Jonas Löwgren

My teacher colleagues Ahmet Börütecene and Niklas Rönnberg have been teaching a physical interaction design course for several years using a fictive universe. Weekly feedback to students is given in the form of a newspaper: the Rheta Daily Inquirer. This is a two-year collection of the newspaper, bound in three copies with slipcases.

A collection of family photos and the stories behind them, based on interviews with old relatives. I typeset the book, printed it on 140 gsm paper, and bound it using a Dos Rapporte-inspired structure. Marbled paper by Christina Löwgren.

An annotated bibliography on the relations between craft and interaction design. Version 1 published in December 2020 in different formats for screen reading and printing (http://jonas.lowgren.info/ncixd.htm). Here are two copies bound in different styles: half leather in-board (top) and Gebrochene Rücken case-bound (bottom).

An edited collection of chapters about the history of my family, created in 2012. I did the typesetting and recently I bound two new copies.

Currently a personal favorite for a notebook style, constructed in the old-fashioned way by stitching the pages on raised bands and attaching leather right onto the spine to form a closed back. The boards are thin and flexible, making the book soft and pleasant to handle. The overall character is modest and unassuming, yet rather carefully crafted.

Two Edelpappband notebooks with leather edges and Italian paper.

Notebook: Inspired by a photo of Benjamin Elbel's Dos Rapporté structure. Back made of paper-covered cardboard, front and back covered with an old and odd paper that I found. A very crude attempt, to be sure, but it turns out to have the desired function: The hinges are offset from the spine, providing a lever effect that lifts the textblock upon opening. This in turns makes the book remarkably easily opened and flat when open. Cf. Elbel, B. (2012). Dos Rapporté structures: Why consider structure? The New Bookbinder 32:17-22.

Notebook: Using the Gebrochene Rücken technique as described by Peter Verheyen (ref below). Sewn on tapes, leather back, marbled cover paper. http://surface.syr.edu/sul/33/

Notebook: An example of a German Edelpappband as described by Peter Verheyen (ref below). Sewn on tapes, leather headbands, case binding with leather top and bottom edge. Verheyen, P. (2005). The Edelpappband, or "Millimeter" binding. Bonefolder 1(2):25-29. www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder/vol1no2contents.htm

Notebook: Tight back and raised bands, meaning that the leather on the back is attached directly to the stitched spine of the textblock. The bands are the actual cords on which the signatures are sewn. The leather comes from a well-worn couch that used to be in my childhood home. Front and back covers are thin and somewhat flexible.

Notebook: Hollow back with false bands, closed joint. Parchment on back and on front edges. Front and back cover boards slightly beveled around the edges. Cover paper handmade by Hartmut Weichelt.

Mads Hobye's PhD dissertation: The tradition at our school is to give successful PhD students a hand-bound copy of their dissertation. As I was the supervisor for Mads, I found it appropriate to do the binding myself. Leather back and corners, false bands, closed hinge and beveled front and back.

Sketchbooks: a classical and a more modern one, both 21 x 21 cm.

Ultra-classical sketchbook: Stitched back, full leather cover, closed joint. (Funny detail: The leather comes from a couch that used to be in my childhood home. There are even some marks from cat claws on the back. Very nostalgic.)

Hybrid sketchbook: Classical stitched back, proudly displayed in a simple fold-around cardboard cover.

Notebook: Full linen cover, closed joint, photo inlaid in front cover. (Image taken at Omberg in the fall of 2010.)

Old meets new: Custom notebook for a Wacom Inkling. Closed joint, leather back.

Notebook: Closed joint, leather back and corners.

Diary-style notebook: Closed joint, parchment back, magnet-lock flap.

Bildsten notebooks in various retro styles (2013). More details below.

17th century technique: Tight leather back and raised bands. Leather corners. Cover paper handmade by Hartmut Weichelt.

18th century style: Hollow back and closed joint, narrow back and small rounded corners in leather to recall a time when the more expensive materials had to be used sparingly. Cover paper handmade by Hartmut Weichelt.

Mock-functionalist 1930s style: Hollow back and French joint, linen-textured cloth and fairly rough cover paper. Full front-edge cloth cover.

Mock-functionalist 1930s style: Hollow back and French joint, linen-textured cloth and fairly rough cover paper. Regular corners.

Variations on a theme (2012) – Hand-bound notebooks in various styles and materials.

The Bildsten notebook (2011) - Design of a simple signature product for the amateur bookbinding association I am involved in. Blue books have pages with lines, red books have blank pages.

Family album (2011) - I typeset our family snapshots for a year into 240x240 mm pages, had it printed and then bound it into a classical photo album look.