Competitions

iBB #27.1 YouTube

DB UK Competition/ Designer Bookbinders/ Highlights/ iBB Podcast

Talking to Kate Holland About the Designer Bookbinders UK Competition [iBB Podcast #27.1]

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This time we invited Kate Holland, an award-winning bookbinder from the UK, who is also one of the people in charge of the Designer Bookbinders UK Competition.

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00:00 – Beginning
01:16 – Designer Bookbinders: one of the foremost societies dedicated to the craft of fine bookbinding
02:28 – Being a Fellow of Designer Bookbinders
06:36 – Designer Bookbinders as a worldwide society
07:13 – DB UK Bookbinding Competition: Set Book
08:59 – The concept of “The winning binding” in bookbinding competitions
11:57 – Book arts competitions in the UK that have more acceptance towards the experimental structures
13:01 – DB UK Bookbinding Competition participants: who they are? (geography, gender, age)
15:55 – How the Pandemic affected DB UK Bookbinding Competition
l20:44 – The sponsors of DB UK Bookbinding Competition
23:29 – The importance of organizing bookbinding competitions
24:40 – How long has the Competition and the Designer Bookbinders Society been in existence, and how did they change over time?
26:38 – Interaction of Designer Bookbinders society with the press and social media
28:50 – Postponing the Competition and the future schedule
30:05 – Being the participant of bookbinding competitions and the social aspects of being a Fellow of Bookbinders society (such as events)
33:58 – Kate’s personal experience of taking part in bookbinding competitions
36:56 – To follow or not to follow the news in bookbinding world: the influence of other’s works on an artistic view
38:03 – Sources of inspiration for work
39:11 – Current Licentiates of the Designer Bookbinders society
41:07 – Ways to attract new licentiates to the Society
43:26 – Kate’s bookbinding course structuring approach
45:13 – Difficulties of teaching the design aspects of bookbinding and the importance of having a life experience to develop an artistic view
49:34 – Ways to collect ideas and inspiration for designs

2021.10.13 - iBB Live #8

Design Bindings/ Designer Bookbinders/ Highlights/ Live Streams

Two Design Binding Exhibitions in London [iBB Live #8]

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Stepan just went to London for a couple of days and had a chance to attend two exhibitions of design bindings held at the Maggs Bros. antiquarian bookstore.

One of the exhibitions is Drop Dead Gorgeous that contains fine Bindings on Kitty Maryatt’s La Prose du Transsibérien Re-creation. And the second exhibition is The Book Beautiful, organized jointly with Designer Bookbinders.

Both exhibitions are there until the 25th of October. We plan to show you almost all the books displayed there, but obviously, it’s much better to see them in real life if you have a chance.

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06:35 – Beginning
22:05 – Designer Bookbinders: The Book Beautiful Exhibition
1:00:07 – Drop Dead Gorgeous Exhibition

2021.05.28 - iBB Podcast #22 - Andreas Maroulis 2

Bookish Talk/ Cover Decoration/ DB UK Competition/ Design Bindings/ Designer Bookbinders/ Gold Tooling/ Highlights

Award-Winning Binding, Gold Tooling, and Graphite Edges – Andreas Maroulis [iBB Podcast #22]

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We invited Andreas Maroulis, a Greek bookbinder currently living in the UK. Andreas won an award at the Designer Bookbinders Competition recently with his binding “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. In this episode of our podcast, we discuss the binding, the creative process Andreas follows, and some other things like gold tooling and edge decoration.

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00:00 – Beginning
01:02 – Gold tooling prize
02:26 – Richly tooled books vs. books with minimalistic tooling
04:24 – Feedback from other members of the Society
06:11 – Creative process and design of the binding
07:17 – Graphite edges with decoration
08:39 – Gold tooling on the turn-ins
09:48 – More technical details
13:45 – How the story influenced the design
23:23 – Finding new uses for gold in bookbinding
32:08 – Graphite and maybe graphene? All sorts of edge decoration
35:17 – A comment on sanding book edges
37:57 – Design sketches and tests
43:35 – Constraints of deadlines

2021.05.14 - Bookish Talk #18 - Richard Beadsmoore 2

Bookish Talk/ DB UK Competition/ Design Bindings/ Designer Bookbinders/ Highlights/ Japanese Binding

Award-Winning Bindings of Richard Beadsmoore [Bookish Talk #18]

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Designer Bookbinders has a competition for their UK-based members. This year, Richard Beadsmoore was among the competition winners, taking three prizes with his two bindings. In this video, we discuss these bindings. Richard talks about his creative process and describes how was is to start making books only after his retirement from his day job.

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00:00 – Beginning
00:55 – Designer Bookbinders UK Awards 2021 and Richard’s three prizes
01:58 – Where the inspiration for the cover for Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck comes from
05:30 – Discussing Richard’s designing process
06:28 – Maquette of the book
06:53 – Plans for the final version of the book and the dummies
07:40 – What being a licentiate of the Designer Bookbinders means and what do they do?
12:19 – Is bookbinding a hobby or a profession for Richard?
14:24 – Richard’s workshop
15:31 – London Craft Week
16:27 – Teaching bookbinding
16:49 – The second book: Hokusai by David Burnett, Incline Press, 1996
18:13 – Making a maquette and searching for appropriate materials
20:34 – Getting feedback about the prize
21:53 – Are any of Richard’s bindings available to see in public collections?
22:40 – Richard’s training and path to becoming an award-winning bookbinder
23:27 – How many designer bindings Richard has already made?
25:59 – Making books while having a background in drama

2021.05.03 - Winners of the Designer Bookbinders UK Competition Announced

DB UK Competition/ Designer Bookbinders/ News

Winners of the Designer Bookbinders UK Competition Announced

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Designer Bookbinders UK prizes are awarded in 15 categories including four prizes in two categories that are considered to be the most important of them all: The Folio Society Set Book and The Clothworkers Open Choice Book.

Set book is published by The Folio Society. Illustrations by James Albon. 112 pages. Frontispiece, 3 color illustrations, including 2 double-page spreads, and 6 black & white integrated illustrations. 228 x 146 mm.

The Mansfield Medal awarded to Thomas Hosking for his binding of Mort by Terry Pratchett, The Folio Society, 2016

iBookBinding is preparing a series of interviews with some of the prize winners on our Bookish Talk podcast. Stay tuned!

The Folio Society Prize (1st) Set Book

Miranda Kemp – Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The Folio Society Prize (2nd) Set Book

Laura Jamieson – Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The Clothworkers’ Prize (1st) Open Choice

Thomas Hosking – Mort by Terry Pratchett, The Folio Society, 2016

The Clothworkers’ Prize (2nd) Open Choice

Richard Beadsmoore – Hokusai by David Burnett, Incline Press, 1996

Sally Lou Smith Forwarding Prize – Glenn Malkin Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Set book)

Bernard C. Middleton Finishing Prize – Jeanette Koch A Shropshire Lad by A. E. Housman, George G Harrop & Co Ltd, 1940

Elizabeth Greenhill Prize for Gold Tooling – Andreas Maroulis Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Set book)

J. Hewit & Sons Prize for Interesting Use of Leather – Miranda Kemp Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Set book)

Harmatan & Oakridge Prize for Sympathetic Handling of Leather – Amy Kitcherside Lost in the Woods… but guided by the moon, Photographs by Fox & Owl

Maggs Bros Judge’s Award – Richard Beadsmoore – Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Set book)

John Purcell Paper Prize – Clare Bryan – Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Set book)

Ratchfords Non-Leather Prize (3x)

Linda Miles – The Endless Web by Joan Evans, Jonathan Cape, 1955

Rebecca Price – Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Set book)

Rebecca Price – Book Samples 2021

The Circles of Art Prize for Artistic Innovation – Laura Jamieson – The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico, Michael Joseph, 1947

Ash Rare Books Lettering Prize – Sarah Williams – The Poems of Sappho, The Latin Press, 1953

Shepherds Prize for Book Arts – Richard Beadsmoore – Hokusai by David Burnett, Incline Press, 1996

Lisa Von Clemm Prize for Best Newcomer – Ted Bennett – Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Set book)

ABA Highly Commended Certificates (x4)

Nesta Davies – Selected Poems by Emily Dickinson, Folio Society, 2016

Miranda Kemp – Tulipomania by Wilfrid Blunt, Penguin Books, 1950

Jeanette Koch – Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Set book)

Pamela Richmond – Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Set book)

You can find additional info on the Designer Bookbinders’ website.

2021.02.26 - Bookish Talk #12 - Kate Holland

Artists Books/ Bookish Talk/ DB UK Competition/ Design Bindings/ Designer Bookbinders/ Highlights/ Study

Bookish Talk With Kate Holland – Bookish Talk #12

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We return to Kate Holland to discuss many things related to modern bookbinding. Competitions, the possibility of revival of the craft in the post-covid world, drawing the young generation’s attention to book arts, the gap between the traditional bookbinding and book arts, and much more!

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00:00​ – Beginning
00:11​ – There is a certain image of bookbinding propagated by the media
01:51​ – Having household names in bookbinding would definitely help to change the perception
03:48​ – Contemporary issues and bookbinding
05:57​ – Kate has a very exciting project for this year, and diamonds are involved
08:29​ – Participating in competitions
09:06​ – Inviting the new generation of bookbinders to join the competitions
09:54​ – Apprenticeship schemes
11:42​ – Having a school of bookbinding in the UK
12:54​ – Bookbinding being and not being a nearly extinct craft
13:39​ – Professional organizations who work on drawing attention to bookbinding. Friction between the worlds of bookbinding and book arts
16:18​ – Revival of bookbinding in the post-covid world
20:20​ – Can people access and see design bindings in museums and libraries?
23:53​ – Finding time for personal projects

2021.03.12 - Bookish Talk - Lori Sauer

Bookish Talk/ Design Bindings/ Designer Bookbinders/ Highlights

Design Bindings of the Booker Prize 2020 – Lori Sauer – Bookish Talk #11

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We return to the design bindings made for the shortlisted books of the Booker Prize in 2020. This time we talk to Lori Sauer about her work with the book Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste (Canongate Books, 2020).

The structure is a version of the crossed structure binding modified by Lori Sauer. Binding covered with stone veneer. In the video, we discuss some technical aspects of this binding, as well as Lori’s approach to working with Booker Prize bindings and book structures in general.

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00:00​ – Beginning
00:34​ – Lori Sauer’s method in working with Booker Prize bindings
02:43​ – Introducing Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste (Canongate Books, 2020)
05:02​ – What was Lori’s process in selecting the theme for the binding
06:46​ – Modified version of the crossed structure binding
07:52​ – Using stone veneer
10:39​ – The darkness in the book and stone of the cover
11:20​ – Explaining the crossed structure binding
11:47​ – Eel skin for the spine
12:37​ – Is it hard to work with eel skin?
13:09​ – Gold speckles on the cover
14:29​ – Iterative design process
16:30​ – Why book structures are so important to Lori (even if they are hidden)
18:03​ – The most challenging Booker Prize binding Lori had to work on
19:41​ – Peculiarities of Lori’s style
21:39​ – Who influenced Lori’s style?
22:55​ – Lori’s background in art and architecture
25:18​ – What is design binding?
27:09​ – Not using assistants, Covid, and being not a well-disciplined creator
27:53​ – Lori’s studio
29:01​ – Feedback from Maaza Mengiste (and other authors)

2021.02.26 - Bookish Talk #9 - Kate Holland - Booker

Bookish Talk/ Design Bindings/ Designer Bookbinders

Design Bindings of the Booker Prize 2020 – Kate Holland – Bookish Talk #9

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Kate Holland is a bookbinder from the UK. She was one of the seven bookbinders who worked on the six bindings made for the books shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2020. And she was the second person who worked on this binding you saw in the preview (picking up from Derek Hood). In this video, we discuss the peculiarities of the project and some other things as well!

Read more about the Booker Prize bindings here.

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00:00​ – Beginning
01:16​ – About Kate Holland
01:49​ – Peculiarity of this Booker Prize project: Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
04:45​ – Becoming a different binder for a single project
07:05​ – Inspiration for the binding design
08:15​ – Themes of the book
09:49​ – Creating the cover design
15:04​ – How was the work process, considering the unusual circumstances?
17:13​ – Balancing regular orders, extraordinary projects like the Booker Prize binding, and having a job as a mom
19:39​ – Having 2021 fully booked
21:35​ – The leap from having a one-person business to having a larger shop and an assistant

2020.11.27 - Bookish Talk #7 - Rachel Ward-Sale - Booker Prize Bindings

Bookish Talk/ Design Bindings/ Designer Bookbinders/ Highlights

Design Bindings of the Booker Prize 2020 – Rachel Ward-Sale – Bookish Talk #7

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This episode of our Bookish Talk is a bit unusual because we have a guest. Rachel Ward-Sale is an award-winning bookbinder with many years of experience and the current president of the Designer Bookbinders. However, this podcast is dedicated to her design binding made for one of the six books included in the Short List of the Booker Prize this year.

In the video, Rachel Ward-Sale showed some of her experiments with materials and designed she went through before she made the final binding of This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga.

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00:00 – Beginning
01:05 – On the definition of design binding
03:04 – The process of creating the design binding for This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga
03:40 – Finding the imagery for the cover
04:10 – Tests with different designs
05:11 – First leather test
05:43 – Paper mockup of the cover
07:09 – Leather sample cover
07:21 – Endpapers
07:33 – Colors for the edges
07:37 – Elements of the book’s box
08:34 – Connection with the Arts and Crafts tradition
10:04 – What happens to the design binding made for the Booker Prize after it’s made?
11:52 – How much time did it take to create the binding?
12:28 – Isn’t it sad to part with the book?
12:57 – Playing around with designs
15:15 – Referencing earlier works
16:30 – Layers and layers of patterns and leather

2020.11.26 - Booker Prize Short List Design Bindings

Design Bindings/ Designer Bookbinders

Six Design Bindings Made for the Six Titles Shortlisted for the Booker Prize

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Every year six Designer Bookbinders’ Fellows each bind one of the six titles shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction. Designed and completed in 4-5 weeks, these bindings are presented to the authors on the night of the Booker award ceremony.

This year, being 2020, was a little different. The awards took place virtually from the Roundhouse in London and were broadcast live on BBC radio and iPlayer. A physical presentation of the bindings was also not possible, unfortunately, but instead, the special editions were sent to their authors after the announcement of the prize winner.

The completion of each of the books in four to five weeks is in itself incredibly impressive considering that the binders must first read the shortlisted book, and then design and produce a hand bound fine binding as inspired by the work, together with a protective container. This is a process that could easily take up to three or four months, so the bookbinders working on this commission have a remarkably interesting task on their hands indeed.

It is estimated that the binder will have spent roughly one hundred and fifty hours on the work by the time of completion, as there are twenty-five stages at least to the hand binding of a book.

“For those involved in this collaboration, the work is most rewarding; an opportunity to read and interpret some of the finest novels of our time, and, of course, it is hoped that the authors will derive as much pleasure from being presented with the finished results.”

This year’s Fellows and their assigned novels were as follows:

  1. Stuart Brockman: The New Wilderness by Diane Cook (Oneworld Publications, 2020)
  2. Sue Doggett: Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi (Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Random House, 2020)
  3. Derek Hood and Kate Holland: Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Picador, Pan Macmillan, 2020)
  4. Dominic Riley: Real Life by Brandon Taylor (Originals, Daunt Books Publishing, 2020)
  5. Lori Sauer: Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste (Canongate Books, 2020)
  6. Rachel Ward-Sale: This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Faber & Faber, 2020)

The winner of the 2020 Booker Prize was ‘Shuggie Bain’, by Douglas Stuart. Both Derek Hood and Kate Holland did the binding on this novel, as Kate took over due to Derek having medical treatment. Both of their names are on the bookplate.

This fine bound book features full biscuit goatskin with multicolored goatskin and faux shagreen inlays, hand tooled gold dots and title, all edges gilt, hand-sewn endbands, printed edge-to-edge paper doublures, gilding on endpaper.

“The main inspiration for the design is the Sighthill housing estate in Glasgow where we first meet Agnes and Shuggie, the pebbledash and blues and greys of the high-rise buildings, and on the top floor Agnes leans out of her window gazing down on the carpet of Glasgow. On the back cover elements of black and white for Shug with the red light of his receding taxi cab. Over both loom the colliery wheels of Pithead depicted by the myriad gold dots. Inside, Elizabeth Taylor, Agnes’s heroine and touchstone, watches over a Sighthill walkway whilst a gilded beer can stain lies opposite.”

For other years of Designer Bookbinders’ Fellows and their Booker Prize offerings, check out their website.

Designer Bookbinders’ history can be traced back to 1951 – read more about it here.

During the upcoming weeks, we will share more photos of the books in making and at least some of the participants of this project will come as guests to our podcast. So stay tuned and sign up for our newsletter and YouTube channel to get the updates!

 

2020.10.30 - iBB Podcast #11.2 - Brenda Gallagher

American Academy of Bookbinding/ Book Cover/ Bookbinder's Workshop/ Cover Decoration/ Endbands/ Endleaves/ French binding/ Highlights/ iBB Podcast/ OPEN • SET/ Printing

iBB Podcast #11.2 – Brenda Gallagher – Bindings’ Show & Tell and Workshop Tour

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This is the second part of our talk with Brenda Gallagher, a graphic designer and bookbinder from Boulder, Colorado. In this video, she shows some of her bindings and invites us to see her bookbinding workshop and printing studio.

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Read more about lacunose: http://www.ibookbinding.com/tutorials/lacunose-painting-with-leather-and-making-clouds/
Fish skin leather supplier in the US: https://www.fiskurleather.com/
Atlantic Wolffish photo credit: http://fisheries.noaa.gov/species/atlantic-wolffish
Jeff Osgood, Brenda’s husband on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clay.of.the.dead/

00:00 – Beginning
00:32 – Workshop tour
00:46 – Bookbinder’s plough
01:14 – Storage of materials
02:27 – Stuff on the workbench
02:43 – Bindings show & tell
02:48 – Uppercase Encyclopedia
08:08 – Song of Myself (Walt Whitman) illustrated by Allen Crawford
10:45 – Happy Abstract — A letter from William Blake to Thomas Butts, dated 11 September 1801
17:41 – A notebook with lacunose elements on the cover
20:19 – A word about book boxes
21:27 – The Girl from the Sea: A Play for Voices by George Mackay Brown and Michael Onken
24:38 – Discussion of the fish skin leather
29:29 – Homework binding for the American Academy of Bookbinding – graphite edge and edge painting
32:41 – Brenda’s workbook with preliminary design tests and experiments
33:05 – Using computer software for designing bindings
34:38 – Bread bag tie binding
37:30 – Printing workshop tour
37:35 – Printing block with the engraved picture by Allen Crawford for the Song of Myself
38:13 – Backing press
38:42 – Guillotine
38:48 – Chandler & Price 8×10 printing press
40:07 – Brenda’s family and her bookbinding

2019.10.06 - Designer Bookbinders - DB UK Competition 2020

DB UK Competition/ Designer Bookbinders/ News

Designer Bookbinders UK Competition Becomes Biannual and Widens the Scope of the Admissible Projects

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For more than 60 years, DB Annual UK Bookbinding Competition was encouraging bookbinders residing in the UK to challenge themselves in making better and more creative bindings. However, as it appears, the interest in the competition had steadily declined over the past few years. Designer Bookbinders decided to introduce some changes and make the competition into a biannual event. Below you will find a quote from the association’s website:

The competition was originally established in 1955 ‘to encourage students, craftsmen and apprentices of bookbinding to produce originally designed and well bound books and to give them the opportunity to exhibit their technical and artistic skills’. It has acted as a stepping stone for many of the country’s finest contemporary bookbinders and is a tried and tested route for promotion to Licentiate and Fellowship of Designer Bookbinders.

However, we have noticed declining figures in recent years and can only attribute this to the current lack of bookbinding courses nationwide. We are passionate about encouraging the next generation of bookbinders and so are keen to open the competition out to all those studying or working in the fields of Bookbinding, Book Arts, Printmaking, 3D Craft, Design or other associated disciplines.

The primary remaining condition is that the participant has to be a UK resident at the moment of binding the book. While there would be prizes for traditional binding techniques including leather work, gold tooling, etc., the term “book” is now treated much more loosely. New awards will be added to encourage experimentation and the use of new materials and techniques. Of course, the high level of craftsmanship remains as one of the conditions that would allow participants to pretend for a prize. As well as the condition of the set book to be still recognizable after all the transformations performed by the participant.

The set book for the DB UK Competition 2020 is ‘Of Mice and Men‘ by John Steinbeck. Sheets published by The Folio Society. 112 pages. Frontispiece, color illustrations, including two double-page spreads, and six black & white integrated illustrations. 228 x 146 mm.

The entry fee for the set book is £30 for non-members of Designer Bookbinders and £25 for members. You may also include up to three Open Choice books at £15 each. DB Fellows are as usual excluded from the competition, along with non-residents of the UK.

Timeline

  • Registration opened since July 2019
  • First participants should have received the sheets after mid-August 2019
  • Entry forms emailed – beginning October 2020
  • Hand-in deadline – Saturday 17th October 2020
  • Judging – Wednesday 21st October 2020
  • Prize Giving – Thursday 19th November 2020
  • Exhibition – 20th November-6th December 2020
  • National touring exhibition – early 2021

More Information

2019.09.27 - OPEN • SET Competition Prize Winners and Participants of the Touring Exhibition Announced

Galleries/ Highlights/ OPEN • SET

OPEN • SET Competition Prize Winners and Participants of the Touring Exhibition Announced

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Winners of the second OPEN • SET competition were just announced by the American Academy of Bookbinding, as well as the participants of the moving exhibition that tour the US throughout the next year.

OPEN • SET is a triannual competition held by the American Academy of Bookbinding located in Telluride, Colorado. The decision was made by the panel of three judges: Monique Lallier, Mark Esser, and Patricia Owen.

Competition is split into two parts: Open book and Set book. Set book this time was Happy Abstract — A letter from William Blake to Thomas Butts, dated 11 September 1801.

Congratulations to all of the winners and authors of the binding included in the exhibition!

This post will be updated with additional photos and descriptions of the bindings that received the Highly Commended Award and bindings included to the traveling exhibition.

Open Category Winners

First Prize — Rahel Scheufele, GERMANY

Thorvald Henningsen by Hans Burkhardt

Second Prize — Sofia Mendizabal, ARGENTINA

Histoires Comme Ca, Rudyard Kipling

Third Prize — Guadalupe Roldán Morales, SPAIN

Macbeth, William Shakespeare

Set Category Winners

First Prize — Pilar N Calahorra Moreno de la Santa, SPAIN

Second Prize — Lili Hall Sharp, UNITED STATES

Third Prize — Susana Domínguez Martin, SPAIN

Highly Commended Bindings

There were also many Highly Commended bindings in each of these two categories.

Open Category

Candela Ines Mirabella — Full Edge Detail

Coleen Curry — Leather Treatment

Ce qui aurait pu demeurer silence — poems by Rachida Madani, published by AL MANAR Editions

Photos by: Black Cat Studio

Colin Urbina — Leather Treatment

Tourbillon, a poem by Eugène Guillevic with prints by Julius Baltazar. Published by Alain Piroir in 1990. The binding is fair calf with alcohol-based dyes used to mimic the prints found inside the book. Spots are achieved by applying water to the surface of the leather. Scratches made to simulate some of the texture on the prints in the book.

Françoise Buniazet — Use of Materials

Jacek Tylkowski — Decorative Technique

Ubik by Philip K. Dick. Sobota’s style binding (Three Coverboard Structure) covered in black and old gold (the middle layer) goatskin. The font design is made by hand using Japanese screw punch. Top edge decoration made with pigment foil of 4 colors and gold foil. Clamshell box covered in black buckram.

Joelle Bocel — Unique Structure

Lise Dubois — Onlay/Inlay

Luke Hornus — Fore Edge Painting

Pénélope Guidoni — Design

Set Category

Andrea Odametey — Paper Manipulation

Annika Baudry — Cover Treatment

Coleen Curry — Materials Manipulation

Photos by: Black Cat Studio

Elena Sánchez — Paper Manipulation

Eva Vincze — Unique Structure

Geert Stevens — Unique Structure

The drawing printed on the book is a fragment of graphic work by Lotte Campforts

Ingela Dierick — Use of Materials

Rahel Scheufele — Use of Leather

Richard Beadsmoore — Tooling

Sofia Mendizabal — Inlay

Sol Rébora — Technique

2020 Exhibition Venues

The Exhibition opens on February 19, 2020, at the Grolier Club in New York City.

NEW YORK CITY – The Grolier Club
February 19 – April 25

SAN FRANCISCO – The American Bookbinders Museum
May 15 – July 10

SALT LAKE CITY – Marriot Library, University of Utah
July 31 – October 2

AUSTIN – Austin Public Library
October 13 – December 2

Some of the Other Bindings That Participated in the Competition

Kathy Abbott — Open book

Unpublished Early Poems of Tennyson

Gavin Dovey / Paper Dragon Books — Set book

Brenda Gallagher — Open book

Songs of Myself by Walt Whitman

Karen Hanmer — Set book

Huhu Hu — Set book

Full leather binding. Covered in blue goatskin decorated with incisions underlaid with various colors. Edge-to-edge hand-paint paper doublures and flyleaves. Hand-sewn headbands with specially curved shapes. The text is decorated with leather oil dye with a transfer technique.

Read more here: https://www.facebook.com/huhu.hu.754/posts/10213923628985598

Adelene Koh — Set book

This is a full Tyvek® binding with laced-in boards using hand-dyed Tyvek® with alcohol dyes and letterpress inks. The hand-sewn double core Japanese silk endbands are in random colors to match edge decoration. The book edges are decorated using alcohol inks and tooled with metallic foil dots. Tyvek®-jointed Tyvek® flyleaves dyed using alcohol dyes and light blue paper doublures. There are tiny metallic foil tooling on covers that almost cannot be seen until you tilt the book in various directions and when the light catches the foil tooling.

Read more about the project and find much more photos here: https://www.dddots.com/post/188014304448/happy-abstract-a-letter-by-william-blake

Colin Urbina — Set book

Ulrich Widmann — Open book

Svato Verlag, Ich bin nur Flamme, Gedichte des Expressionismus. Full leather binding, calfskin, leather cut and dyed.

Ulrich Widmann — Set book

Half leather, goat skin with open joint and organic-formed and structured and colored covers.

2019.09.11 - Designer Bookbinders Announced the 4th International Competition

Designer Bookbinders/ News

Designer Bookbinders Announced the 4th International Competition

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International Competition is held by Designer Bookbinders every four years. Last week the society shared some crucial information about the challenge that would happen in 2021. This time there are some changes to the standard routine.

Unlike previous times, there is no set book selected for the competition. However, there is a theme: plants, gardens, and anything connected with flora. That’s how the Society wants to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Oxford Botanic Gardens, the oldest Botanic Garden in the world.

Hopefully, the lack of the set would additionally boost the creativity of the contestants and enrich the competition with the diversity of source material.

There is no set book. It is hoped that entrants will be stimulated by the opportunity to produce or source a text of their choice to work with and feel encouraged to make use of a wide range of structures, materials and design techniques. It is worth noting that many collectors place great importance on the quality of the text as well as the style of binding.

Prizes

Two major prizes will be awarded in honor of Sir Paul Getty KBE (1932-2003). He was a prominent book collector and a passionate advocate for the art and craft of bookbinding.

Sir Paul Getty Bodleian Bookbinding Prizes:

  • 1st Prize – £10,000
  • 2nd Prize – £6,000

Silver Prizes:

  • Other 25 highly-commended entrants will receive a silver prize
  • Oxford University Students’ Choice: £500

Announcement of the prizewinners will take place in Oxford in late June 2021.

One more change that could happen along the announcement is a ‘Festival of Bookbinding’ that should take place at the Bodleian at the same time.

Judging

As usual, an international panel of judges will see that contestants uphold a high standard of bookmaking craftsmanship and technical ability. Good forwarding and structural functionality, original, innovative, and accomplished design should be a must for any bookbinder willing to win the prize.

Exhibition / Catalogue

The touring exhibition of selected entries, including all the prizewinners, will open during the event in Oxford at the Bodleian Library in late June 2021. It will showcase the finest bookbinding talent from around the world. Every entrant will receive a copy of the catalog, together with a signed Certificate of Participation. The same full-color catalog would be available later for purchase.

Entry fee / Deadline

A reduced entry fee of £95 will be charged for early entries before 31.12.2019. After this date, the standard entry fee of £105 will be charged up to the deadline of 31.08.2020.

Further Reading

On the top image, you see a binding by Yuko Matsuno that won the J. Hewit & Sons Prize of the Designer Bookbinders Annual Competition in 2018. You can find more about it here.

2019.09.03 - The Society of Bookbinders Compertition 2019

Highlights/ The SoB International Competition

Winners of the Society of Bookbinders International Competition of 2019 Announced

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The Society of Bookbinders has announced the winners of its SoB International Bookbinding Competition of 2019! As usual, the last stages of the competition took place alongside the conference of the Society of Bookbinders. This year it was held at the University of Bath between August 29th and September 1st. As always, the winning entries are each stunning in their own way, and we here at iBookBinding are happy to bring you the winning works!

The competition is held every two years and features submissions by bookbinders from all over the world. This year, there were 15 prizes awarded over five different categories as well as additional prizes for specific elements of bookbinding such as finishing and design. In addition to having been exhibited at the Society’s conference, this year’s winning entries will be exhibited at George Bayntun’s Bookshop in Bath, England in September as well as at Shepherds in London in October (dates will be announced here in the future.)

2019 SOB International Bookbinding Competition Winners 

People’s Choice Award

Ingeir Djuvik (Norway) — Vinterfugler, “Winter Birds” 

The People’s Choice Award is awarded to the entry which gets the most votes by delegates at the conference that accompanies the competition. 2019’s People’s Choice Award was well deserved by Norway-based hobbyist bookbinder Ingeir Djuvik, whose beautifully bound book echoes Scandinavian design influences. The book features beautiful edge painting, intricate headbands that melt into a soft white edge, and a beautiful design on the leather cover. Looking at the book creates a soothing impression that brings to mind winter landscapes and the colorful birds one can find in them. On his Facebook page, Ingeir has posted photos of the book:

Fine Binding — First Prize / Shepherds Bookbinders Ltd — The John Coleman Trophy

Rahel Scheufele (Switzerland) — The Periodic Table, Primo Levi

This year’s Fine Binding first prize was awarded to a contemporary style binding which displays overall excellent craftsmanship in the forwarding, finishing, craft skills, and use of material as well as outstanding concept and design. Rahel Scheufele, the winner of the second and the third prize in the Fine Binding category in the previous, 2017 SoB competition, is a bookbinder and creative designer based in Switzerland, whose website chronicles her impressive designs and bindings. Her winning entry this year cleverly breaks up the title of Primo Levi’s well known short story collection, reflecting elements of the typical periodic table’s design. The book’s austere color scheme gives off a scientific air that is suitable for the book’s theme. For more photos of Rahel’s work, check out the gallery on her website.

Fine Binding — Second Prize 

Haein Song (UK) — The Songlines / Bruce Chatwin / Folio Society / 2010

Haein Song is a bookbinder based in the UK and a fellow of Designer Bookbinders. Her entry for this year is reflective of the high-quality bindings she achieves using traditional bookbinding tools. For more examples of her fine work, check out her website here. And to see some of the thought behind the careful work she does, check out this interview from 2014 with Herringbone Bookbindery.

The Complete Book First prize — The Portnall Award 

Manuel Mazzotti (UK) — I DO — I UNDO — I REDO, Manuel Mazzotti & Harriet Bruce, Self-published, 2019

This year’s Complete Book first prize was awarded for excellent execution of a book, including both content and binding, by Manuelle Mazzoti. His bookbinding and printing studio in East London specializes in limited edition bookbinding, working to push the boundaries of what a book should look like and what materials should go into its production. His winning entry is a limited edition run of “I Do I Undo I Redo” which explores the concept of emergence in three pop up books. More photos of the work can be found on his website.

The Complete Book Second prize 

Ann Tout (UK) — To the Sydney Gardens — Artist’s Book  2019

Case Binding First Prize — The Judges’ Award

Jane Adams (UK) — L’Allegro and Il Penseroso, John Milton and William Blake, The Limited Editions Club, New York, 1954

Jane Adams’ winning entry for the Case Binding category, which requires that entries incorporate book cloth and be of a case bound structure, is a surprisingly modern binding of the storied L’Allegro and Il Penseroso poems by John Milton (with illustrations by William Blake). Synthesizing the modern with the old, it continues the creative tradition which inspired John Milton to write these poems, and lead William Blake to illustrate them.

Restoration First Prize — The Bernard Middleton Trophy

John Richards (UK) — Lucretius de rerum natura, Jacob Tonson, 1712

The first prize in this category was awarded to this beautiful restoration of an early 18th century binding of Lucretius’s poem, De Rerum Natura. Carefully restored by John Richards, this entry won the prize not only because of the quality of the work but also because it was restored with careful attention to the proper process, including documentation and a full written record of all work undertaken.

John Richards is the owner of The Bookshop in Warwickshire (England), and two-time winner of the SoB International Bookbinding Competition. For more information on him and his work, visit his website.

Historic Binding First Prize — The ABA Educational Trust 

Sean Richards (USA) — Blank Book

Sean Richards, owner of Byzantium Studios and award-winning bookbinder, won the Historic Binding first prize for his entry which provides a creative twist on traditional bookbinding. For more on him and his work, check out this interview with Sean Richards at Oklahoma Magazine and the Facebook page of his Byzantium Studios.

The Wyvern Bindery Award for Best Newcomer

Amy Kitcherside (UK) — Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, Victor Gollancz Ltd, First Published 1938

Amy Kitcherside runs The Idle Bindery in her spare time and qualified for the Best Newcomer award with her beautiful submission of a minimalist book.

Fine Cut International Award for Finishing

Glenn Malkin (UK) — The Pyed Pyper. Illustrated by Angela Lemaire. Old Stile Press, 2002

Glen Malkin, the owner of Signature Bindings, won the first prize for Finishing with his beautiful, desert-themed binding of an embossed letter. His website can be found here: https://signaturebindings.co.uk/.

We talked Glen after he won Designer Bookbinders’ Folio Society Prize for the Set Book in 2016. In can find this interview here.

Harmatan Leather Award for Forwarding

Percy So (Hong Kong) — Ame Ni Mo Makezu/Kenji Miyazawa/Kotosubo Japan/2016

Percy So is a bookbinder based in Hong Kong who seeks to blend together old world techniques with avant-garde design. Her miniature stone veneer binding does just that in a beautifully executed forwarding. Her website can be found here.

Incline Press Dave Godin Memorial Award for Animal-Free Binding

Cinco ± (Spain) — Aunque la pena no, Olvido García Valdés. Madrid, Del Centro de Editores, 2012. Ed.43/100

J Hewit & Sons Awards for Excellence in Design 

Coleen Curry (USA) — TOUCHEZ-VOIR / Morina Mongin / 2018

More of Coleen Curry’s fine designs can be found on her website. As outlined in her about page, her approach is based on designing in tune with the text and illustrations of the books and draws on a collection of experiences in the world, daily life, and in found objects and the natural world. She uses a combination of traditional materials and found objects, with manipulated leather and unique decorative techniques which lead to her beautiful designs, that aim to provide a “visual, sensual, and tactile experience.”

J Hewit & Sons Awards for Excellence in Craftsmanship 

Paul Johnson (UK) — Samuel Palmer has tea with Utamaro

This entry is typical of renown book artist Paul Johnson, based in the UK. His designs are one of a kind and push the boundaries of what can be considered a book and what is art. For more of his wonderful work, visit his website, and have a look around at the many offerings there.

Thank you to all the judges, participants, and the organizing committee! We look forward to seeing what will come in the next contest, and meanwhile, urge you to check out some of our other reporting on past bookbinding contests.

A printed exhibition catalog of the winning entries will be available for sale later in 2019.

Unless stated otherwise, all photos originate from and are used with the permission of the Society of Bookbinders, UK.

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