What do sleeves mean in the context of a bindery? Sleeves in the bindery world are meant to house 1 or 2 or 3 books, or a ring binder, or a tray or smaller box.
I’ve seen sleeves made out of literally hundreds of different materials; different colours, textures, gauges, patterns, velvet, suede…the list goes on. Ask me what is the commonest “sleeve wrap” material is and I simply say “I don’t know.”
The following pictures show some of the material ranges.
Picture #1 is a paper wrapped sleeve which “house” a clothe wrapped book.
Picture #2 has the sleeve wrapped in “sail cloth” and the book wrapped in paper. The sleeve measures “27” x 7” wide!!!
Picture #3 is a large clothe wrapped sleeve (or box) that houses three clothe wrapped binders.
Picture #4 is similar to Picture #3 except the sleeve is smaller and wrapped in a suede material; same material for both the ring binders and the sleeve.
Picture #5 is a larger die-cut sleeve housing a case wrapped book. In this “sleeve” problems presented themselves. The whole sleeve and book are white, therefore the “board” in the sleeve construction had to be white. Laser die-cutting often “burns” the paper surface. The solution to the “burning” problem was to spray paint the laser cut holes with white paint. Problem solved!
Picture #6 is a sleeve to house a box rather than a book or a binder.
Picture #7 is a large book wrap in “Japanese silk” and housed in a sleeve wrapped in heavy clothe.
Picture #8 is a “rivet” bound book housed in a “concave” style sleeve. The “concave” allows the book to protrude from the case so the case does not have to be “thumb-cut.”
Picture #9 is also a concave sleeve, both the sleeve and the book are wrapped in the same material.
Picture #10 again has both the over-sized book and sleeve wrapped in the same material…clothe.
Picture #11 is simply a booklet inserted into a sleeve like “pouch.” It is made of a “suede” like material.
Picture #12 is the commonest book sleeve combination.
When designing a “sleeve” please consider a range of many many materials; styles such as “concave”, foil, angled corners, metal corners, etc…