{"id":11271,"date":"2017-08-20T01:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-08-20T05:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/?p=11271"},"modified":"2025-09-15T15:44:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:44:12","slug":"catching-up-with-lori-sauer-no-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/20\/catching-up-with-lori-sauer-no-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Catching Up With Lori Sauer \/\/ No. 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2016, Lori Sauer<\/a> was one of six Designer Bookbinder<\/a> Fellows selected to bind one the six titles shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Lori bound Madeleine Thien’s Do Not Say We Have Nothing<\/em><\/a>, which was presented to the author on the night of the award ceremony.<\/p>\n

Your designs are so delicate, but have the power to capture deep emotion. Each element feels meticulously planned and placed in perfect harmony. Can you go through the stages of planning for Do Not Say We Have Nothing<\/em>, specifically touching on the placement of the small red pieces?
\n<\/strong>This is a binding done for the Man Booker Prize shortlist, work that always has a very tight deadline. I loved the novel, an epic tale spanning three generations of two separate families, who lived through a turbulent time of Chinese history in the mid twentieth century (the Cultural Revolution through to Tiananmen Square). There is a book within the book, called The Book of Records that ties the families and generations together. Classical music also plays a big part, in particular The Goldberg Variations, a piece based on repeated patterns and mathematics.<\/p>\n

I usually tend to work in light and pale colours, my penchant for minimalism. This is the first dark binding I\u2019ve done for a long time but I felt it was needed to capture the psychological temper of the period. All of Chinese society at the time wore uniforms – drab, dark colours with only the Red Guard having something bright.<\/p>\n

With all of these elements stewing around in my mind I begin to sketch and when some of them start to work for me I make paper mock-ups \u2013 cutting out the right colours and shapes and moving them about \u2013 and take photos of the best compositions. I also work on my iPad with a drawing app. (I like Art Rage<\/a>). I eventually settle on something that makes my fingers want to start work. Sometimes I settle on a design that\u2019s a very long way from my starting point but I\u2019m not unduly bothered that I move off in a sideways direction, as a good design will stand up on its own.<\/p>\n

The final design is my visual solution to a novel about music, the passage of time, families and Chinese writing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve asked specifically about the small red dots. The ones on the outside (leather, shown above) were placed for compositional balance and add a necessary shot of colour. The dots on the doublures (paper, shown below) were very randomly applied. I worked instinctively and fairly quickly here and photographed a pattern I liked so I could use it for reference when gluing them down later.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2016, Lori Sauer was one of six Designer Bookbinder Fellows selected to bind one the six titles shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Lori bound Madeleine Thien’s Do Not Say We Have Nothing, which was presented to the author on the night of the award ceremony. Your designs are so delicate, but have the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,68],"tags":[1867,665,2209,744,2210,841],"class_list":["post-11271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-binder-of-the-month","category-bookbinding","tag-bookbinding","tag-designer-bookbinders","tag-do-not-say-we-have-nothing","tag-lori-sauer","tag-madeleine-thien","tag-man-booker-prize"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-2VN","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4992,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/24\/bookbinder-of-the-month-lori-sauer-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":11271,"position":0},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Lori Sauer","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"March 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Glass Room\u00a0by Simon Mawer is a novel about a Jewish family and the house they built in Czechoslovakia prior to WWII. The house is based on the Villa Tugendhat, designed by the architect Mies van der Rohe in Brno in the late 1920s. The building was inscribed on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/glassroom-lorisauer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4771,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/10\/bookbinder-of-the-month-lori-sauer-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":11271,"position":1},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Lori Sauer","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"March 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The first Designer Bookbinders International Competition was organized in conjunction with the Bodleian Library in 2009. Each binder involved submitted a binding of the set book Water, which is a collection of poems and illustrations based on the theme of water. The set book was published by Incline Press in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/water-lorisauer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/water-lorisauer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/water-lorisauer.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4891,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/17\/bookbinder-of-the-month-lori-sauer-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":11271,"position":2},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Lori Sauer","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"March 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This book was bound in 2009 by Lori Sauer as a modified sewn-board binding with a wooden spine. The boards are covered in natural vellum and the spine is attached with threads and vellum strips that are laced into the boards. I find the unusual pattern of the vellum to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/brothergiles-lorisauer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/brothergiles-lorisauer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/brothergiles-lorisauer.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4638,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/03\/bookbinder-of-the-month-lori-sauer\/","url_meta":{"origin":11271,"position":3},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Lori Sauer","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"March 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Kyffin: A Celebration is a collection of essays about the Welsh artist Kyffin Williams. This book was published and letterpress printed by Gwas Gregynog Press (2007) in a limited edition containing linocut prints from the artist. Production began with the artist's collaboration, but Kyffin died before its completion. In 2008,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/kyffin1-lorisauer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4997,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/31\/bookbinder-of-the-month-lori-sauer-5\/","url_meta":{"origin":11271,"position":4},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Lori Sauer","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"March 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Topiary\u00a0by Cecil Stewart\u00a0is about the art of clipping and sculpting foliage to maintain a clearly defined shape, like a geometric design or animal. In 1936, Topiary was published by Golden Cockerel Press in a limited letterpress edition on handmade paper with\u00a0whimsical illustrations by Peter Baker Mill. In 2011, Lori Sauer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/topiarydetail-lorisauer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11276,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/27\/catching-up-with-lori-sauer-no-5\/","url_meta":{"origin":11271,"position":5},"title":"Catching Up With Lori Sauer \/\/ No. 5","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"August 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"For the final post, I wanted to highlight one of Lori Sauer's more recent bindings. Done in 2017, Lori created a binding for Russell Maret's Linear A to Z. Using an unusual binding style, Lori combine's vellum and Japanese paper to create a binding that works beautifully with the text's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/LinearAtoZ3-LoriSauer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/LinearAtoZ3-LoriSauer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/LinearAtoZ3-LoriSauer.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/LinearAtoZ3-LoriSauer.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11271"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11275,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11271\/revisions\/11275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}