'Full-bound in Harmatan black goatskin with onlays of red and hand-dyed green goatskin. Hand-tooled in 23.5ct gold leaf. Hand-sewn headbands. Edges decorated with acrylic paint beneath scored black foil. Edge to edge paper doublures and gold tooled leather joints.

A sea of gold leads the protagonist from back board to front, terminating in Grendel's severed limb. The ocean continues along the block's edges and inner joints.'

Matt Stockl

'Sewn on four 6mm linen tapes, illustrations guarded and sewn in, laced on cushioned boards, edges gilt with middle sections coloured red, double-core hand sewn endbands, bound in full purple goatskin, vertical lines tooled in blind and gold leaf, coloured goatskin recessed onlays, lettering tooled by hand in gold leaf.

The design depicts the nine matches that indicate the lives of Cat. Six matches (lives) have been sparked and burnt out by his sister Gwendolen. The three remaining lives are symbolised by the unstuck matches'

Ted Bennett

'Sewn on five 6mm linen tapes, edges gilt, double-core handsewn endbands, bound in full vellum, stars tooled b y hand i n gold leaf, red leather onlay with lettering tooled using blocking press in gold leaf, blue lines drawn with ink, heavily gilt goatskin onlays.

Design depicts the sides of the American civil war, the number of stars correlates to the states on each side. 9 for the Confederates, 4 on the inside joined later. 23 for the union, 19 free States outside and 4 slave states on the inside. The red leather is the scar/wound or 'badge of courage' from war. Blue lines show the success of the side, the confederates fall short and end in smoke (using the natural toning in the vellum).'

Ted Bennett

'Inspired by one of Chrestomanci's dressing gowns, the exterior goatskin pieces are hand-dyed; pink pieces wet-formed with lace whilst the orange spine is deeply handtooled to evoke quilted fabric and is titled with real gold leaf.

The leather-jointed endpapers are gelli-printed using lace, in scarlet and gold to emulate an embroidered lining fabric alongside the inked and gold sprinkled edges.

Hand-sewn silk endbands carry nine stripes; three darkened at the head signify the burned matches when Cat's matchbook first appears, six at the tail reflect his lives spent by the books close.'

Sam Cartwright

'Bradel binding, continuous link stich sewing, linen board attachment, and leather joints. The endbands are sewn in silk, with coloured edge decoration.

The front and back boards are edged in pink leather. The boards are decorated
with edge-to-edge paper with gold and coloured leather inlays.

There is a green leather spine with gold covered leather inlays.

I wanted the design for Charmed Life to be playful, remembering that it is a
children's book about fantasy and wizardry, with frogs, newts' eyes, lizard skin, and a want to turn buttons into gold!'

Miranda Kemp

'ASH was conceived after an ash tree was felled because of ash dieback. The cover is embossed leather using the burnt cross section of the tree and the end papers are printed from the same cross section. The title is hand cut from gilding metal and fixed with hand made rivets. Ash is printed using inkjet o n Mulberry paper.'

'The book develops through the botany of the tree to delve into Nordic folklore. Ygdrasill, the ash tree at the centre of the world, the tree of life, and the book ends exploring the wars in the world.'

Kari Furre

'Poems written and illustrated, featuring original photographs and image
manipulation, by the binder. Pages are inkjet printed on distressed Fabriano
Ecologica dyed with silver acrylics and lined with black Lokta. Case bound using a modified drumleaf and stub structure. Cover design i s a composite o f three images created by layering inkjet-printed Japanese tissue, textured Claper paper and silver organza. Endpapers are original photographs, manipulated and inkjet printed on silver paper. Cover and endpaper images suggest dissent in the natural world.'

Linda Miles

'Chinese Ink illustrations by binder on laminated vellum, inset into double board window structure. Bound in full crimson goatskin. Inverted bands. Edges illustrated by binder with Chinese ink. Hand dyed ends. Vellum headbands. Title prägnant lettered in red foil on vellum.'

'Illustrations and composition drawn from passages in the text and further Art references. The outer and inner illustrations are mirror images of themselves, depicting the moments prior and just post of an extinguished flame.'

Luke Hornus

'The book is bound in a DeGonet style, sewn on leather slips with dyed linen thread. The boards and spine are covered in hand dyed leather with palladium and leather inlays, and the edges coloured with acrylic. Leather jointed end papers are decorated with acrylic.'

'The style of binding and colour choices are intended to reflect the playfulness of the book, and the contrasting coloured boards, with decoration mirrored on the back and front are inspired by parallel worlds described in the story. The inlaid circles symbolise the nine lives of the main protagonist, with the three palladium covered inlays representing his remaining three lives at the end of the book. The colours sweeping from back to front reflect the description of the gardens explored in the book.'

Jane Adams

'I used back paired leather onlays for the cover, and hand painted pawprints on the top edge of the text block. The end papers are block printed with a single lino block rotated each stamp.'

'The cover is inspired by Falling Cat, images captured in chronophotography by Étienne-Jules Marey in 1894 of a cat being held upside-down and dropped, and demonstrating its ability to right itself and land on its feet.'

Samuel Crerar took up bookbinding in October 2023, and has been training at the Wyvern bindery since July 2025. This is their first time entering a DB competition

Samuel Crerar

'The images were scanned and manipulated in Illustrator and Photoshop to form the pop up book and the foil blocking on the covers and printing on the end paper inserts. The headbands are linen (slightly frayed) and silk to emulate the matchbook in the story. I used bookcloth on the covers, which is highly durable and suitable for children. Magnets are used on the pop up book back cover to easily locate the book in the case.'

'When I received the sheets / was struck by the beautiful illustrations. They made the story 'come to life'.'

Olinkha Gustafson-Pearce

'Set of 20 miniature limp paper bindings. Khadi painted with acrylic ink,surface gilt spine decoration. Box painted with acrylic ink.

'Each cover takes its cue from the markings and colours of the bird species inside. The endpapers echo the cover design, painted with feather-like brushstrokes. When aligned, the spines form a murmuration of swallows. A single feather is inked across each of the head, tail, and foredge. The box is painted with branches, giving the birds a place to rest.'

Toben Lewis

With sincere thanks to the individual prize sponsors, The Folio Society for providing the set book, Dianne Wynne Jones' Charmed Life, and to the Designer Bookbinders.

To learn more about the Designer Bookbinders, please see their website here. For more information about any of the bookbinders featured in the exhibition, please feel free to contact Benjamin Maggs, or Designer Bookbinders directly.