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KALAMAZOO, Mich.—While some spent their summer at the beach, soaking up the sun while reading a good book, Maddy Boguslawski and Grant Overbeek actually made them as interns at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center (KBAC).

The pair of senior graphic design majors learned the intricacies of bookbinding, typesetting, printmaking and papermaking.

“It’s very tedious work compared to what modern technology can do, but there’s something about having something handcrafted that makes it special,” Overbeek says. “There’s a lot more that goes into (bookmaking) than I think people realize.”

The Kalamazoo Book Arts Center explores the art of handmade books, paper and prints, as it has since it was founded in 2005. With workshops, classes, exhibitions and events for all ages, the KBAC is a place where the collaborative arts of the book are both taught and celebrated.

The KBAC was an organization that was already near and dear to Boguslawski and Overbeek’s hearts, so when a paid internship opportunity presented itself through the Broncos Lead Internship Program, both found themselves on the same page.

“I went into the intern program because I have a big interest in the publication side of graphic design, and I’ve had some past classes and workshops with the KBAC,” Overbeek says. “My interest in design focuses a lot on books, publication, magazines and posters, so being able to intern here was something that I wanted to have on my resume.”

“I had some classmates that previously interned (at the KBAC) and really liked it,” Boguslawski says. “I also just thought it’d be cool to do more hands-on things in the art field but that are still relevant to my career path.”

The first chapter

Boguslawski and Overbeek began their four-month internship ready to hit the books. They spent their days making paper, sewing books together and typesetting.

While Boguslawski can explain the various tasks required to make a book very matter of factly, in truth, typesetting, or the manual process of preparing and arranging text for publication, requires considerable effort and concentration.

“There’s basically a bunch of little lead letters in drawers. You put your type in individually but backwards, and you look at your reference to find the letter in each drawer. So, you can’t really lose focus; you always have to be thinking of what you’re doing,” Boguslawski says.

She says it was bookbinding that proved to be the most challenging but also the most rewarding part of the internship.

“It was the biggest learning curve for me, but I was so satisfied with the end product that I wasn’t bothered that it took me a while to understand how to do it,” Boguslawski says. “I loved binding books. I learned a lot of different ways to do it, and it’s nice to walk away with something that I made and a skill that I will use in the future.”

Ultimately, both students found a groove with their work, leading to feelings of intense satisfaction along the way.

“Once you’ve completed something, there’s something very rewarding about that,” Overbeek says. “I think somewhere I end up working will have an appreciation for the handcraftedness of some of these projects we’ve done,” Boguslawski says. “The level of focus and getting your task done will definitely help me when working in the future.”

Internship in the books

With Western’s commitment to holistic, experience-driven education, opportunities like those Boguslawski and Overbeek had are becoming even more integral to the WMU student experience.

“Everyone can put skills they have on their resume, but when you have an internship and experience that you can talk about to back up what you’re saying, it definitely holds a lot more value,” Boguslawski says.

“Having this experience and the connections is something that I think is really going to help out with my area of interest and focus in graphic design,” Overbeek says. “You just can’t get the same experience just reading it out of a textbook.”

A sentiment that certainly holds true. Though for Boguslawski and Overbeek, they could probably make a textbook if they wanted to. ■