Print - production and final outcome

Production for my publication consists of 2 pieces - the actual book itself and the accompanying sleeve.

Publication

Earlier on in the project I established that I would bind my book using perfect binding.

After printing and cutting my individual pages I bound my book. Aligning the pages to the very left side and clamping the book in the clamp, I spread thin layers of glue onto the spine, waiting every 10 minutes to apply another layer.

After applying these layers I then glued scrimp onto the spine, let that dry and then trimmed off the excess. 

I had created my plain cover earlier on, so to fasten this to the publication added 2 lengths of double sided tape to the inner edge of the front and back pages of the book, and then slotted the book into the cover.

I had some issues with the printing of my booklet - when creating my InDesign document I allowed 5mm allowance for the perfect binding, but this turned out to be too big an allowance, so the photos that are spread across 2 pages are repeated in the middle of the book. The actual bind worked well though which I am happy with.

Sleeve

I created my sleeve from the same 300gsm black card as the cover is made from. Using the laser cutter I cut out the net I created in Illustrator. I had to adjust the net slightly from the original prototype, so the tabs stemmed from the front cover as opposed to one either side, so the front of the sleeve looks smoother and more professional, with both folds going backwards. 

Also using the laser cutter I engraved rings onto the front of the sleeve, to simulate the grooves in a record. I used a kiss cut for this process - which doesn't cut the whole way through the card, but instead lightly engraves. I think this process worked really well in context and the resulting design on the front of the sleeve looks really effective.

As the front of the cover as well as the sleeve does not contain the title of the publication anywhere, I thought I should include it somewhere. I decided to add on a label onto the front of the sleeve. Using the dimensions of an actual 7" vinyl record label (84mm), I added the title "Keep a Record" and chose to cut this out of vinyl.

I used glossy vinyl in the colour white, with the letters cut out of the circle, so the black shows through underneath.

 

The finished result is one I am really happy with. The contrast between the matt card and the glossy sticker in the middle makes the title pop and the sleeve look professional. The only issue I have is the card fraying at the edges where it has been folded to create the sleeve. I am not sure how I could have avoided this though, as creating the sleeve out of separate parts of card would look really messy.