An Illustrated Book and Bespoke Bookbinding for Thames Hospice
Most of our work involves printing other people’s artwork. Now and then a project lets us make the whole thing ourselves, and this was one of those.
A book made for a special reading
The book was created for a special occasion. Presenter and local resident Alex Jones read it aloud at the hospice, filmed for Trunks Across the Thames – a free public art trail arriving this summer across Windsor and Slough, built around art, creativity and a shared sense of purpose.
Why the bookbinding mattered
With a children’s book, the binding matters just as much as the design. It gets opened constantly, read aloud, carried around and generally put through its paces. So we chose a square hardcover format for a sturdy, friendly feel in the hand. We ran full colour across every spread to let the illustrations do the heavy lifting, and used a clean, durable bind that holds firm after repeated use.
The details we enjoy most are often the ones people do not notice straight away: a cover that opens flat without resistance, colour that sits properly on the page, and a spine that stays secure over time. Small things, but they are what separate a book that lasts from one that does not.
Thames Hospice does genuinely important work, and we were proud to create something for them that was built to last.
If you have a similar project in mind, whether an illustrated book, a bespoke binding job, or a printed piece created for an event, we would be glad to talk it through. Designing, illustrating and binding work like this is exactly what we are set up to do.