Summit - Vinyl Production

Producing this presented me with both more and fewer challenges than I expected. I suppose that's just a way to say it could have gone worse. Here it is:

This notebook that I carry with me every day now represents me. It's a nice feeling. The design is reminiscent of an islamic pattern, organized and abstract. I see it as a set of interesting stairs, representing the hurdles I have overcome and also the ones that still lie ahead. 

The emotional-rollercoaster-process: 

Step 1: Enter Thing Tank. Turn on this mac.... It took me FOREVER to figure out there was a small button at the back in the bottom left corner. 

Step 2: Set up SureCutsALot and load file, press cut. 

Step 3: Panic. Everything was peeling up when it was being cut. I re-started and made sure to slow down the cutting speed on the machine. 

 

Step 4: Chill. 

The beginning was still catching but things started to work themselves out

Step 5: Admire the work... definitely something I would have never attempted by hand. 

Step 6: Weed, using a blade at first and then just use the stickiness from the peel-ups. 

Step 7: Prep transfer, peel off back of vinyl. 

Step 8: Create guides and apply to surface. Panic. 

Step 9: Start peeling, get excited. 

Step 10: Deal with the spine. 

 

Step 11: Complete. Have a photoshoot. The matte/glossy play is awesome. 

Woo! I'm feeling awesome and loving how it came out. I would love to create a series of thin staple-bound or sewn notebooks to personalize what I use next semester. It feels solid and I'm not worried about peel-up but it'll be interesting to see how this wears with daily use. 

-SP

...

SECRET STEP 12: The spine wasn't actually attaching... it was acting like a super cool net that surrounded the binding detail. I liked how it looked, but it was annoying to hold so I tried cutting up the vinyl to make it attach, but in the end I removed most of it, leaving a small 'cube'. I like that it hints at the pattern but it's not annoying to hold anymore like the loose 'net'.