Book Binding Research

One of the questions I asked in Fridays critique was about which binding method would be most appropriate for my language book. I mentioned that I want my book overall to have quite a classy and rich but minimal aesthetic to reflect on the intricate details of Arabic letters and patterns, as well as to tie in with the techniques I will use (embossing and foiling).

Originally I thought a perfect bound book will be best as it is simple and classic, I think stitching methods such as stab stitch and pamphlet wouldn't look neat enough as the thread could be visible and hanging off. The only problem with a perfect bound book is that the glue might become messy and make the book come apart if I had a lot of pages, this is something that I will need to test as there may not be any issues in the end.

Furthermore, my other option is a case bound book which is extremely similar to a perfect bound book, a perfect bound book uses a soft cover. Case bound would probably be most appropriate since I want to use a hard back cover and back.

For a case bound book, I could also have my pages Smyth sewn for even more durability. The stack would then be glued inside of the case. I have never Smyth sewn a book before so this is something that I will test.

Glued Case Bound Book

Smyth sewn Case Bound Book

Examples of case bound book covers that I took pictures of this week: