Reviewed by Jeanne
Way back in the olden days, when mimeograph was the standard
and off-set printing an expensive proposition, I discovered zines. Short for “magazine,” these were largely
fan-produced publications with assorted content, depending on the fandom: they
could have stories, poems, reviews, news, etc.
Flash forward a few decades and all at once it seemed people were talking
about zines again. This time many seemed to be the product of a single
author/artist, but still a creative outlet.
When this book first came in, I didn’t examine it thoroughly
because I am not the creative type and didn’t think it applied to me. Some time later I picked it up and discovered
that it’s actually more about the physical creation of a personal book and was
intrigued.
I was very impressed with the first chapter, which went over
the parts of the book, tools, needed, and some terms to know. I had no idea what a “bone folder” was, so
had to look that up. (It’s a tool used to score paper, and is indeed
traditionally made of bone.) The book press was like the flower press that the
Jones Center for Creative Arts, Technology, and Workforce Development helped
folks make a year or so ago. Some of the
tools are ordinary things (a ruler, glue cup) while others are more specialized
like, well, the bone folder.
Berke also talks about the different types of bindings,
including perfect bound (glued) or other sewn bindings as well as coil binding and
other methods.
All this is just to get one started in the process of making a
book. The rest of the chapters are
devoted to step by step instructions on how to make your own sewn book, on how
to do the paper folds, creative pop-ups, or expandable book forms. The section on making accordion book forms
includes how to make book ornaments.
In short, this is a very good resource for anyone interested
in making their own books or zines.
There are also other resources listed, and the information is up to
date. Alas, there is no index but there is a pretty thorough chapter list in
the front of the book.
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