Instead of using the laser cut option to cut the text, I've tried using the engraving option as I thought it worked quite well in my previous experiments as it didn't burn my material as much and gave a nice outlined effect to the text. I used the laser cut effect on creating shapes instead and in addition my usage of black card was also influenced by my trying to find different materials which does not show the burnt marks of the laser cut and I figured the black could work. Furthermore, I added the white card as I thought having alternating colours for the publication would look aesthetically good and may highlight overlapped shapes.
Initially, I wanted to make the book with a kettle stitch bind- though they are single pages (kettle stitch is for signature fold pages); I thought maybe it worked similarly or they could work? However, I was wrong and as I was stitching the pages together I found it really hard to manoeuvre the needle up and down the stitch holes and the pages theme selves. Also, there are parts of the stitch where the needle is supposed to go through the middle of the signature to secure the page, however because they are single pages they didn't have centre folds which help to tighten them together making the stitching really fiddly and loose. Overall, this stitching technique just didn't work at all as Ive decided to stop this stitch halfway through and only stitched two pages together in order to still show the result fo the failed stitched.
I also ran into another problem - as I've already put holes through all my pages, I had no choice but to stitch them anyway and I though the stab stitch technique was the most appropriate at that time as it would secure the pages properly and it's a stitch that i have done in the past therefore I was quite confident in it. Stab Stitching was never an option for me to do in the first place however I thought it would be quite a waste if I didn't stitch the pages together. I've also already mentioned in my previous blogs why I didn't want to use stab stitch, however it was the only stitch choice I had that could effectively work on the way I've put the holes on my pages. I figured maybe doing this stitch could still give me an idea on how thick the pages can go as the stock I've used is 300 gsm which I too heavy for body pages, maybe they would look too bundled up together and too stiff. As I've expected it looked too stiff and just wasn't what I wanted the pages to my publication to sit and look together. I was expecting a smoother and more 'compact' look when the pages are squeezed together. On the other hand, the 300 gsm card may be effective and appropriate for a cover though, as it is sturdy enough and fit the whole aesthetic of the book I think it would carry the overall book well.
Thoughts & Reflections:
Overall, this experiment completely failed and was not what I expected and intended to do. Although, it is completely my fault for thinking I could do a kettle stitch with single pages. This experiment overall just didn't work out the way I planned it out in my head which I'm really disappointed about and I feel like I just wasted materials on it as I could've done it right in the first place if I didn't make the silly mistake that I made.
On the other hand, now I do know that kettle stitch can only work for certain page layouts I have a better indication of how I could lay out my book pages. Maybe I can actually have them as folded signatures and do a kettle stitch, this way it may give me more leeway to how much pages I can have in my publication whilst still having an effective functional publication.
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