Wednesday Indie Artist Fixx with If’n Books+ Marks

Deb Dormody of If’n Books + Marks is a bookbinder in the digital age and while you may think that may be shortsighted of her, I could not disagree more. I think we spend so much time online looking at pictures on flickr, reading the newspaper, and even reading books that it is a welcome change to hold something tangible and well-made. It’s nice to have an online travel journal or photo album, but even nicer to have one you can put on your coffee table. And even better if it’s handmade from an independent bookbinder like Deb.

Deb creates journals, photo albums, bookmarks and other fun paper goods in her studio, which is located in a century-old mill building. She does collaborations with artists like Jen Corace and Jesse LeDoux for the designs of her goods, but all the work of constructing the books is done completely by hand by Deb.

For all you paper fiends & journal geeks out there, and you know who you are and I am including myself in this group, you must own a If’n Books + Marks journal. They are so well-made and just lovely to page through…there is something viscerally pleasurably in doing so. Plus, if you are interested in the bookbinding process, watch an absolutely hilarious bookbinding demonstration video here.

To learn more about Deb and If’n Books + Marks read my interview with her below.

1. What’s the name of your business and what do create and sell?

If’n Books + Marks – I make super duper blank journals, photo albums and other papery doodads.

2. When did you get your start and what made you decide to take the plunge?

I was introduced to bookbinding in high school and immediately wanted
to marry it. So I continued my bookbinding studies in college and a bit afterwards. Then I got some jobs, since that is what you are supposed to do. One sunny day I realized that I didn’t have to be a chump for The Man any longer so I quit. It took me awhile to recognize that every company that is out there in the world was started by a person – which means that not everyone has to work for someone else. To some – okay, most people – this may be a pretty elementary observation. But sometimes it’s hard to latch on to things ideologically that can be incorporated into your own life. Plus, I’m slow. But the good thing is that I was able to hone my organizational abilities while being paid by someone else before I hired me as owner of a bookbindery. What a terrific resume! I had been a Program Director for a couple arts non-profits and a Marketing Director for a gift gallery, so there were certainly translatable skills accumulated that I have been able to use for my own business. Also, since the world didn’t collapse in 1999 like they said it was going to, I figured the new millennium would be a nice time to take advantage of being a human who was alive with a brain.

3. How do you come up with the concepts for your designs?

I’m pretty good at sitting and thinking. And working and thinking. So when I develop new ideas, it doesn’t happen in some awesome “By George I’ve got it!” singular moment, but more like a slow percolation over time. I absorb and then hash it out and rehash so that by the time I’m ready to make a prototype, it’s a pretty clear image in my brain.

4. What’s been your biggest, or one of your biggest accomplishments, so far?

I guess just being in business for seven years. My personal pride is complexly tied to If’n so that can be tricky at times but ultimately, it’s really what keeps me sane – the business, not my pride.

5. Tell us one funny/goofy/silly thing about yourself.

Is it funny that I can only set my alarm clock to non-rounded numbers? And it has to be a good combination of odd and even numbers? Like 7:32. Or 6:58. Or is that just kind of OCD sounding?

6. What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst?

I’m lucky in that I enjoy a lot of the mundane things about the business like the production and the shipping and the organizing. I absolutely hate having to deal with receiving the wrong supplies or damaged items and stupid stuff like that.

7. What blogs and mags do you read and what shops do you shop at? List as many as you want.

For being a seller of products, I’m not a very good consumer myself. But I do take great pride in being able to buy presents from other crafty places online or at craft shows when I can. You get to tell the recipient “I sort of know the person who made this!” As for blogs, aside from Indie Fixx of course, I like to check in on my friends at http://www.tinyshowcase.com and http://thinkstare.blogspot.com . And I like any magazine that provides a free trial offer.

8. Were you an artsy craftsy kid? If so, what kinds of things did you do?

Growing up, my brother and I would have drawing competitions with each other and do lots of Exquisite Corpses. I made some shoes once out of cereal cardboard, Kleenex and meat string. And I ate a significant amount of Play-Doh.

9. If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could have only one food or one type of food available to you in infinite quantities, what could it be?

If that were the case, then it probably wouldn’t matter if I became obese and died of heart failure so TACOS all the livelong day! If I were still clinging to the idea that I might one day be rescued, then a nice fruit salad that was not cut on a garlic/onion cutting board might keep me happy. But, if I may ramble for a second more, the idea of only having one kind of food, even if it’s pizza or cookies, is just as nerve-wracking for me as the idea of being stranded. I like
variety in my life.

10. What does indie mean to you? You can give a literal definition, choose to be a little esoteric or a combination of both. 😉

Indie, or independent, to me, is a bigger-picture vision made real by small actions. A lot of what I’m competing against are companies in China and India which operate under very different work conditions. I think there’s a false economy – in the bargain sense of the word – in purchasing our belongings that way. It’s hard to escape it, but I aim to provide an alternative to mass-consumerism harvested on the backs of low-wage earners. The difference is that I’ve chosen this, I’m independent. And that’s part of the reason why I like to show that there is an actual person making my books who has a personality and is only enslaved by her interests. I don’t mean to harsh anyone’s mellow here, but it is hard for me to separate the politics of making
utilitarian items with the current state of the world. The appeal for the buyer is understanding the specialness of having something that was crafted with two or more hands just for them. The books are not a throwaway (hopefully). They exemplify what is good and unique in the book’s owner. Really it comes down to the fact that I try to live my life responsibly to my little corner of the world and hope other people will do the same.

11. What are you reading, watching and listening to?

I’m about to start A Prayer for Owen Meany. I don’t get to watch anything too often but when I do it’s usually a DVD that my honey picks up from the library and is accompanied by popcorn. Music is what gets me through the workday. That can range from Broken Social Scene and Death Vessel, to Bowie and Devo, to Bill Frisell and De Kift and oodles more.

12. What are your inspirations?

Providence, RI where I live is a good town to be inspired by. And anyone who is an ‘idea person’. I strive to be like those people who wake up and say “You know what the world needs? The world needs a fortune-telling coffee mug alarm clock!” only usually they say something better than that and that’s what I hope to do. I guess that’s more about admiration than inspiration though.

13. What’s next for If’n Books + Marks? Any new plans or products that you want to share?

The Smacker Journal is what’s new and exciting at If’n Books. It’s like a version of the Corace Journal that we currently offer. But the distinction is its size. Measuring just 5×2 American inches, it packs a punch by being a 3-in-1 product. It’s a limited edition screenprint (only 100 available)! it’s a handy journal! and it’s a harmless smacking tool for discourteous or bothersome cohorts. I’m excited about the Smacker because it is a series, and highlights some of my fave artists as well as some new illustrators with whom I haven’t worked before. The first one out features a great piece by Alec Thibodeau who also happens to be my honey. So yeah, in your face, nepotism! But the follow-up was by Canadian illustrator, Ray Fenwick with whom I worked for the first time. Then some fancy ladies: Sarah from the Small Object and of course, Jen Corace. And some other people who don’t yet know that I’m going to come a-knocking on their collective doors – so I can’t tell you yet.