Friday 23 September 2016

Extraction/Response

Extraction/Response is a hand made book of poems, created by extracting text from the Plymouth Herald newspaper. The poems are my personal response to living in Plymouth and were devised back in 2012.

The response is about the mixed relationship that I've had with Plymouth - a city I wasn't born in, but have lived in for over 35 years. It was never my intention to stay beyond the first four years, but life had other ideas!

When I originally had the idea to make the book, I produced only one large format book, but recently felt that it was time to refresh the design and, more importantly, to make multiples.

The design for the cover came from material made during an afternoon of experimental painting/mark making. I had archived the various pieces of work, which can always be a useful place to revisit when looking for book covers or ideas!

Printing using a home inkjet printer can have its drawbacks; the main one being the restriction on paper weight that the printer will tolerate. I find this is usually around 170 - 200gsm. Using a heavier weight can result in the paper jamming or sticking as it is pulled through the printer. The sticking is a particular problem if the images need to fit evenly across the page. For this project it wasn't a problem because I placed one image in the centre of the page and cut it out afterwards, and therefore was able to use 220g cartridge paper.

The Japanese stab binding worked well on this book and enables the viewer to flick the pages easily. It's a very simple method of binding and various types of thread can be used, making a secure and neat finish.



Front Cover: 'Extraction/Response' 2016
210 x 99mm Ink on 220g smooth cartridge paper


Inside: 'Extraction/Response' 2016
210 x 99 mm Ink on newsprint paper

  

Extraction/Response

Extraction/Response is a hand made book of poems, created by extracting text from the Plymouth Herald newspaper. The poems are my personal response to living in Plymouth and were devised back in 2012.

The response is about the mixed relationship that I've had with Plymouth - a city I wasn't born in, but have lived in for over 35 years. It was never my intention to stay beyond the first four years, but life had other ideas!

When I originally had the idea to make the book, I produced only one large format book, but recently felt that it was time to refresh the design and, more importantly, to make multiples.

The design for the cover came from material made during an afternoon of experimental painting/mark making. I had archived the various pieces of work, which can always be a useful place to revisit when looking for book covers or ideas!

Printing using a home inkjet printer can have its drawbacks; the main one being the restriction on paper weight that the printer will tolerate. I find this is usually around 170 - 200gsm. Using a heavier weight can result in the paper jamming or sticking as it is pulled through the printer. The sticking is a particular problem if the images need to fit evenly across the page. For this project it wasn't a problem because I placed one image in the centre of the page and cut it out afterwards, and therefore was able to use 220g cartridge paper.

The Japanese stab binding worked well on this book and enables the viewer to flick the pages easily. It's a very simple method of binding and various types of thread can be used, making a secure and neat finish.



Front Cover: 'Extraction/Response' 2016
210 x 99mm Ink on 220g smooth cartridge paper


Inside: 'Extraction/Response' 2016
210 x 99 mm Ink on newsprint paper