About the binding...

Lauren Ehrmann

For the release of our Craft Zine, I created a limited-edition binding for 20 copies. As I was designing the binding, I kept returning to the different dimensions of the word craft.

There is the craft of carefully selected materials, of care and attention to detail, of technical expertise. This is the kind of craft that I practice, if imperfectly. As an artist, I am drawn to multi-step, technical media where the process shapes the final piece as much as the artist’s original concept: I am a printmaker, a darkroom photographer, a bookbinder.

Craft has another side: the craft of elementary-school projects, of primary colors and glitter glue, of found materials and experimentation. Living with a middle school art teacher, this is the craft I grew up with. My childhood home is full of art supplies donated or purchased at garage sales and the kind of craft projects done at the kitchen table or the living room floor.

For this binding, I wanted to combine the precise techniques of bookbinding with materials that evoke the spontaneity and joy of childhood craft projects. Most importantly, I wanted to leave room for the reader to engage in craft themselves. My bindings are just a starting point. They include materials that the reader can use to cut, color, stitch, glue, and stick to craft their own binding!