In this two-day hands-on workshop, you’ll arrive with a laptop, some prints and digital files—and leave with a fully designed, printed, and hand-bound 60-page artist book. The finished book will be approximately A5 in size and coptic bound with a simple hard cover.

Day one begins with a discussion on what makes an art book, followed by layout, design, editing, and sequencing exercises. After lunch, you’ll dive into InDesign or Xara to create a draft layout of your book.

On day two, you’ll receive feedback, refine your draft, and print your book in-studio. After lunch, we’ll bind the pages using a 5-section coptic stitch, then trim and document your finished book.

This workshop is open to anyone with 30–60 pieces of ready artwork (illustration, photography, poetry, writing, etc). No design or bookmaking experience is needed.

You’ll need:

• A laptop with InDesign or Xara installed
• Digital files of your work
• Basic comfort using your laptop (no spares available)

We welcome artists from all backgrounds—this is a practical, beginner-friendly workshop focused on turning your art into a beautiful physical book.

Matt Dunne runs Tall Poppy Press. Before that he made his own books by hand and has been exploring book binding and book making since 2016. He loves teaching and every workshop is friendly, supportive, full of laughs and joy. We want every single participant to leave feeling happy and excited!

Taught out of our Brunswick studio, this is a 6 hour workshop (including a 1h lunch break) that runs from 10am-3pm.

In this workshop you'll learn to make three types of books that are a bit playful and unusual.

We'll start with a 'book tag' concertina - making a soft cover and then embedding a folded book inside.

Before lunch we'll then make a french fold stab bound book, which has a very unique feeling.

After lunch we'll make a single section hard cover book. This will involve making a cover first, then sewing blank pages into the spine. The workshop is designed for anyone and everyone - if you've never made a book or sewn before you will be welcomed and helped. We limit places to 8 people so that you can get lots of one-on-one attention.

Each participant will leave with three blank books they have made themselves.

Taught out of our Brunswick studio, this is a 5 hour workshop (including a 1h lunch break) that runs from 10am-3pm.

In this workshop you'll learn three binding techiques: pamphlet stictch, concertina and single section hardcover binding. With these you'll be able to create a range of book types - from sketchbooks to books that are handmade art objects.

Matt Dunne runs Tall Poppy Press. Before that he made his own books by hand and has been exploring book binding and book making since 2016. He loves teaching and every workshop is friendly, supportive, full of laughs and joy. We want every single participant to leave feeling happy and excited!

This is a two part workshop that will help participants learn about the publishing industry.

The first part is taught online and will focus on industry and practice. From approaching puiblishers, pitching work, using a book to further your goals as a creative, seeing your book succeed and understanding how to avoid common pitfalls, we look behind the curtain at the 'how' of publishing and self-publishing.

Come to learn what you should know before making a book, how to appropriate budget, and learn from existing projects that have succeeded, and a few that haven't.

The second part is a 1-on-1 session where each participant will have a mentoring session with Matt Dunne. In this session, Matt will review your current work and provide some advice about where to next, the aim of this is to provided tailored, specific advice, allow you to ask in-depth questions and help you leave with a clear plan for what's next.

Part 1: September 16, 6-10pm AEST

Part 2: At a time of your choosing

Open to all visual artists - all you'll need is existing work to show in the one-on-one.

Matt Dunne runs Tall Poppy Press. Before that he made his own books by hand and has been exploring book binding and book making since 2016. HIs publishing output has been featured in the Guardian, the Washington Post, Stern Crime and Yoghurt Magazine. He has had solo exhibitions and has had books sold around the world.

More importantly, he loves teaching and every workshop is friendly, supportive, full of laughs and joy. We want every single participant to leave feeling happy and excited!

This two-day workshop will give you the skills to turn your art into a book—whether through self-publishing, handmade editions, or approaching a publisher. You’ll explore the full process of bookmaking and publishing, guided by your own goals and intentions.

We’ll go beyond surface-level advice and dive into the practical realities: what makes a great book, how editing and sequencing works, the costs involved, common mistakes, and how distribution actually functions.

This workshop is for artists and makers from any background who want to publish their work. You don’t need to have finished work—just something in progress and a desire for clear, honest guidance.

What we’ll cover:

• Intro to bookmaking and publishing
• Editing and sequencing (with feedback on your own work)
• Design basics for non-designers
• Navigating artist/publisher/printer relationships
• Real-world first books: what worked and what didn’t
• Costs, pricing, and how books make money
• Publishing as a platform: what happens after the book is out

This workshop is packed with useful advice, resources, and opportunities to ask questions. We’re really proud of it and think it offers excellent value.