Altered Books, Collaborative Journals, and Other Adventures in Bookmaking

by Holly Harrison, Susan Raymond (Designed by)

Today more than ever, you can’t judge a book by its cover. Why? Because two of the hottest new trends in bookmaking are pushing the boundaries of what it means to write, read, and experience a book. This exciting guide explores the creative processes behind altered books when artists make their own distinctive mark on an already published workand collaborative journals in which many artists come together to create a unique single work. Readers will learn how to alter treasured books through collage, paint, layering, sewing and more. And they’ll learn how communities of artists can come together to select a topic, set up a project, and ultimately publish or show their finished collaborative work. Filled with easy, how-to projects and beautiful gallery photos, this book will help artists of any ability to create books that tell unique and personal stories.

Genres: Art, Crafts, Nonfiction, Reference, Journaling, Books About Books

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2003

Reviews

[Georgina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspiring, but not really an instructional manual. Come back to this one when you've done some tinkering on your own.

[Sarah Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a few sections with tips and suggestions on techniques for creating altered books or creative journals. However these included no pictures and very little instruction on how to actually do them. For example various ways you can bind a book. There are a TON of pictures of other peoples journals and altered books so if you just want a book to flip through and get ideas based on other peoples artwork and not instructions on how to make your own book then this is for you! It also has descriptions of each artists artwork as well. I'm sure if you think of this as a getting to know various artists vs a how to book then you might think it should have more stars. I marked it down because I wanted more ideas on how to make pages, bindings, etc.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the book and the ideas within the book, however it seems that is just a collection of other artists work and how they made their book. I had expected to have more detail to how to create a similar book.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome

[Bobbi Galvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A couple of good ideas, but nothing that I haven't seen before. Very creative stuff!

[Theresa F.]

I was expecting this book to be a little more instructional in nature, but it was mostly just a showcase for various artists' work. While I do understand, after reading the book, that the author's intent was to encourage people to have fun and experiment, I would have preferred more sections teaching the actual basics of the craft. The page describing different photo transfer techniques for example was very informative, and I would have greatly appreciated more material in that vein.
As far as the author's experimentation approach goes, I personally think that when attempting a new craft it helps to start out with some basic knowledge of the process. You need to walk before you can run, as the expression goes. And while the method of 'jumping into the deep end' and learning from your mistakes has its supporters, I don't see why I would want to learn from my own mistakes after the fact when I could learn from someone else's mistakes before the fact.
Still, it is possible that I'm just being biased because the book wasn't exactly what I expected. In the context of the author's intended purpose, I suppose it works fine.
Did I like it? Not exactly, but I might have appreciated it more if I'd known going in what to expect.
Would I reread it? A few instructional sections might be worth revisiting.
Would I recommend it? As an instructional book, probably not. As an art book, maybe.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book!!!!

[Nathan Bernacet · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my curriculum I teach a lesson on origami book forms. The children are required to create their own book from origami folds.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much in this book. My first book on altered journals, I actually found this is a bookstore in China, of all places. Lots in here. Time to pull it down and rediscover it.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Might want to refer back to that for ideas

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful and inspiring book

[Recynd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most beautiful people: easy on the eyes, but not much depth.

[Gigi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not style currently looking for.

[A. Clare · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a decent primer. I don't like the author's style, but the information is pretty sound.