Well, two test models in fact. I received a copy of The Art of the Fold from David for Christmas and thought I should try something from it before I am once again buried in preparations for my solo exhibition, Square Dance.
I chose #18, the Franklin Fold, as I had not seen it before.
I love the illustrations in the book, though I suspect that when they were done Step 1 and Step 4 were on the same page, then got separated when the layout of the book was done. It was a relief to discover at Step 4 that I had, in fact, begun my folding with the correct side of the paper down. It should also be noted that you need to start with the long measurement of your paper oriented vertically.
I made my first model with marbled paper, which was a mistake in some ways. It was difficult to see the fold lines which I had to match or meet in some of the steps. I made a second model in plain paper so that I could mark things on both sides.
The illustration for Step 4 shows some apparently randomly placed bits of tape. They are there to hold the backs of the inner pages to the inside of the cover and eliminate the odd gap shown below.
I would place the tape or glue on the inside of the book where I have indicated.
There’s another odd gap between the angled fold on the covers and the adjacent pages.
If you want to eliminate that gap, place glue or tape on the good —outer— side of the paper as shown. If you wish the outer angled layer to retain its function as a pocket, but still want to eliminate the gap, you could run a narrow strip of tape or glue vertically and parallel to the spine. (That would be just below the horizontal valley fold shown near the top of the picture.)
Like most one page books, the Franklin Fold has the disadvantage of creating bulk from the thickness of the paper with no built-in compensation for that thickness. The Franklin Fold is better than some in that the cover can be folded to make some allowance for the text block bulk. The Art of the Fold recommends a paper weight of 90gsm, but if you have a thin strong paper of an even lighter weight, I suggest using that, at least for your first model. Also, if you just finger crease all your folds before the final assembly, it will make it easier to make adjustments to get everything positioned nicely.
Based on the Franklin Fold, I have designed a version with fewer pages (less bulk) which I will show you next week.
In other book arts news:
Just before Christmas I received a present from Lydia Rink, an artist I follow on Instagram. She had invited her followers to participate in creating a collaborative book. The brief was unrestricted except by page size, so the contributions of the sixteen people who chose to mail work to Lydia vary widely.
The cover is Lydia’s work.
I haven’t included images of other people’s pages, as I haven’t asked for permission, but here is one of mine.
Lydia also included some of her printed ephemera in the parcel: a square business card (top) and a few stickers,
and some postcards. Here are my two favourites.
Thank you, Lydia!
Byopia Press 