In Between Seasons (an art collective) – Commission Work

Due to the positive responses to the handbound sketchbooks I’ve been posting to Instagram recently, I was contacted by a young Palauan for a commission job. Tabol Michael asked me if I was willing to created custom covers for his newly self-published book of poetry and art titled In Between Seasons: (an art collective). I agreed thinking this would be a great opportunity to put my bookbinding and book conservation skills to use.

Tabol Michael is Palauan creative living in Hawaii. His creative credits include actor, author, musician, and artist.  In Between Seasons is his first publication and can be ordered through Amazon at the following link: T. Michael (Book order).

Social Media for the publication can be found on Instagram at @inbetweenseasons.book

I was a little confused in the beginning stages as I tried to recall techniques I learned while working in the Special Collections area of the Cullum Davis Library (Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois). I’m glad those skills resurfaced quickly.

For Tabol’s order, I constructed four sturdy wrap-around book jackets.  These were made from Strathmore bristol paper, Lineco paper-backed nylon book cloth, decorative handmade paper, and finished with gold screen-printed lettering.

 

I also constructed a variation of the four-flap case used in my special collections job as a protective covering for the jackets and the books. The decorative paper used for the spine can be worn down with excessive handling.  Scans of the cover and printed recreations of the back cover and spine of the book were applied to the case to help identify the contents when closed on the bookshelf.

 

In addition to these covers, Tabol also requested a sketchbook/journal.

The final step is to pack these up and ship them to Tabol.