Green grass & Deadlines

This week we had a bash a book binding with Sally, which was the first time she'd actually taken us for a class, and Hannah who recently completed her MA in St Martins, London.

We saw varied styles of book binding from Japanese techniques to some where all the signatures had been left loose. Hard covers, soft covers, you name it. It's obvious really, but I guess I hadn't really concentrated on how many styles of book there are. Really interesting and since then I find myself inspecting books on a much closer level, even if it's just a small booklet. Partly for ideas for the book we have to produce to show what we've learned during text and Image, but also just through plain curiosity. It's definitely a skill and one I would like to perfect during this course. I found the sewing quite therapeutic actually, and Hannah showed me the technique whilst we chatted about learning Spanish. I was envious of her book making skills and she of my linguistic skills...the grass is always greener!

So; the book! Well we have a mini crit this Weds where we are to present out ideas, layout, thought process and then a week to produce the final piece. This will probably take most of the week so I really need to press on with the other aspects of text and image. I need to complete 1 editorial illustration, 3 examples of vernacular typography and the A3 poster...in less than a week...and I worked 10 hours today and the same tomorrow. But I don't want that as an excuse, I will have to put the effort in this weekend (again) and see where I am come Monday, when we have another mini crit with our PAL groups...It's all go!

My idea for the book, by the way, is to go for a A-Z of text and image. I saw Neil about it and I think he liked the idea, I'm just concerned about the amount of pages and how to bind it well. I have some rough ideas in my sketchbook.