Initial questions

The process begins with me asking you lots of questions about the kind of folded book art you'd like, such as who it is going to be for, if it's for a special occasion, what kind of things the person likes, what your budget is etc. This will give me a solid understanding of your requirements so that I am able to come up with a bespoke design which accurately represents the recipient in the best way possible.

Once we've discussed these details I will start working on a few different trial designs, which I adjust according to your feedback until we have agreed on a final design that you are 100% happy with.

Making the pattern

Next comes the creation of the book folding pattern, which I custom make for each and every book using Adobe design software (namely Illustrator and Photoshop) using this artwork we've just agreed on. Each pattern is tailor made to fit the exact specifications of the book I am going to be using for your book sculpture, which ensures a high quality finish every time.

Marking, cutting and folding the book

I then use this pattern to go through the book page by page and mark where I need to cut and/or fold. Once the entire book has been marked, I return to the start and begin leafing through it again page by page, this time either folding where the marks indicate for 'fold only' designs, or by making the necessary incisions along with the folds if I'm going to be using a 'cut and fold' technique. See the ‘Techniques’ section below for more information about this. Please note that I never remove any paper or text from any of the books so they remain completely legible should you ever wish to unfold and read them!

Techniques

The techniques I use to mark, cut and fold the book sculpture vary depending on the layout of the design and the overall effect I am trying to achieve. For example short words or solid shapes eg. a plain heart can be done with a 'fold only' technique, which means that the shape is created using just two single folds per page - one at the top and one at the bottom - without needing to cut into to the page to give any additional detail.

Most mid-level complexity designs will require a 'cut and fold' technique, which will result in two levels of depth within the finished book sculpture. This means that the 'foreground' detail will be towards the front edge of the pages, and 'background' detail is what gets cut into and folded back to create the depth of the design. More often than not I will fold the 'foreground' areas into the margin of the book so that only the white of the page is visible, and then I'll fold the 'background' areas into the text section of each page to create contrast. I use this technique for the vast majority of my book folding projects.

I also create more complex 'three level' designs, which not only have the foreground and background of the regular cut and fold book sculptures, but also yet another level, folded even further into the book. This third level is folded into the text area of the pages, and the mid and foreground levels are folded into the book' margin.

Therefore, depending on the overall effect I am going for, I will use whichever marking/cutting/folding technique I feel is most appropriate for the job at hand. I am completely self taught when it comes to book folding and have developed my own techniques as I've progressed - which has been kind of essential really due to the fact that I create my own patterns in my own style so only I know how to use them at this stage! What I will say though is that the 'three level' designs contain... you guessed it... three colours on the pattern, and things can get very complicated if I don't pay close attention whilst marking the areas to be folded back to these different depths! See the ‘Making Of’ video above to get an overview of my book folding process.

Once I have completed the book sculpture, I carefully package it up ready to send to its new home!

As I'm sure you can imagine, this is a very lengthy and involved process, which varies enormously depending on the complexity of the design. The initial design process can take anywhere from one to over ten hours (if it's very complex and needs lots of ideas, graphic design and re-designs), and the folding process can then take anywhere from a couple of hours (for something straightforward like a plain heart) to over fifteen for something like a portrait!

The prices quoted take into consideration the complexity of the design, the amount of graphic design work required to come up with the artwork for the pattern, the amount of revisions you want me to do after I provide the initial set of designs, and then the estimated amount of time it will take to fold all of the necessary detail into each page. I have created a price guide to give you a general idea of prices, but each quote will be completely unique depending on your requirements, so please contact me to discuss this in more detail.