giantpacific-octopress
Giant Pacific Octopress
📚 Fran makes books 📚
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vampirechatroom
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
purplecarseat
batteries not included
stardlin
østenfor sol og vestenfor måne
constelacao-perdida
Constelação
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My bookbinding tools and stuff
I started binding in July 2023, so I'm certainly no expert, but in case you're interested in what I use to create my binds…
I use Adobe InDesign to typeset and Illustrator for graphics
I print on an old Canon laser printer for black and white and an Epson ET-3830 inkjet for color
I purchase my shortgrain paper from Church Paper (for folios) and the long grain paper I use for quartos is just whatever (nothing special)
I love my punching cradle and guide that I got off etsy.
I use this thread (that I wax with beeswax) for sewing signatures
I love this cardstock for endpapers (Craft Consortium ink drops)
I like this bookboard (in black specifically)
I use these tools for spacing and squaring when creating covers
Everything gets stuck together with this glue. (GET THE POINTY TOP!)
I have an old Silhouette Cameo for cutting vinyl and applying foil to bookcloth (with this pen)
I use this foil quill for freehanding
I apply laser toner foil with this Scotch laminator
I have a thermal binding machine from Amazon and I use these glue strips with it
I have this guillotine (but I don't recommend black for visibility reasons)
I have purchased bookcloth from Hollander's, Colophon, and Amazon
Get this head and bond if you want to make your own bookcloth
I make ribbon bookmarks with charms like these and these crimps.
I get positive feedback and help and kindness from @renegadeguild
Caveat: These are just the tools and supplies I use. I am not an expert. I'm a hobbyist who is relatively new to it. Some of the things I use might be "wrong" but every book I've made works, so who cares?
If you want to see what it looks like when I bind something, here's a short video.
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Book #25!
Fic: Apep Swallows the Moon
Fandom: Yugioh!
For: Me, the author!
A rebind of my very first bind - same fic, but updated with new skills, supplies, tools, typeset, and design sensibilities! This fic is about some horrible painful body transformations (weredragonism) and ritualistic axe killings in the woods at night, so I wanted the cover and the end-papers to reflect the bloody, uncanny, torn flesh feeling. I first cut a strip of the neon red slub and lay it across the (bradel bound) bookboards; once that was glued down, I tore up the scaly paper until I had the ideal shape for the cover. The end-papers are, of course, Crepaldi.
Typesetting details below the cut!
The fic also deals with ancient Egyptian myth and magic, so the typeset has ancient Egyptian elements, like a panel from the Book of the Dead where the gods kill the demon snake, Apep, that I used for the title spread. Apep is in the odd-page header of every chapter, but each chapter has a different hieroglyph in the even-page header, reflecting a key character from that chapter: the cat, the brother, and the Pharaoh.
BEHOLD! Demon snake!
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Book #24!!
Fic: Foxcatcher
Fandom: Shingeki no Kyojin | For: my beloved wrival @rooksacrifice | Art by: @ghostsjogging
This book kicked my fucking ass. I had, in fact, FINISHED THE BOOK before I was flipping through it and discovered heinous errors in the typeset, so I threw it aside and remade it from top to bottom. The cover is Mongara-ori "olive crackle" which is a joy to work with - it's beautiful, and it FOILS beautifully. The endpapers are Lokta in a "curry" shade that I found on Etsy. I had finished case assembly just after midnight two days before I was supposed to give this book to Laszlo and I was staring at those bound hands like "HMMM.... what if I ACTUALLY BOUND THE HANDS...." and pulled out my trusty screw punch. Why not! Sometimes art demands some do or die!!
Anyway the first copy is garbo but the second edition is legit the nicest book I have ever made. Enjoy it queen, you deserve it <3
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Book #23! A second edition of Wish You Were Here! in Flieder Duo, because the lavender/grey/pink tones perfectly match these sunrise endpapers. Part of the fun was loading up this ancient typeset and fixing some stuff from before I knew what I was doing, like getting rid of the page numbers on chapter title pages. For my beloved @yuujoh !
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Book #22! Belated posting. A sunset-themed Coptic-bound journal for my beloved @batcountry2005 .
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I made this zine last year to teach Japanese stab binding. It's a technique that every artist should know—with just a few tools, it's so easy to bind your own sketchbook or to make a physical version of your art/writing/etc.
Download the PDF version (with bonus photos & tips!)
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Art Heist, Baby! by otrtbs (@otrtbs)
When James Potter answers a mysterious ad in his local coffee shop, the last thing he expects is to be thrown into a world of white collar crime, but how can he resist when the mastermind behind the operation has dark hair and brooding eyes and promises wealth beyond James' wildest imagination? He would do anything for that boy named after a star, including stealing millions of dollars of fine art.
Pairing: Regulus Black/James Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom
Fandom: Harry Potter
Disclaimer: otrtbs no longer allows binds of Art Heist, Baby!. This edition was first typeset and bound in May of 2023. Please do not use this post as a permission to bind Art Heist, Baby!.
Art Heist, Baby! was one of the very first jegulus fics I read, and eventually became my second-ever bind. The original binding for this fic was done over the course of a single weekend, which makes me cringe a little now—but I am still so proud of this typeset and the bind itself, despite its flaws.
Half-Letter | 219,117 words | 609 pages
Title and Drop Cap Font: Bodoni 72
Body: Adobe Garamond Pro
Accent(s): Gill Sans, Futura Condensed
Typset by me in Word.
Designed by me in Illustrator.
Materials
Cover Bookcloth: Duo in Blue Jean
HTV: Siser Brand in Gold Metal and Powder Blue
Endbands: Mettler Silk Finish Thread
Endpapers: Chiyogami Paper
Eventually, I found that the structure of my previous binding was less-than-ideal, and I decided to rebind my copy. Given that I couldn't change the typeset, I spent a lot of time deciding on a cover design, and eventually settled on using Ivan Aivazovsky's Ship on Stormy Seas (a painting synonymous with this fic) as inspiration.
The process of turning the boat from this painting into something that could be used with a single shade of HTV was difficult, but I eventually settled upon a design I was happy with after messing around in Illustrator for a couple weeks.
When I removed the cover from this bind, I also trimmed and painted the edges, sewed double-core french endbands (two-tone, to match the bookcloth), and reinforced the spine (though I couldn't do much for the pre-existing swell). Overall, I am thrilled with how it looks, and with how my original typeset fits with my more developed design style.
Thank you to Nat, for writing such a beautiful (and heart-wrenching) story. Art Heist, Baby! is free to read on ao3, here.
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The Anatomist by rosa_acicularis
This is a fic I bound as part of the California Renegade Guild server's Mini Exchange. My recipient sent me down a rabbit hole of Sherlock associated fic, but this is the one from her list that really grabbed me, shook me, and said, "you know what design this needs."
The book is bound in two bookcloths: one is red neon slub from Hiromi Papers, and one an unidentified black book cloth that I got from an auction. The decorations are all hot stamp foil that I applied with my foil quill and Silhouette.
The end papers are by @renato-crepaldi. All the images are adapted from an early edition of Gray's Anatomy.
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Coptic stitch in the planning stages: haha yay it'll look so cute <3
Coptic stitch during the actual Coptic stitching: we don't talk enough about how embroidery and needlecraft has historically been a vector of women's oppression?!?!?!!
Coptic stitch after it's all done: haha yay look at the fishtails <3
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Fic: If Music Be the Food of Love by Desidera
Fandom: Yugioh! | for: me <3
Book #??????? is for me, because it's been a hot minute since I made a book for myself! I love this classical pianist AU, and I wanted to go all out with the piano theming. ergo, the cover is a piano in black and white silk moire, the endpapers look like abstracted music notes on sheet paper, the title font is a classic sheet music font (TIEMANN), and the book is peppered with little music notes (rimshot) here and there - including my personal favorite bit of design: every chapter is titled after a different piano piece, so i took the first page of sheet music for each piece and used it as a faded background for each chapter title page.
this was my first time typesetting a book entirely in affinity, and my first time using my brand-new mini-plough, and i learned a hell of a lot, and i'm happy with how it all turned out (please ignore the glue stains on the moire.)
PLEASE read this fic it's so fucking good.
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Savage God by PottersPink, binding by DCB Bindery
Summary:
Past, present, future, Steve knows Bucky Barnes. It’s why he recognized him when he found him in that alley in April of 1942, even though Bucky was older, stronger, wearier; he called himself The Asset, and had a metal fucking arm. He flinched when Steve tried to touch him, and when Steve told him he loved him, his first response was to ask why.
The Asset was only with Steve in 1942 for a few days, but it’s enough to change the course of Steve’s life forever; the journey to becoming Captain America is coloured with urgency, with an undercurrent of fear and determination that in the end he just can’t manage to hide from everyone — But it was all for nothing. Steve saves Bucky from Zola, just to lose him on the train. Their second chance, wasted.
Seventy years later, Steve wakes up in the twenty-first century, and he doesn’t know whether to be heartbroken or hopeful when some of the things Bucky revealed to him in 1942 start falling into place.
Specs:
Square back bradel, red edges, marbled patterned endpapers and endbands, A6, with slipcase.
A gripping read from @potterspink, undoubtedly one of my all time favorites. I’ve revisited this fic over and over again and it is no less satisfying to read each time!
On the process:
I knew I wanted to base the design of this binding around a matchbox, and decided to go with Diamond matches. Really liked how it turned out, especially with the striker design on the spine of the book. Had a lot of fun bringing in elements of the story into the slipcase design too, and the slipcase construction was so much simpler and easier than I expected!
I’m quite pleased with the matches marking parts one to three as well, adding a little pop of red that ties everything together. I’m binding three editions of this fic for Binderary so check out the rest (coming soon) for a more in depth look at the typeset!
More DCB Bindery Projects
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writing an email to myself that just says ENDBANDS so when I wake up in the morning I remember I have to add ENDBANDS
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[Source]
God this is a gorgeous way to start a book. I wish more authors and publishers had at least a little bit of fun with their typesetting like this.
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Episode 217: Fanbinding
On Episode 217, “Fanbinding,” Elizabeth and Flourish talk to Tiffo (aka Fanboundbooks) about the art of turning fanfiction into physical books, and the fanbinding collective known as the Renegade Bindery (@renegadeguild). Topics discussed include how exactly you make a book, Renegade’s origin story and huge growth in recent years, fanbinders’ firm commitment to the non-monetized gift economy, and Binderary, a month-long event this February with challenges, fan-run classes, and more. Plus! (Spoiler) Flourish literally joins the Renegade Discord during the recording session.
Click through to our site to listen or read a full transcript!
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Why am I trying to make four whole-ass books before the end of March. I have all the typesets already and one is a journal but why am I trying to make four whole-ass books before the end of March.
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it's not "am I good enough to do it?", it's "do I like it enough to be bad at it?"
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