Sometimes I get a book cover project in that does not have an established direction for style. It is challenging to find a voice for letterforms when you don't really know who is speaking or what the emotional tone of voice should be. In the case of this title I was directed to do something that was "better than the existing 'hand lettered' font," but only after several iterations did I learn the backstory: that the book was a mystery with a murder or two.
Because the cover image features a woman's face in pensive reflection I tried some versions that emphasized the feminine hand, with loops and a light touch. As the project evolved the work got looser and looser. I traded my usual pens for ones that are almost impossible to control and it became very fun. This is a small portion of the studies submitted as the style brief changed over the course of a month.
The added challenge here was the actual letterforms. I would give a lot to never have a floating "I" in a short stacked title. I is a disastrously unappealing letter: in print a stick with two horizontal shoes, and in cursive quickly prone to confusion with J or T. It is also not a great idea to have two words the same length with similar letters ("Life" and "Left." ) When a title feels like a struggle sometimes the actual copy is to blame. That's when you just have to forget you are writing a "word" and focus on making "marks."
The final title was a collaboration with the art director, David Rotstein, who did some mixing and matching of elements in the last script above. With writing this loose and artless the final choice can be very subjective. Does the style of writing tell a story? Does it make you wonder and want to know more? Does it fit the genre without being boring? Can you read it from across a football field? And does it look "real?"
See more book cover typography and hand lettering at my blog, Alphabet Roadtrip.
