Book Cover Art Odyssey Part Two: Between Scylla and Peterka
Part One of this Odyssey covered the actual "art" part of my book cover design, completed by the talented Kpolly. You'll remember that we left him roaring in frustration because he had done all that nice work for Nobody, since the font wasn't quite working out.
Kristopher didn’t feel comfortable downloading a bunch of fonts (and thus charging me more) simply to experiment with new styles that may or may not work. Such work was not in his job description, nor was it part of our agreement. That left me between a rock and a hard water whirlpool. So I decided to impose on the good nature of another friend/graphic designer. Brian Peterka collects fonts like a Philly sewer collects scum, and he kindly offered to mess around to see if he could come up with anything.
And indeed he did. Here’s a few versions. Each one has a little something different going on, while keeping the same general style.
He stated his preference right up front, and since Brian knows who Chip Kidd is, I found myself liable to agree. The simple font that was his favorite wasn't an obvious choice. My first thought had been that any font used should be––if not flowery––at least somewhat fey. I am trying to sell a bunch of fairy tales here.
However, Brian pointed out that the plain type doesn't fight against the art, which is true. The type would also render well at almost any scale, which was a major consideration.
So I listened to the expert, and the font was finalized.
Pretty! See?
But the story does not end there…Stay tuned for Post 3, which gets back to the other cover and the last details.
NB: Look, it's not necessary that your book designer peeps know who Chip Kidd is. But it is kinda like running into a Catholic priest who says "St. Augustine? Doesn't ring a bell. What's he written?"