Twice a year, the AS220 Community Printshop offers a unique course in Book Production for six participants. In the seven week course, students produce colorful ‘zines or artists’ books in an edition of 200.  The first two classes are taught by Lara Henderson. Through bookbinding demonstrations, participants fold and bind paper in imaginative ways to create book structures perfect for editioning. Next, files are formatted for the press using Adobe Creative Suite. An example of this can be seen in the image on the left, a printer spread for a book designed by shop member Aaron DeMuth.

The next five weeks are spent on the press with Jacque Bidon, learning how to run the ABDick 9850 Offset Press, a commercial press capable of creating hundreds of prints in a matter of minutes. Each student gets six press runs during the class, enough to make a book up to 48 pages in length! After printing the content for a book or ‘zine, finishing processes are covered including folding using our pneumatic machine, binding using our saddle stitch stapler, and trimming on the guillotine. Also included in the cost of the class is a private 1:1 session with Jacque focused on the workings of the press – a $120 value. Participants leave this class with a stack of 200 finished books, collated, trimmed, and bound, ready to release into the world.

Jacque Bidon is a commercial printer who left the world cutthroat deadlines and designers to work with artists sharing his love of offset printing. Jacque believes in the power of printing to change just about anything.

Lara Henderson is a book artist based in Providence, RI. In 2010, she completed her MFA at the University of the Arts for their Book Arts/ Printmaking, focusing on book structures and offset lithography. Her books have been collected by libraries across the world. She is currently employed as the AS220 Community Printshop Manager, where she continues to publish her work.

Book Production runs on Wednesdays, April 17th, 24th, May 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th: 6pm-10pm. The cost is $225. Reserve your spot today on our online shop. If you are not familiar with the Adobe Suite, the Media Arts class in Adobe  Illustrator will help you with Book Production.

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