FMP (BA): Prototype - Saddle Stitching

Saddle Stitching

I laid out all of my test prints from Staples and cut them out with a scalpel one-by-one. As it had that problem with it being slightly off-centre I had to cut it down a bit smaller in order to trim off any white edges.

Once all of the pages were trimmed I folded each one in the middle separately. I then arranged them in the same fashion as I did previously, now that I know that my prototype I had produced much earlier had worked.

I then followed the saddle stitch binding tutorial from Sea Lemon:

My "screenshots":

I noticed that I had actually stitched mine incorrectly, so I went and tried again on a few scrap pieces of paper. I had a few problems when it came to tying a knot at the end but after a while I managed to get the hang of it.

I went back to the stitching I had done to my test prints and trimmed off the edges before flicking through to have a look at my designs.

Reflective Thinking - Summary

The off-centre part didn't turn out to be so bad after all, and that must be because the centres weren't too far apart from each other like they were on the university printers. It isn't that visible on my designs other than on my Dr. Seuss page but I believe that could be improved by tightening the binding.

I thought that my saddle stitching process went well overall. I am hoping to use a different coloured thread that works better with my design but it seems that I wouldn't necessarily need to use wax to make the thread smooth as it didn't fray nor was it hard to work with.

I don't think I will do it with staples as I feel that that'll detract the "traditional" feel that I'm aiming for. Thread makes it seem more personal as a machine wouldn't be able to do it so it's clear that a person (me) had personally taken their time to bind the book. Obviously this wouldn't be ideal in terms of mass-production but I think that as a university project it is fine. 

I will still experiment with other book processes and the next one that I have in mind is the "accordian" book.

Learning Outcomes:
[9] Developed their ability to work with complex material, analyse problems and identify appropriate solutions.