#coptic binding

I began with a somewhat vague idea of the design. I decided to go with a purple & black colour scheme fitting for the Galra. I knew I wanted it to be not too thick, keeping this personal-notebook feel, but still thick enough to show the coptic stitches.

From there... everything else was pure FAFO.

I started by doing 6 single-sheet signatures, printed on an 90 gsm recycled paper that is slightly thicker than your usual 90gsm, and I lined the folds with black Colorado cloth tape from Ratchfords because, as mentioned above, I was going for glue-less. (This tape has saved me so much time and trouble I ended up buying 100m of it last time they had sales. I Do Not Regret A Thing, although, with this amount, I might be set for life now.) The recycled paper + Colorado cloth lining allowed to ensure getting just the thickness I wanted for the book, and keeping the spine an even black.

I had seen this fun pattern for coptic stitch who-knows-where ,and I knew it would be fitting. I have barely ever done coptic binds (maybe... three times?) so while I tried my best to measure and keep an even space between the holes on the cover, I winged basically everything else. Including the thread. The only purple thread I had was cheap cotton embroidery thread. And it turns out it is a pain to sew with. Keeping a good tension in the thread was a nightmare. I whined so much about it that, the next day, a friend went and bought me thick linen threads in different colours so she doesn't have to hear about it ever again. It's really cool linen thread too. So now I want to do more coptic binds.

With the spine a nice black, it would have felt strange to have the edges keeping their natural greyish colour. After considering my options, I thought "OH WELL" and picked up a black marker to line the edges by hand. Exactly the kind of things I used to do with my notebooks when I was an angsty teenager. Honestly, it couldn't have been more fitting.

The endpapers, taped on the boards using my trusted double-sided adhesive Gudy (because no glue, remember?) are made with regular 90gsm purple paper, on which I printed the first words of the Guide. I used the Galra alphabet made by user Salty_Sapphic on Reddit, that I have turned into a personal font specifically for this occasion. (I might re-use it in other Voltron binds in the future, though.) That means there will likely be other Voltron binds in the future, yes.

The boards for the cover are simple black 230gsm recycled cardboard. I really dig the texture of recycled paper for scrapbook projects. It's VERY satisfying. Keeping it simply black felt a little sad, though, so I dug through my Hoard Of Stuff-For-Covering.

I found sheets of holo stickers with scale-like patterns that I had bought for 0.5€ in a random clearance sale a year ago or so. I know Galras have fur, not scales, but consider: 1. it's holo and creates a fun balance with the black 2. it's holo and gives this weird otherworldly effect that I was going for, because even if it's a scrapbook, it's a scrapbook in space. Considering they're all using tablets and I'm not sure I've ever seen any pick up a pen, I wonder if Keith would have scrapbooked on his tablet. I love digital scrapbooking. I kind of see him do something like this. 3. it's holo and great to create the uncanny impression that the cover is glitching/corroding. 4. have I mentioned it's HOLO

IT'S SO SHINY AND I'M VERY WEAK, OKAY?

Anyway! I cut patches in the sheet (you can see them missing in the video above) to stick on the cover, so that the notebook looks like it's corrupted, with alien stuff covering its regular appearance—just like Keith feels like his body gets corrupted with his genes, I guess.

Once everything was put together, I still felt like something was missing. I wondered if I should maybe do a label with Keith's name on it, like these old notebook labels they give you at school to write your name on. As usual when I'm unsure about something design-related, I went to pester my partner about it. While they never fail to grumble about how "they're more design-challenged than me and why am I asking them", they usually have very good advice. This time again, they did not disappoint. "Why would you use a label? Keith is absolutely the kind of guy who wouldn't bother with it and just scratch his name on the cover."

And. Yeah. Okay. Point. Keith definitely picked up a red pen and scribbled his name on the cover without a care. Since Soda has designed the Guide so that Keith signs at the end, I decided to do my best and try to freehand the same writing style, for consistency. It's... not perfect, but I like the result. (Also. It's metallic red. ALL THE SHINY!!!)

And... that's it! First time binding something this short, first time doing this type of coptic, first time creating a font... This bind is the sum of many happy FAFO accidents that, put together, end up becoming one of my fave things I've done since I picked up bookbinding.

A massive THANK YOU to @soadscrawl for creating this inspiring guide and giving me the permission to share.

I'll just conclude with the thing that convinced me I just needed to bind it:

Intradiegetically, Keith is the author of this guide. He is the one writing this whole mess of self-deprecating unhelpful "advice". And yet, as if it weren't enough, he manages to add a layer of self-deprecation by adding "sorry" by hand afterwards. Like he re-read what he wrote and managed to feel even worse and make it worse. This broke my heart so efficiently; even before reaching the tear-stained page.