Hey there!

So, this one's going to be quick. Last time I said I'd tell you a bit about where the cover design came from. I also said it was a lot simpler than you think.

I think it all comes down to how much I like typography. If there is anything I'm powerless over, it's a great type. (OK, that & art materials. I guess it could be worse...;-))

There's something about seeing a new typeface for me. It gets me imagining all sorts of possibilities. What book would I write in this typeface? What new project would I start? Type is one of my favorite creative jumpstarts; there've been times in the past when I'm feeling a little bit stale that I just jump on my favorite type site (currently it's Myfonts.com) & I start to dream.

Which is what happened while I was working on the title for the book. I discovered a typeface called Eveleth. It's based on an old display letterpress typeface. Just the kind of thing you'd use for posters, or printing on the outside of shipping containers & boxes. Like I said, type makes me go all starry-eyed & I start to dream. (That's the fun of the beginning of any project. It's all possible. Before you actually have to do the work. Work has a way of stripping things down to the essentials. At least for me...)

Anyway, that's the first thing I did with Eveleth. It's a project designing stickers to freely distribute to anyone who wants them. This idea first came from a conversation I had a long time ago with my elder son, Gabe. We were sitting at a restaurant one night & he said Well, you know I invented Chinese. The language? I said. No, he said, the people. I invented the entire Chinese people. Also, he added, I invented the blues.

Even thinking about that now, I still laugh. This little blond haired boy who invented Chinese & the blues all in one fell swoop. It started me thinking though. Isn't that how it is for all of us? We come to the world all new & fresh & we have to make it all up for ourselves. When you read a book for the very first time, you invent it for yourself. When you hear a new idea, you have to play with it until it becomes your own. When you discover new music, your experience of it, for you, is entirely new. We're always inventing everything we encounter for ourselves. So, what if we started recognizing we're inventing everything all the time? It would go a long way to restoring the sense of play we have as children...

Anyway, once I saw how great the type was, I started messing with it for the new book.

Notice how the whole cover has a sort of handmade, old letterpress quality to it. Like it was done by hand by a real live human. Which it was. Which is why I like it. (& notice how the fire graphic made the leap to the cover. It was too much fun to pass up...)

So, there you have it. The Invention of Everything turning into Something Like Magic. I think that's appropriate...

Until next, with love,

Brian

P.S. Wait until you see one of the other things that's been happening with this book. I've been taking certain stories & expanding them into much longer pieces. I guess the easiest way to put it is that some of the new stories want to say more.

Next time we talk I'll pick one of these & show you how it grows into a whole new thing...until then, love, b