An artists' book

©2020 Barry Smith - A fractured and riveted vessel - a photo for the back of the regular version of the artists' book - the poem I'm using is about the breaks and fractures in life.

Fiona an I have set ourselves a challenge to make an artists book based on certain parameters including it will not be bound; and it will include words such as a poem.

I chose to do a book from a single sheet of paper. This sounds simple but when you combine it with the fact that there will be 8 pages (not including the back of the sheet); and the goal is to do one print and therefore one lock up of the type. I have never made a single sheet book before; and I never did the type setting for such a book - what could go wrong???

Well as you can see many things can go wrong. The layout and sequence of the pages is a challenge - odd sequence and half were upside down as well as back to front. Strangely I followed the set out I had on an instruction sheet - but of course that was how it should look once it was printed; and of course the end result was wrong.

©2020 Barry Smith - Type set in the wrong sequence

Fiona and I did a brain storming session and we (mainly Fiona) worked out the correct typesetting layout. I used the challenge as an opportunity to improve the layout and lock up.

©2020 Barry Smith - A few bits of paper and a couple of proofs and we had it sorted.

©2020 Barry Smith - A couple minor edits and the printing can progress

©2020 Barry Smith - Type set in the right sequence

The outcome was right sequence etc - the proof was used to fix typos and slightly improve the alignment. Back to proofing - good outcome and now ready to print: but first chose the best paper. Fortunately I have an in-house paper consultant (Fiona) we tested 5 papers for print quality and folding flexibility.

©2020 Barry Smith - Choosing the appropriate paper

In the end we chose two papers for two limited editions: MAP paper for the regular version; and synthetic vellum for the version that meets the transparency parameter of our project description. I printed about 19 for the regular version (I want an edition of about 15); and 8 for the vellum version (I want and edition of 5). I used the 1890 Lightning Jobber press for the printing.

©2020 Barry Smith - Chase locked in, inked up; registration marked up - good to print.

©2020 Barry Smith - A table of prints

The backs of the books will be printed towards the end of next week; and folding will occur when the ink on the back is dry.