbinders
This then led to another problem: type size. I either had to use very small letters, so that titles 1
Volume looks small and ridiculously small, or use “normal” size, where the title of one volume looks good and the other two can’t fit.
Title of the volume as much as I could, even using periods instead of spaces between words to save even more space. That wasn’t enough though, so I turned to a trick I’ve seen in old bindings, which is to use a much smaller font for some of the letters, sandwiched in the spaces between or below the larger type.
Making hand-stitched headbands is always on the table, as they are cool, neat and pretty, but I find myself opting for them less and less over the past few years. In this case, they would create too much extra visual noise and would hardly stand out among the colorful frames and marbled paper.
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Instead, I made these out of shiny black leather. The 9 rings are either a reference to the members of the community or represent the rings given to the kings by the men,
The bookshelf deserves its own section in this post. This is without a doubt the most complicated bookbinding construction I have ever attempted and it was an absolute nightmare to make.
I really wanted to push the envelope and create a unique display for the LOTR tie-ins. A case that wouldn’t just be a pretty protective shell, but something that could stand on its own. Something impressive and unique, that would captivate the viewer’s eye and invite exploration through its textures and vibrant colors.
Several different ideas and structures were discussed for a long time, going back and forth between simpler and more complex. At some point the project got delayed and Christmas (haha, did I say it was intended as a Christmas present?) got closer so in the end I suggested we settle for a much simpler structure from the options discussed up to that point.
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But it bothered me. It didn’t feel bold enough, it fit the scale of LOTR or its importance in my heart. I came up with the idea for a case representing the one ring forged at the fire on Mount Doom and had little to share with Miss K. other than a vague but tense description. To my delight, she was curious and trusted me to continue.
Here’s a comparison to give you an idea of how complicated it was… A traditional book cover has 5 parts. A sandwich, which is rather more complex in structure and requires precision of up to half a millimeter for all its parts, consists of 9 parts. Well, my case for LOTR has … 38!
Trying to organize, cut, cover and join all these irregular pieces gave me a headache for days – no joke. By the end I was exhausted but, like Frodo, I had managed to take the ring to Mount Doom…
The gorgeous marbled papers representing the lava-filled chasm of Mount Doom are once again made by the perfectionist Daniela of Papiers Prina.
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Photography and editing was done by Maria Siorba. She really managed to capture and show the beauty, structure and intricate details of this project.
Last but not least, I would like to mention the Greek Tolkien Society, the Roasting Horse, who were very helpful in providing me with lots of information for the original proposed design. They did not make it to the final but their help and support is greatly appreciated. How to make a book – two great book binding ideas – saddle stitch and Japanese pole book binding – There are many different ways to make books – with or without a needle and thread, but this week the kids wanted to try making these ‘laptops’ with a little old cardboard we’ve had for a while.
And we ALWAYS have sheets of paper, A4 photocopy paper – the kids love to draw and write and it’s a really nice way to combine old bookbinding work with your own creativity.
The eldest child is still madly drawing, while the 12-year-old is reportedly writing a book – so