Industrial Bookbinding Techniques

Rúben R. Dias, Rui Oliveira, Fábio Duarte Martins and Ricardo Philippe Dantas

The Book Block is an industrial bookbinding technique manual, developed in partnership by Itemzero and Maiadouro, the first in the Making a Book collection, which focuses on graphic book production manuals.

Bringing together 17 of the most common industrial binding techniques in 6 categories, The Book Block explores each of these techniques in detail, describing them and showing what it is possible to do as each one in this day and age.

With the aim of making the language and knowledge of industrial binding techniques accessible to everyone: from graphic production to designers, from publishers to authors, The Book Block was developed by bookbinders and designers with decades of experience, focusing on efficiency and quality of content.

Conceived from scratch to be bilingual, in Portuguese and English, the book seeks to systematize the nomenclature in the national graphic industry, something yet to be done, without ever ignoring today’s globalized market, where much of the work and learning is done internationally.

You can get it at itemzero shop.

Technical info

Title: The Book Block / O Miolo do Livro (2019)
Bilingual (Portuguese and English).
Author: Rúben R. Dias, Rui Oliveira, Fábio Martins, Ricardo Dantas
Translation: Hugo Rocha, Maria João Cunha;
Revision: Maria João Cunha;
Design and Infography: Itemzero;
Typeface: Uivo by Scannerlicker;
Prepress, Printing and Finishing: Gráfica Maiadouro.
Editor: 0. itemzero + Maiadouro
Type: Bookbinding manual
Format: 105×270 mm
Pages: 148pp
Content: 17 industrial bookbinding techniques, grouped under Wire Stitching, Adhesives, Thread Sewing, Mechanical Binding, Rubber-bands and Fasteners. 100+ illustrations and schematics.
Printing details: Plate cylinder offset print 2/2 spot colours; Pantones 3262 U and Blue 072 U; Endpapers printed in one 72×102cm sheet on Munken Print White 300g/m², with 2 imposition maps, 8 folios per sheet; Book block printed in 4 72×102cm sheets on Munken Print White 115g/m2, 1.5 bulk with 8 imposition maps, 3 signatures per sheet; 12 signatures with 12 pages and 2 endpaper folios, smyth sewn with Petic colour 133; Grain direction parallel to the spine; Bound with water-based adhesive; Trimmed on 3 sides; Edges coloured with water-based ink.