The stream of Pac-man merchandise and Pac-man inspired goodies, both official and unofficial, seems to flow as abundant and never-ending as blood after a well-placed punch to the nose. Sweatshirts, plush toys, cookies, even lingerie … It would seem it’s all been done before. Nevertheless, in the hands of flickr user askida the classic pizza-faced character makes another appearance, perhaps one of its cutest yet.
Askida lives in Istanbul, Turkey and she specializes in making wood cover notebooks which she has up for sale on popular website Etsy. Pac-man notebooks have certainly been produced in the past but none like this. Patient, careful handiwork is Askida’s game and that clearly shows here. Her Pac-man notebook looks refreshing, neat and geeky-chic.
Mr Pac-man can be seen at the bottom of the spine, poised to eat his way through a row of pac-dots (white beads) and a power pellet (red bead). The ghosts Inky, Clyde and Pinky are congregated on the front cover while Blinky lurks devilishly on the back. All the characters are made of felt and, along with the beads, they were stitched onto the notebook with fishing line for added sturdiness.
The covers were made with balsa wood, quite popular among handicrafters due to its light but resistant quality. It makes the notebook easy to carry around but not prone to bending or cracking at any whim. The bookbinding method employed is known as “secret belgian binding”.
Secret belgian binding works something like this: You bore holes on one of the borders of each of the two wood panels that will serve as covers. Similarly, holes are made on a margin of the block of sheets that will go between these panels. A third piece of wood will act as the spine. You then proceed to sew the covers together by passing a thread through the holes on them, over and under the spine. At the same time the thread goes under the spine, it passes through the holes in the block of sheets, thus the whole set is firmly bound together creating a visible, artsy-looking pattern, unlike traditional book sewing where the thread isn’t exposed.
For the Pac-man notebook, askida used thick blue thread. Two pieces of the same kind of thread were fashioned into laces you can tie into a knot to close the notebook tightly shut. The sheets inside are both lined and non-lined so you can draw or write on them.
Walyou has more in store for you if you can’t get enough Pac-Man. Check out Celebrate 30 Years of Pac-Man With Moleskine, Pac-Man Cookie Cutter Spices Up Any Holiday and Hang Out With The Pac-Man Mobile.
Via: Flickr
