Optics Binding

I just discovered that my website has been down since last week! Luckily, I have skills in the field of computers (see photo for proof). I apologize if you tried emailing me this past week and just got an error message. Everything is back up and running now. And if you haven’t checked out my website in a while, do it! (www.opticsbinding.com) Signing up for my mailing list is the best way to get the inside scoop on my upcoming projects.

That’s a wrap. All the Outland books are finished and en route to their forever homes. Farewell my lovelies!

I officially wrapped production on the new Optics Press book today! Steranko’s Outland is one of my favorite works of Illustration and design and I was thrilled to be able to bring it to life in a new fine press edition. If you’re not familiar with the book, Outland was a comic adaptation of the 1981 Sean Connery Sci-Fi film. It was originally serialized in Heavy Metal magazine. Although comic book movie adaptations are most commonly associated with cheap cash grabs, Steranko used his opportunity to not only tell a great story that’s better than the movie but one that also pushed the comics medium itself into new and exciting territory with an influence that can still be seen today. Unfortunately, due to licensing and copyright issues, Steranko’s Outland has never been collected in English and even foreign editions have remained out of print for decades. Here’s a whole bunch of process shots/videos from the past few months that show an in depth look at the whole binding process.

For the past year I've been working on a secret project and am thrilled to finally be able to show it off. I was commissioned to make some custom binds for the team at Heavy Metal to celebrate the relaunch of one of the greatest illustrated magazines of all time. This is one of my favorite pieces of graphic illustration and I had an absolute blast designing and binding this beast.

The Optics Press #9: Outland The 9th book from The Optics Press was created for the team at Heavy Metal to celebrate the relaunch of one of the greatest illustrated magazines of all time...

When I found out Kevin Eastman was coming back to Az and going to be at AzComicsArtsfest, I wasted no time in putting together the ultimate TMNT rebind. Collected in this volume are the original 7 Mirage trade paperbacks comprising the first 29 issues (and 4 micro series) in glorious black and white on pulp paper. To cap it off, I also included issue 30 so that all of the Rick Veitch material could be in one book. Veitch’s original wraparound cover design also allowed me to utilize that cover as a snazzy fold-out! The text block was completely hand sewn, as were the silk headbands. The spine is made out of premium goatskin leather and the covers/slipcase wrap are giclee canvas prints.

Here’s some process shots of my From Hell re-bind. As you can see, it started off with a copy of From Hell, the Companion volume, and a signature sheet. After trimming the spines off, I sewed the single sheets together using a whip-stitch. Creating the “ripped cover” took quite a bit of trial and error to get it to look right. The key was having multiple ripped layers of not just the marbled paper but the actual cover board as well. To get the red to really pop on the front cover titling I ended up printing black ink over red paper. It’s always fun to do old-school bindings with raised bands on the spine because it means I get to dust off my tying-up finishing press!

Catching up on some re-bind projects now that I’ve cleared all the Bomarc Service News books off my workbench. First up is Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell’s From Hell. This project started out when I acquired an unused signature sheet from the From Hell:The Compleat Scripts limited edition. I disassembled the trade editions of both From Hell and the companion volume and then sewed together all three into a single text block. The book itself is 3/4 bound in goat skin leather and hand marbled paper. I was thrilled to discover I had enough of the marbled paper leftover to make a matching slipcase (leather capped and velvet lined, natch). I’ll post some process photos this weekend.

When I designed the newest Optics Press book I focused on it being its own weird, wonderful thing and not just a vessel for something marketable that can be mass produced: after all, there’s only 15 of them! Hence the avoidance of calling it “Thomas Pynchon at Boeing: The early years!” or some stupid s**t like that. I wanted to keep any Pynchon design flourish as minimal, unobtrusive, and cryptic as possible. Little clues sprinkled all over that like a Pynchon novel are up to you to piece together and figure out a solution, if the pieces even fit together, or if there was a problem in the first place. One example is that on pages that feature a possible/probable Pynchon article (none of the articles have bylines) I’ve marked the page number with the symbol from Gravity’s Rainbow. For those unfamiliar, the title of Pynchon’s most famous novel refers to the arc in the flight path of a V2 rocket. Since each issue is a different color I was serendipitously able to achieve an actual rainbow, which I found delightful. Other Pynchon easter eggs include a ‘Kilroy was here’ schematic, a coded message, and a nod to the cover of his debut novel “V” with the vanishing point lines heading to the horizon (a striking design flourish that also is coincidentally(?) used in illustrations throughout the book). Be sure to check out the video I made of the finished book, link in the comments.

https://youtu.be/hgSeQCVs_kg?si=rWXeip5kLV2VoEnP

The Optics Press #8: Bomarc Service News Check out an depth look at the restoration process here...https://youtu.be/kwnTZaEBT0UAs well as video showing how the books are sewn here...https://youtu.be...

I finished binding the newest Optics Press book last night and couldn’t be more thrilled with how it all turned out. With each new Optics Press book I’m constantly pushing myself to tackle new challenges so I can become a better bookbinder, artist, and human being. This was by far the most challenging book I’ve made on every level from the restoration and design to the printing and binding. I just snapped a few quick pics to show it off on this post but I’ll be taking more detailed photos and interior shots as well as creating a flip through video in the coming week so everyone who isn’t able to view a physical copy can enjoy. Now it’s time to take a day or two off before starting my next project!

The Optics Press #8 update: The books are in the final stages! All that’s left is to finish attaching the leather & cloth and make the slipcases. If all goes well they should be done in the next couple weeks. Here’s a bunch of process shots from the last couple months showing the printing and binding process. I’m beyond stoked with how this project is turning out and can’t wait to show it off to all of you.

For those just tuning in, this newest Optics Press book is the complete Bomarc Service News, Boeing’s in house newsletter for the Bomarc Missile Program in the late 50s, early 60s. Featuring the earliest professional writing of Thomas Pynchon who worked at Boeing as he was writing his debut novel, these newsletters are also a treasure trove of mid century design and illustration.

The Optics Press #8 update: All finished with the restoration process! Now on to the next phase: Design

The Optics Press #8 update: All finished with the restoration process! There’s a youtube link in my bio if you’re interested in what all that entailed. Now on to the next phase: Design! #thomaspynchon #bookbinding #bookdesign