Because the eventual format of these narratives will be compiled into books, we took a workshop in order to gain a better understanding of the different ways we could use binding to add another dimension to the work we're doing (as well as to present it neatly)
Here are rough diagrams of all the binds we've learnt over the workshops that we've done.
Japanese Stitch Bind
Japanese stitched-binds are held together with stitching along one left hand side of all the pages. This bind is ideal if you have a lot of loose pages, or if you're using analogue artwork right off the bat for your book. The only thing you have to consider for this is that you need to leave an adequate margin in order to ensure that none of the content on your pages is lost when you sew it together. It's possible to do double page spreads with it, but a lot of planning has to go into exactly what info goes on which side to make sure it's assembled correctly (Indesign can help with this, however the document needs to be set up for individual pages as opposed to double page spreads)
Saddle-stitch Bind
Also known as a 'pamphlet bind', this is probably the easiest of all the binds because you literally sew down the centre of the book to create a neat, conventionally folded book. Fully bounded books - the sort bought on bookshelves everywhere are typically made using lots of these sewn together. In order to get the content correctly orientated for these books you ideally need to use indesign to lay out the pages in order to print it all.
Concertina Bind
Incorrectly labelled as 'Pamphlet bind' in my diagrams above (oops) - Concertina books are ideally bound using folded sheets glued back-to-back. Concertina books arguably have the most room for experimentation, giving their rather free-flow bind - you can have one long illustration that runs the entire length of the book, or you can use each page as a standard and then run on to the reverse side as well.
The only downside that comes with all this playfulness is that it's also probably the bind with the biggest room for error. Unlike thread which is a relatively risk free binding material, glue is incredibly unpredictable. It often takes a bit of practice getting to know exactly how much glue you need to keep it all stuck together without it becoming a gluey mess. This is a risk regardless of whether or not you choose to draw straight into it or print it; if you print it you need to make sure you don't get glue on the final work, and if you draw straight into it you need to makes sure you don't mess the surface up with the glue whilst you're assembling it.
Hot Dog Books
Hot dog books are called such because they fold in a in a manner that looks a little bit like a hot dog. Hot dog books are typically formed from one sheet of paper, folded down into little booklets that can be opened up, reversed and refolded to create another book (or one big poster/illustration, the possibilities are pretty much endless). They're quite popular amongst comic artists because you can make them very cheaply (with it literally being a one-sheet process) and they can also be made very quickly.
Due to the basic nature of their format - a lot of the layout can be done manually over two documents in photoshop as opposed to setting up an indesign document for it. They're very low maintenance and they don't require much in terms of planning so long as you know exactly where each page is going to sit. The few downsides to hot dog books however is that they can sometimes look a bit scruffy and low-fi depending on how they're presented. Also, if you choose to do a double-sided book, people unfamiliar with how hot dog books work may find it difficult to read them.
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