This book was created for a good friend who loves people, wine and updating his Favorite Quotations on Facebook. For his impending birthday, I flipped-the-script and sent a call out to over 20+ mutual friends (as well as his family) and asked for a favor. I explained my intent to create a collection of favorite quotes, stories and inside jokes written by us and all of them revolving around our mutual friend. I included a sample of quotes, stories and inside jokes that would be presented on "my page" in the book -- so it was clear that they knew what I was looking for; short and sweet tidbits. I received an amazing response and creepy snippets of old gchat conversations that were q-u-i-t-e hilarious!! And made a note to myself that friends actually save gchat conversations.
The pride for this project is that no matter how many times my friend changes his facebook quotes - he will have a collection of his imprint on the people that love him in the form of a book. A book that he can't change and, in the end, will serve as a time capsule from 2012 into his network, life, and impact on others.
I loved it so much - I want someone to make ME one!
Creative Overview:
With full creative freedom (and mild obsession) I designed and constructed this book from concept through production. The cover and back mimic what a wine label would look like if it were designed/written to reflect the man (the back even includes warnings regarding how consumption of alcohol impairs your ability to understand his vocabulary).
Some pages were paired with custom images (all by me); others were colorful enough with words alone. The book itself was hand stitched (by me after a week of baptism-by-fire research and improvisation). The color image (above) shows a custom illustration created in marker, printed on vellum for a transparent/ghosted effect.
There is nothing like having complete control over every element contributed to a project. I selected each type of paper, had a research phase involving glue, tape, silk paper, silk tape, and even obsessed over which chipboard thickness would fit this small type of project while not overwhelming it with "what is recommended" from bookbinding experts. I plan on pulling together a "Rebels Bookbinding Tutorial" and posting it later this year as a free PDF download. The PDF will highlight the choices I made and the logistics of binding a booklet (less than 50 pages) and making it look like a real book. That's right - I broke the rules and won! Um...that is...I won in the race against myself for my own definition of perfection within a project. ;)
