Learning craft skills might seem dull and boring unless it is for a purpose. In the bookbinding workshops created for the students at Farnham I have emphasised the practicality and the beauty of learning how to binnd books, make boxes and portfolios. Having learnt the skills from Douglas Bevans in St.Martins and by working in the Wyvern Bindery for 3 years I have understood the need of having bookbinding skills for being a designer. You can not design clothes to fit people without knowing how people look like.

In the workshops in Farnham I have made radical briefs with action in order to get hooked on the craft. Some highlisght from the briefs:

• Deconstruction: I asked the students to tear apart some very pretty boxes I pre-made to see how they were constructed. Then the students had to work in team to construct their own boxes only by looking at the box wreck they destroyed.

• Speed Binding: A great challenge was to do a binding course for 100 first year students at the same time. I made a step by step photo powerpoint on how to do binding, while three previous students which already was hooked on binding was assisting, within a day we managed to create more than hundred handmade books. (only a few faulties)

• Content & Cover: Love at first sight: A lecture about the importancy of marrying the bookbinding skills and the design concepts. Understanding how to commission a bookbinder as a designer.