OUGD504 // Design for Print // Printed Publications & Binding

After designing the publications, i decided that i was going to get them printed. I thought that after putting all the work into writing the content, designing the publications and coming up with the binding etc it would be worth getting it printed and making the publication properly.

I decided that i would get it printed outside of college because i wanted a better quality print and something that was more industry standard. I looked around at printing houses and other print works, but for a proper industry print i couldn't get just one copy or if i could it was alot of money. So i went back to getting it digitally printed.

I used a company that i have printed with before and i was happy with the finish and stock they use for the publications. For both the publications it came to £25, which i thought was reasonable. Here are some photos of the printed publications.

I am really happy with the finish of the publications. The stock it is printed on is 115gsm satin finish. This gives it a slight glime in the light. The stock is the right thickness for the publication and makes it work well together. The quality of the print is at a high standard i think and makes the publication look 10 times better than when on screen. I am really happy that i decided to get the work printed. Now to bind together!

Binding

The binding proved to be harder than what i thought it would be. I wanted to simply sew it down the spine and do it within two loops into the spine. 

First i created all the holes within the spine of each page within the publication, i then sewed it together. I did the 2 publication first and you can tell because it is no where near as neat as the other publication. I found that when i started to sew the publication together and pull it tight throughout the booklet, it ripped the pages and this is why they aren't all aligned and are abit hit and miss throughout the publication. 

When it came to doing the other publication i had learnt what to do. when i created the holes down the spine, each time i put the pages inside each other i pushed the needle through the align the holes. When it came to sewing it to the front cover, i could push the needle and thread through all pages at once. This kept the alignment of the sheets all together and right, when i pulled the thread tight i made sure that it didn't rip the pages. You can definatly tell the difference in the binding on each of the publications.

I did try and to the second publication again, but when i sewed it all back together it did exactly the same because the holes in the pages had already ripped, so the thread went back into the same position as before. I am pretty disappointed with that part of the publication. When you look through it its not as noticeable as i thought it would be but it still isn't at the standard i wanted it to be. I have learnt from this though and now i know what to do to make it the best bind it can be and to make the publication better. Learning the hard way has paid off because i can now use this to my advantage for binding together another publication in my Fedrigoni brief and get it spot on this time.