project #23: mix-tape book

This project has been bouncing around in my brain for a while now and is one of the crazier books I've done. It seems like I've been seeing cassette tapes everywhere these days, from the backs of laptops to hand bags and I thought I'd get in on the action. The cool thing about cassette tapes is that they have already made holes, so I don't have to do any punching, just sewing which was nice.

I used some of that telephone wire because I thought it would go well with the technology theme of the book. Initially the binding was going to be a coptic style, but it ended up more like the long stitch, which I think suits the book just fine. The crazy weaving and winding that happens on the cassette tapes themselves was purely experimental and free-form. (I'm sure that's fairly obvious...) The wire was surprisingly easy to work with. I didn't rip any pages or have much trouble pulling it through the various holes. A pleasant surprise to be sure.

I liked the classic black cassette, but Matt (who supplied me with the used tapes and recently told me that it is his life goal to make it on to my blog as many times as possible) could only find one, so the back is a clear tape. I really like the look of the front, though. The hand-written song list really adds to the whole flavor, I think.

I used graph paper for the inside because it is my favorite: it offers such versatility! It also seemed to lend itself well to this book because it suggests that the pages can be used for anything, not just words: guitar/bass tabs, technical drawings, or repeating patterns would also be at home here. All in all I think it came out really well!