For Father with Love

Handmade books are great for special occasions, or as a very personal gift for someone you know and love. Recently, I've been toying with the idea of starting a side business of handmade books for weddings, expectant moms, birthdays, basically any occasion that requires more than a card. (If you have any ideas for the business name, send them my way.)

Presentation is equally important..this was the packaging

My dad hates birthdays, and has never really shown appreciation for the various presents I have given him over the years. This is not to say he's ungrateful; he just knows what he likes and gets it for himself. I can't even tell you how many times I have bought my dad books I thought he would enjoy, only to see them untouched, collecting dust on his dresser. Therefore, this past year, I decided to make him a book, in hopes that it would be short enough for him to actually read it, and he would be paternally obligated to cherish it. I constructed the book by creating 2 pages at a time, and because I chose to make each page a 4 inches square, the paper was small enough to use my typewriter for text. An added element was using a translucent paper so that some images could be seen though a couple pages, and so it would seem double sided. (I really recommend making accordion books double sided, otherwise they can seem very sparse.) The handmade aesthetic also worked well with the story--a father/daughter relationship developing over the years. The images were a combination of sketches, photographs, and other pictures I found. I also included a map of San Francisco, which enabled a second book within a book. The telephone line which runs throughout the text helped tie all of the pages together, and worked well with the long-distance story line.