Custom Poetry Book
About the Project
Time was of the essence for this project. My client contacted me in late February to commission a custom poetry book for an upcoming trip to Venice she and her fiance planned – which was happening in less than a month. Normally, I don’t take on new projects with a timeline so abbreviated, however, something spoke to me on this one and I felt like I needed to do anything I could to help her. I am, admittedly, a romantic at heart and a story like this just felt magical and I was honestly happy to help.
She and her fiance had written poetry during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, which served as a connective and strengthening exercise for them both. As they were joining each other in marriage, she wanted to capture those moments with each other into a single volume that will last for the rest of their lives together.
This project was a full “ground-up” endeavor, taking it from an abstract idea into the physical world. She sent me the raw text on .doc files and I set to work designing and typesetting the book. We worked quickly and we were in constant communication. Thankfully, the book was finished and cured on time and delivered a few days before they departed. From beginning to delivery it took about 3-weeks.
The result was exactly what she’d imagined.
The Proposal
After my client returned home she sent me an update on their trip and included some amazing photos! The photography was done by Luisa Basson and they are excellent. Her website is https://www.luisabassowedding.com/ and more of her stunning work can be found there.
I am so touched that she included me in this important moment for them and I don’t often get to see the books I make in their new life. Seeing what we made together, in context and in action, was a surreal experience.
As a bookbinder, I operate mostly in the background – making books that people enjoy and that look nice within a collection. But knowing that something I made played a small part in such a big moment for them will always be special to me.
The Process
Since this was a time sensitive project, I decided to do this work in the cuir-ciselé technique. While I have been perfecting my skills in freehand gold/silver tooling, I wanted to get this done with confidence and havana set-backs at all. I began with veg-tanned sheepskin and carved the Rialto bridge design first. Once the leather was colored and finished I moved on to the stamping for both the front and back covers. Since we had a relatively large canvas to play with, I felt a 36pt type would be perfect for the title and it really captures the gold in a lovely way. I also decided not to stamp the spine, since vertical stamping can be quite time consuming to get it to align just right on such a thin spine.
