Dear Everyone ~
Custom projects are one of my favourite parts of Bari Zaki Studio. They are also “the original part” of my bookbinding passion. Thirty-plus years in, each project still seems new and one-of-a-kind, even if it involves multiples. From family memoirs to large storage boxes, from artists’ portfolios to ephemera albums, each commission has its own distinctive parameters. And the recipient, the audience, the user is part of my process. Who will do what with the object I’m making?
I haven’t written about any custom projects this year, but that is not because I haven’t completed any. Au contraire! I am starting to make up for this l-o-n-g lapse today, the longest day of the year. I have just added to the Project Gallery a four-needle Coptic-stitch binding which I refer to as Double Bind.
The “cover story” is a rainbow of bookcloth that houses, if I may say so, an epistolary pot of gold. Donald’s inspiration was to give Stephanie, his wife, an album for a very special set of letters relating to her passion for equality, which has become her profession. I wrote a blog post about Donald’s surprise for Stephanie shortly after I finished the project, and you can find that here.
Donald recently sent me this update: “ Stephanie’s book sits proudly on our bedroom bookshelf. The letters were once folded up in a crumpled brown paper bag and not touched for years at a time—she knew they were there, but she never looked through them. Now they sit on display with her other personal memories…definitely an upgrade. She does visit it from time to time. Because it’s private, she’s only shown it to her friends who also attended Emmaus. ”
* * * * *
My most recent commission was from Eunique D., who came by the shop this past Saturday, to pick up her amazing Father’s Day gift for her dad. We had started musing voice-to-voice about her project this past January. She e’d me a few photos of her grandparents’ wedding album, which she was hoping to restore in some fashion for her father. The original album turned out to be in poor condition, so my challenge was how to retain its persona while creating an entirely new album. I double hinged the pages and bound them into a screw-post binder. One of my favourite details is the front cover “window,” framing an important portion of the original cover: the couple’s names and the date of their wedding. I plan to add this to the Project Gallery in July, with my production details and Eunique’s wonderful narrative.
Also earlier this year, I received an email from Sarah B., a longtime customer who now lives in Japan. She wanted to commission two albums to give as baby gifts. We mused about binding styles, number of pages, and, of course, what papers she would like the books covered with. I was thrilled when she offered to ship me a selection of papers from Itoya, one of the largest paper stores in Tokyo! I was further excited when she requested that I hand-fold an assortment of envelopes that the recipients can place wherever they’d like in their books. Both albums are now finished, and I will be making the envelopes this coming week. And, then, to the Project Gallery it will go!
If you’re curious as to how most customers select their palettes & materials, you can read about our swanky swatch service right here.
Project Gallery
Projecting, Bari