Monday, July 18, 2011
Handmade Covers
When a book I want to read has a cover I dislike I wind up disliking the book, not wanting to read it. Does this make me superficial? Am I fussy? Reading is a sensual experience, which means it's visual too. What are eyes for? When I hate a cover I redo it. I cover it up and do a cover design of my own. The manila envelope is a bit primitive, but I like the feel of the paper, and the color reminds me of all the SASE's that went out and came back with short stories I'd written. I've used some of these. I don't get elaborate. Usually it's simple penmanship––or pencilmanship. This cover obscures an ugly cheap paperback edition from the 1980s. I decided Nancy Mitford deserved better.
Labels:
book cover,
calligraphy,
letterforms,
lettering,
longhand,
manila paper,
pencil,
penmanship
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi Eric
ReplyDeleteNo I don't think disliking an ugly cover makes you superficial! I love the new one you made for Ms. Mitford. Thanks for sharing.