Bookbinding Design Workshop
Join an in-person event on 16 & 17 April in collaboration with West Dean College and the London & South Region of the Society of Bookbinders
This two day Bookbinding Design Workshop takes place during the daytime only on Thursday 16 April and Friday 17 April - from 10.30am to 4pm each day.
The London Archives is pleased to be partnering with West Dean College’s new FdA Books and Bindings programme and the London & South Region of the Society of Bookbinders to offer this specialised training in design techniques in preparation for this year’s Society of Bookbinders International Bookbinding Competition.
This two-day workshop will introduce design concepts for bookbinding, open to practiced bookbinders as well as anyone interested in the world of design binding, the highest form of bookbinding, where the binding reflects an artistic response to the text within the book.
No design or bookbinding experience needed!
West Dean tutors will give an overview of design concepts for bookbinding, and recent graduates of the FdA programme will share some of their own approaches to design and discuss how they have transformed their ideas into designs that work on books.
There will be opportunities to allow participants to have a go at various techniques, working through a design process from a set text, from concept to creation. All participants will practice on a design plaquette to take home.
Day 1: Thursday 16 April, 10.30am - 4pm
10am – Welcome; tea, coffee and pastries
10.30am -12.30pm – Presentations from West Dean tutors and students, who will share their approach to design
12.30 – 1.30pm – lunch break - please make your own arrangements
1.30 – 4pm - The afternoon will include demonstrations of various decorative techniques and give participants the opportunity to develop their own design ideas from the set text.
Day 2: Friday 17 April, 10.30am - 4pm
10am – Welcome; tea, coffee and pastries
10.30am -12.30pm – Additional design technique demonstrations and participants work out designs on their own design plaquettes
12.30 – 1.30pm – lunch break - please make your own arrangements
1.30 – 4pm – Complete design plaquettes with an opportunity to share work
Set Text:
Participants are asked to read the set text, The Whitsun Weddings, prior to the workshop and take influence from one aspect or from the collection as a whole.
Philip Larkin’s The Whitsun Weddings, is available for free to read online with an account on Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/whitsunweddings0000unse_f3x5
Or copies are widely available at local libraries and used book stores.
Tool List:
Nothing required, but please bring any materials you might want to use for designs, such as coloured pencils, media, paring knife or scalpel handles (#3 and #4). Various scalpel blades will be available for use at the workshop.
For any additional questions on the workshop, please contact Wanda Robins at wanda.robins@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Ticket cost: (each ticket covers both days of the workshop)
- £55 for Members of the Society of Bookbinders or Designer Bookbinders
- £75 for non-members