Stay loose, man. An intro to Glue Books.
March 3rd, 2008A few months ago, I picked up a copy of the British magazine Computer Arts. They had a really interesting article about making a “glue book”, which is a creative exercise I did myself, and would recommend to any designer who may be feeling a little “stuck”. The basic concept is to use a found book, and basically make a collage glued to every page. [Note: this article, sadly, is not available on-line.]
To keep things coherent, a theme is recommended, and mine was “loose”.
I had been feeling very much like I was in a rut in terms of my design work. I felt like all my designs were coming out looking the same, and it was all a little too cold. When I started out on this project, I felt like I just needed to loosen up, which is how I decided on the theme.
After you decide roughly what your book will be about, you want to start gathering materials. If you are like me, and seem to gather magazines like lint, this is a great opportunity to purge them, and get something out of it. I had a great big pile - health, tech, computer, design magazines and a National Geographic or two.
You can also draw on things like old sketch books. I had a number of them lying around, with some stuff that was alright. the really quick pen sketches seemed to fit my theme the most, so I used a number of them.
While you’re gathering materials, you also want to be on the lookout for a ’support’ book. This is the found book that the whole thing will be glued to. What you want to use is one of those children’s books that has pages which are made out of sturdy cardboard. That will hold up well to repeated gluing and abuse.
You can just scope out the kid’s section at a book store and see what’s in the bargain bin. I think my book was $4. It was about Santa Clause, and this was after Christmas. What’s interesting is also trying to incorporate elements from the found book into the final product. I think I had Mrs. Clause on a page opposite a giant robot.
The whole point of the project is to not be precious about anything. It’s an exercise in creative freedom, so don’t sweat the details. Especially in the actual collage assembly. It’s supposed to be messy. Embrace it. If that bothers you, put down some newspaper.
I happened to have PVA glue lying around from some bookbinding projects, so I used that in my book. But Elmer’s school glue would work just as well.
After the pages have some time to dry - and you can do the collage in chunks - you will want to seal the book’s pages. I guess there could be some elaborate and clean method - but this is supposed to be quick and dirty, remember? I honestly used packing tape. I just wrapped each page in bands, and that sealed each page essentially in plastic.
So that’s how a glue book is made! It’s just a variation on the concept of “found books” in bookbinding, but it’s fun. It’s really good for a working designer who needs to do something fun and creative.
The other upside is that at the end, you have a little jewel of inspiration for when you’re looking for an idea. It’s kind of like making your own “Art of Looking Sideways“, only much more portable.
[Note: the photo on the cover was found on Flickr. It’s by Kfal!.]