Book Artist (GSSC event)

The Book Artist badge is part of the “It's Your Planet - Love It!” badge set introduced in 2011 and earned to Girl Scout Cadettes.

The event took place on February 23, 2018 at the Juliette Low Friendship Center, Camp Edey.

Step 1: Explore the art of bookbinding
'''Since they were scratching figures into clay with sticks, humans have been creating and preserving documents. The invention of paper made the possibilities seemingly endless, and today artists make book covers by recycling everything from bottle caps and cereal boxes to leather clothes and license plates. Dive into the art of bookbinding!'''

CHOICES – DO ONE:

'''Survey a book collection. '''Find five different sizes and styles of books that you like at a library, bookstore, or in your own collection. Then, figure out the binding and printing methods used to create each one. (Books and websites about book arts will help you get familiar with the parts of a book.  Check out the box in which parts of a book are listed for some great terms to understand.)

OR

 

Interview or visit a book artist or bookbinder.Many colleges offer courses in book arts, and the teachers may share some knowledge with you. Librarians and antique booksellers may, also, be able to point you to a book artist. Ask the artist how they got involved in book arts, why they love making books, and what kinds of books they make. If you can, visit their studio. What kinds of tools and materials do they use? Can they point you to resources in the community that can help you with the rest of your steps?

OR

 

Tour a book arts center or art museum.If there’s a book arts center or museum with a book arts collection near you, go for a visit. When there, find five examples of the bookbinding craft that you like.

FOR MORE FUN: Read a book about bookbinding before you go so you’ll have some questions in mind and can search for the kinds of books you might like to make.

More to Explore
'''Pretend you’re a Girl Scout in 1940. '''As girls did to earn their Typography badge:
 * Be familiar with well-known typefaces such as Bodoni, Caslon, Garamond, Baskerville, and Goudy, which were named after famous type designers.
 * Know the meaning of terms relating to type, such as font, roman, italic, lower and upper case, sans serif, leading, space, em, rule, flower or ornament, pica, and point.

Colophon Hunt
Publishing houses often have many different divisions, called imprints. (Usually, imprints were once separate companies.)  Each imprint has its own logo, called a colophon.

The colophon is printed on the bottom of the book’s spine, and it can often give you some clues about what’s inside. That’s because imprints have their own personalities – they often focus on certain genres – like fantasy, romance, or young adult fiction – or try to publish authors who have similar writing styles or similar messages. Scan the spines of your favorite books at home, at the library, or at a bookstore – are there any common imprints.

Step 2: Get familiar with the insides of a book
'''Before you start creating your own books, take a look inside to see how they’re made. In the process, learn how to mend books so you can help keep your collection – and the collections of others – in great shape. Get started with these choices.'''

CHOICES – DO ONE:

'''Mend an old book. '''Visit a nearby library, and, if possible, tour the repair or conservation area. Understand the basic process of repairing a paperback book, and try your hand at it – either help at the library you’re visiting, or ask for the librarian’s assistance in repairing an old book of yours or one from a used bookstore.

OR

 

'''Take an old book apart. '''Find a discarded book from a library or an old book from your collection, a used bookstore, or a yard sale. Name the parts of the binding and interior. Then carefully take apart the book to find out how it was made.

TIP:Keep the pages, and recycle them into new crafts or pages of books you make in this badge.

FOR MORE FUN: Find out what it would take to put the book back together, and, if possible, go for it!

OR

 

'''Visit an antique or rare bookseller. '''Repairing very old books is a delicate process. Ask someone skilled in this area to explain how it’s done and to show you some examples.

More to EXPLORE
Pretend you’re a Girl Scout in 1940.

As girls did to earn their Bibliophile badge, describe with examples the work of your favorite illustrator, and tell why you like their work. (Today, most illustrators have websites with samples of their work.)

The Parts of a Book
The binding, covers, paper, and design elements used to create and print a book all have special names. Find the definitions of these terms for a basic introduction to book arts:

  (cloth or three-piece)
 * Spine
 * Joint
 * Board
 * Hinge
 * Digest size
 * Paper stock
 * Gutter
 * Folio
 * Endpaper
 * Jacket
 * Flap
 * Signature
 * Headbands
 * Gilt edge
 * Deckle edge
 * Chain stitch
 * Saddle stitch
 * Octavo
 * Case cover
 * Extent
 * Perfect binding
 * Coptic binding

Step 3: Try out book artist techniques
'''All you need to get started in book crafts are plain paper, your fingers for folding, regular thread, and glue. Pick one choice to try two of these classic bookbinding methods. You’ll make finished books in steps 4 and 5, so use this step to get familiar with your materials and how to use them. Look for specific directions in a book or online; you might, also, ask an expert or attend a course for guidance.'''

TECHNIQUES:

'''Fold-and-cut. Try making a star book or accordion book with this method, which requires few tools.'''

'''Glue binding. Gluing allows you to place many pages into a spine and to add beautiful covers to basic books.'''

'''Stitch. Make a simple sewn book – you could try a simple saddle stitch or the more advanced chain stitch method.'''

CHOICES – DO ONE:

'''Fold method andglue method. '''

OR

'''Fold method andstitch method. '''

OR 

Glue method andstitch method.

Cover&Endpaper Ideas

THE COVER of a book wraps around it and protects it. Try using fabric, decorative papers, rubber, linoleum, or recycled materials like old cereal boxes or license plates. You could, also, make your own cover with paint and paper.

ENDPAPERS are folded sheets of paper with one leaf pasted to the inside of a book’s front or back cover and the other pasted to the first or last page. Sometimes endpapers are decorated or printed with information related to a book’s text, such as a map. You could create some jazzy endpapers with block printing, marbling, starch printing, or stenciling.

Once upon a font

“I decided to take a calligraphy class. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture. . . . and we designed it all into the[first Macintosh computer]. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied that Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. “

-Steve Jobs,

Founder of Apple Computers,

in his 2005 commencement

address at Stanford University

Step 4: Focus on function
'''Now that you’ve taken a close look at books, it’s time to make your own! Consider what kinds of materials will work best with the contents of the book you choose to make.'''

CHOICES – DO ONE:

'''Make an organizational book. '''This might be a personal date book, planner, or calendar book. Some computer programs offer templates with calendar pages you can bind into your book.

OR

 

'''Make a scrapbook, memory book, or personal journal. '''This could be an album for your photos; a journal for thoughts, dreams, or favorite quotes; or a book with heavy paper for pasting in memories from a Girl Scout trip or a family vacation.

OR

 

'''Make a gift book. '''This could be an appreciation book, in which friends can write something cool about the girl to whom you’re giving it. It could be a sketch journal for an artist friend. Or, if could be a bound manuscript or book of poems for a friend who’s a novelist or poet (you could even design a book jacket!).

More to EXPLORE

'''Pretend you’re a Cadette in 1963. '''As girls did to earn their Creative Writer badge, write a children’s story, letter it, and, with a friend, illustrate the pages and bind them in to a book.

TIP: If you create a folded accordion book, you can make a horizontal fold one-third of the way up the paper. This creates pockets on each page that you can use for keepsakes, business cards, tickets, or other items. It looks pretty with a ribbon tie, too!

Traditional Bookbinding Tools

Once you’re ready to start bookbinding, you’ll need a few basic tools. You can find them in craft-supply stores or online. Here are some of the things you might need:

 

Bone folder –used to crease, score, and fold paper (or small butter knife)

Utility knife –used to cut and scrape

Ruler –for measuring and to use as a straightedge

Awl –(or sharp sewing needle)to punch holes in paper

Brushes –nonshedding painter’s types for applying glue

Adhesives –adhesive spray, bookbinding plastic glue or polyvinyl acetate, or rubber cement

Bindings –thread or cord made of hemp, linen, or nylon, elastic banding, or ribbon

Binding board –various types of cardboards

Specialty papers –painted, marbled, rice paper, foil paper, tissue paper – your choice

Divider –for measuring

Hammer –for rounding and evening boards and signatures

Step 5: Focus on style
'''Books can be interesting for more than just their content – they can be beautiful works of art. Concentrate on the look and style of the book you create in one of the choices below.'''

CHOICES – DO ONE:

'''Make a book from something unexpected. '''Use grocery bags, maps, menus, magazine or newspaper pages, or any other kind of creative material as a cover, endpapers, or pages for your book.

OR

 

'''Try a different binding technique or alter a book. ''' Other bindings might include buttonhole binding or Coptic binding. An “altered” book is one that might otherwise be discarded – instead, you add paint, collage, pop-ups, scrapbook elements, messages, or anything else you’d like to give the book a new life as an art piece.

OR

 Get creative with the definition of “book.” Use your bookbinding skills to make a pop=up book, old-fashioned scroll, artist’s portfolio case, or cloth baby book!

Incredible Paper Engineering

Pop-up books are 3-D – they have pages that often literally pop up when you turn them. They may, also, have flaps that can be lifted or scenes that change by pulling a tab. These sophisticated books are made through a process called paper engineering. Famous craftspeople like Robert Sabuda not only create the artwork, but, also, design the books and do their own paper engineering. Unlike most books, pop-ups must be put together by hand. It can take as many as 60 people to assemble one book!

More to EXPLORE      '''Make your own pop-ups. '''If you’re inspired by the beauty and creativity of paper engineering, practice by making a simple skyscraper. Then add pop-ups to a book!

Careers to Explore
Printer

Archivist

Librarian

Bookbinder          

Craft artist         

Papermaker         

Calligrapher

Book designer 

Letterpress artist 

Book app developer

Stationery designer

Paper-recycling expert

Book-production expert

Electronic-book developer

Antique or rare bookseller

Historical-document preservationist