Guide Book - Book Binding

Figure 1 shows the visual guidelines in terms of the way in which the book is to be bound, with the intention to achieve a squared spine. This will be the most appropriate look for the target audience in which this book is aimed at, allowing the book to be considered for the artistic venues in which it is to be sold in. The book shown in figure 1 only cost £1 to buy as it is produced in bulk and with low cost materials. The book I am designing is to be finished to a slightly higher finish, so by using a thicker stock for the front cover and silk paper for the inside this will work well when printed and presented as a whole. 

fig. 1

To achieve the squared spine, I researched and found out that it can either be done by perfect binding or square back saddle stitch.

Square back saddle stitch

Fig. 2

Square back saddle stitch:
- saddle stitching held together with two staples
- as page count increases so does the 'creep' factor, which affects the layout and print space
- the spine will not be as thick as perfect bound books, so less room for the title or artwork to be printed

Figure. 2 shows what happens when more and more pages are used in the saddle stitching method of binding. This is likely to be a problem with my design as it will be 50 pages long and the front and back cover will be of a fairly thick stock. 

Perfect bound:
- allows for individual pages to be ordered and put together in any order
- acetate dividers and different paper stock can easily be incorporated into the design of the book 

I have found a youtube video which explains the process of perfect binding a book together, something I could experiment with once I have decided on the paper stock that I will be using. 

Align all of the pages

clamp the pages and glue along the spine, repeat x3

glue along the inside of the cover

stick the bound pages onto the spine

clamp final book and wait until it is dry