Japanese Bookbinding

There's many ways in which you can stitch your final zine or book together. Of course there are simple techniques in which you can hide the stitches from the viewer - much like most are in traditional books you may own. However, with Japanese bookbinding, it is intended that the viewer sees the stitching and for that reason it is made as extravagant as possible.

The great thing about Japanese Bookbinding is that the designs can be completely unique and customisable each time. It's such an attractive way to present your books and definitely adds something different - rather than leaving your book with a simple stitch.

However, this method of bookbinding does make it more difficult to open your book, so you have to be sure that your stitching will not result in integral parts of your book being hidden. I would suggest that with this technique it is best to construct your book before adding anything to the inside, just in case. It may also be worth using a bone folder to sharply fold the pages around your stitching so that the book may open in a smoother manner.

Here are a few examples of my attempts at Japanese Bookbinding: