How are the designs created on the Design Bindings and Book Jackets?
After binding and covering a book in leather, I create the cover designs usually using leather onlays (although sometimes other material besides leather could be used). Onlays are created using a special tool to shave the leather thinner and thinner until you can see light through it. The thinned leather is cut into the desired shapes (the drawing is done on tracing paper first). Onlays are then glued onto the book cover. I wet the leather and use a heated brass tool to create dark outlines to enhance the design. This is called blind tooling.
