BookFest Speaker Series: Dennisse Santos | Quality Bindery

FREE

In celebration on our Summer of BookFest, Book Arts is hosting a Speaker Series of experts in the book arts biz! Sponsored by Printing Industries Alliance. 

Presented by Dennisse Santos, Quality Bindery Services Head Bookbinder.

Bookbinding is an artistic craft of great antiquity. It is a highly specialized trade. A finished book might need dozens of operations to complete, according to the specific style and materials. It combines skills from other trades such as paper and fabric crafts, leather work, model making, and graphic arts. It requires knowledge about numerous varieties of book structures along with all the internal and external details of assembly.

This session will present an introduction to:
• A brief history of bookbinding
• Step-by-step details about how a book is bound (or bible repaired)
• Artwork/design considerations for the cover & plate materials as well as foil stamping options
• Overview of the QBS ordering process

After attending this session, you will come away with:
• A better understanding of what the art of case bound bookbinding is all about
• Ideas to have your book created from journals to calendar pages to recipe notes to whatever
• The desire to check to see if your family bible needs repair

Dennisse Santos is an artisan craftsman and Head Bookbinder at Quality Bindery Services. She came to QBS in 1998. Initially, she was a natural at hands-on work in our mechanical binding department. Her interests in binding led her to the study and mastery of the ancient art of bookbinding and repair.

In 2005 Dennisse became Head Bookbinder. She repairs old bibles (QBS does not do restoration) and creates brand new books. She mends almost any book that comes QBS’ way. She works with all sorts of materials, from book cloth, real and imitation leather, linen, even fabric from local sewing stores. One of her most unusual pieces was a book cover finished in ostrich leather! Her largest – City of Buffalo 28” x 35” bound map plates were handsomely bound in black imitation leather with gold foil stamping.

With the advent of Pinterest, Instagram, and Etsy, people locally and around the world get ideas to make a book of their dreams. Finding QBS online, Dennisse takes their description of what they want to do and explains how she can make it happen. She never says it cannot be done.
Dennisse lives in Buffalo, NY with her children and fiancé. When she is not in the shop,
she enjoys playing with her boys.