Clare Youngs - Creative Book Art

creative
BOOK ART creative
BOOK ART OVER 50 WAYS TO UPCYCLE BOOKS INTO STATIONERY, DECORATIONS, GIFTS, AND MORE CLARE YOUNGS Published in 2022 by CICO Books An imprint of Ryland Peters & Small Ltd 2021 Jockeys Fields 341 E 116th St London WC1R 4BW New York, NY 10029 www.rylandpeters.com 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Text Clare Youngs 2022 Design, illustrations, and photography CICO Books 2022 The designs in this book have previously appeared in one of the following titles by Clare Youngs: Book Art or Folded Book Art.The designs in this book are copyright and must not be made for sale. The authors moral rights have been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress and the British Library. ISBN: 978 1 80065 118 0 E-ISBN: 978 1 80065 171 5 Printed in China Editors: Marilyn Inglis and Anna Southgate Designers: No Days Off, Elizabeth Healey, and Jerry Goldie Photography: Caroline Arber and Jo Henderson Illustration: Clare and Ian Youngs Styling: Clare Youngs In-house editor: Jenny Dye Art director: Sally Powell Creative director: Leslie Harrington Head of production: Patricia Harrington Publishing manager: Penny Craig Publisher: Cindy Richards Contents We live in a digital age. Most of the information we need lies at the tips of our fingers as we stare at our computer screens, and yet we should never underestimate the value of the printed page, bound in book form.

The books on my shelves all have their place for a reason. I read some as fiction, I use some for reference and instruction, and others are there purely for inspiration. I have had many of my books since I was a child and every time I open one of them, I am transported back to a time when I was immersed in a world of adventure and wonder. Wherever my travels take me, I am sure to seek out a second-hand bookstore. I love to enter these places in anticipation of the treasures I might discover among the dusty, sometimes musty-smelling shelves. As a designer and illustrator, I usually look for volumes that are full of drawings and pictures.

I also seek out books with well-designed typography and beautiful lettering. I love the feel of cloth-bound and leather covers softened with age, but I also like newly acquired books with that unmistakable freshly printed smell! The saying goes never judge a book by its cover, but that isnt the case for me, as I often buy a book purely for the design on the front and place it face-out on a shelf above my desk so that I can admire it as a work of art. The decision to fold or cut up a book doesnt come easy. I still find this hard, but I have made a few rules for myself: I never cut up a rare book and I only use tatty and damaged books or samples that would end up being recycled. I know that a book can come to the end of its life. Some lose relevance over time and are left neglected on the bottom shelf or packed away in a box that sits long forgotten in the attic.

These are the books that I use and into which I breathe new life. Sometimes, on opening a volume in an antiquarian bookshop, I will find something hidden among the pages. I have found old letters, cuttings from newspapers, pressed flowers, and even little folded paper animals lodged between the pages of an old craft book. Sometimes notes written many years ago in the front of a book reveal it to have been a gift presented with love or a beautifully ornate prize in some competition. Such snippets offer the tiniest insight into a books past and the kind of person who might have owned it. Books tell stories beyond the written page and, with my projects, I hope to add another chapter, to open up new ideas and conversations, to capture old memories and make new ones.

So, whenever I cut or fold a lovely book that I have found, those feelings of guilt are replaced with a sense of pride and satisfaction, because I realize that the work of art I produce from those pages is extending the life of the book for other generations to enjoy. Books tell stories beyond the written page the written page ESSENTIAL TOOLS Scissors, small and large Scalpel or craft knife Cutting mat Metal ruler Bookbinders awl Hole punch, with different sized heads Hammer to use with the hole punch Triangle (set square) Pencils, hard 4 (2H) and softer 2 (HB) Eraser Something for scoring (blunt knife) Compass Quilling tool Small pliers/wire cutters USEFUL BUT NOT ESSENTIAL Bone folder for making sharp creases A soft brush to sweep away bits of eraser ADHESIVES I use different types of glue for different projects and I also use different adhesive tapes. With glue sticks, try to find one with clear glue because this type never seems to clog up. Wood (PVA) glue is white when it goes on but dries clear and is a very good adhesive for large areas. Use a brush or a small piece of card stock (card) to apply it. Strong, quick-drying glue is clear and usually comes in a tube.

You will also need several types of adhesive tape, for instance: masking tape, double-sided tape, and clear tape. using templates You will find the templates on pages . Some of these will need to be enlarged using a photocopier before you work with them. The percentage you will need to enlarge them by is clearly labeled on every template. When a template is too big to enlarge in one go using a photocopier, you can enlarge it in sections on a number of sheets of paper and then join the sheets of paper together using clear tape. Mark points at in (2cm) intervals along the top and bottom of the sheet. Mark points at in (2cm) intervals along the top and bottom of the sheet.

Join the top and bottom points together using a pencil and ruler. Do the same on the two sides of the paper, joining the marks to make horizontal lines and forming the grid. On a large sheet of paper or tracing paper, do the same but this time make the marks with 1in (4cm) gaps. This will give you a letter that is twice the size of your original template (200%).