Bookbinding: the whole range
Hand bookbinding means creating tasteful, aesthetic, beautiful, sometimes precious, remarkable unicates - as opposed to commercial binding.
The bookbinder Christine Merkel-Köppchen combines careful and exact craftsmanship in practical work with originality and creativity in design. Of course, the customers' wishes are kept iny mind.
From baptism to a 100th birthday - for all occasions of family life a book can be created: christening
book, farewell book from kindergarten, confirmation book, high school year book; birthday albums,
guestbooks and, of course - especially popular - wedding albums and guestbooks.
There are also other reasons that may require a book or maybe a cassette or a slipcase: an old cookbook is newly bound, an elegant magazine archive is to be created, or you want to have a book you wrote yourself be bound in a limited edition, individually designed. Last, but not least, aficionados of bibliophile editions come into their own.
Business clients appreciate, for example, a solid, appealing binding of their company's history or an attractively designed photo album for their 25th anniversary.
Materials
The bookbinder uses a nearly infinite range of materials:
- paper: marble paper, cardboard, corrugated board, Finnish wooden cardboard and much more
- fabrics: raw linen, nacre linen, iridescent linen, gold linen, satin, velvet and silk
- leather in various colours and types: e.g. black, white, grey, brown, orange, green - smooth, shagreen, goatskin, oasis goatskin, sheepskin, hogskin
- wood for covers and decoration such as oak wood and softwood
- metals such as silver or brass for fittings, screws, and clasps
Working techniques and motifs
Binding a book does not merely mean making a simple cover. We use old and modern techniques with a multitude of tools: stamping (embossing and blocking, gold and silver stamping, relief), cord binding, ornaments, silk painting ... there are no boundaries to the imagination and the competence of the bookbinder.
The same holds true for the motifs where the wishes of customers and the ideas of the bookbinder merge: company logo or house of the customer, animal pictures or real wooden spoons - everything is possible.