Safe System Critique — Book Cover Design

Experienced traffic engineer Rob Morgan has written a scathing critique of the current road safety paradigm, the so-called "Safe System". He sums up his argument with the following excoriation: "the Safe System’s demand to abolish the old order of evidence-based road safety and speed management has been a clarion call to action and — unless we put a stop to it — its continuation will put us on an inexorable path to the creation of an unchecked state.

The cover incorporates surveillance, Victorian roads, an image of Stalin and is set in Proxima Nova.

Is Google's Material Design boring?

When a massive company like Google attempts to standardise the look and function of its many user interfaces (UI) with a single design 'language', it is naturally big news in the design world. Many welcomed the move away from drop shadows, fake wood grain and bevels etc, but others argue that the new look lacks personality, fails to advance the Google brand and is too uniform.

Steps to Publishing Your Book

The diagram below provides a breakdown of the steps involved in creating, designing, producing and publishing a book independently. There are quite a few steps involved, but with our assistance and those of other professionals, the process is not quite as painful as it might appear...

Killing Babies — Book Cover Design

Born and bred in the bush, nineteen-year-old Daryl Bishop's number came up in the tenth National Service Ballot in 1969, and he shipped out to Vietnam in 1971. Killing Babies is his unvarnished account of his training and war experiences. Fortunately, no babies were harmed in the making of his book, but the stigma and after-effects of serving in that unpopular war is honestly related. Published by Sid Harta, and written in an authentic, engaging and very Australian voice. Our cover features Darryl's own necklace of cartridges, jungle foliage and a helicopter used by both US and Australian forces. The title typeface is Eveleth.

“Once again thank you so much for all the help you gave me in getting my first book over the line to be published. BTW the young journo who interviewed me for the local paper was very impressed by your cover design. Am getting help from most unlikely places. A woman rang from North Qld to do a podcast with me on Bindi’s and Bulldust and today a woman from Canberra is spreading the word on some site to do with finding a good book to read, she liked it that much.”

— Darryl Bishop, author of "Killing Babies"

Two Fine Free Font Offerings

When IBM commissioned a typeface family for their own internal use, they also released it for general use. Clean and practical, Plex also has some style and warmth. With sans, serif and monospaced subfamilies and many weights, one might wish that many businesses relying on dull typefaces such as Arial and Times New Roman might make the switch and use something much better for free.

“With four subfamilies, eight weights, two styles (roman & italic), and 100 Languages, IBM Plex™ can do just about anything you need it to. Just download, add to your font manager, activate and enjoy.”

Another free offering, Overpass is not quite a grand as Plex, but with eight weights and true italics, it is a fine and generous offering. Very smart and highly readable, and more space efficient than Plex.

Author Testimonials #5

“I would strongly recommend you to anyone requiring this kind of service. I absolutely love it. Thank you so much. You are a genius.”

— Janet Doyle, author of "When Guido Fell"

Client Testimonials #4

““Your cover is receiving accolades galore...you must take several bows and be delighted with the response to what I felt was an amazing depiction of the book.  In this instance you CAN tell a book by its cover!!””

— Tish Lees, Author of "Lonely for My Land"

Client Testimonials #3

““The final viscomm textbook looks really really nice. The manager here even said it’s one of the best looking books we’ve done, and that is in no small part due to your cover and text design, so thanks again for your impressive work and help on that.””

— Mark Cleary, Editor, Cambridge University Press

Superb Blurbs for All

Most independent authors dread writing blurbs, and devote as little time to it as possible. Yet they are a critical tool for attracting potential readers. Seasoned author and promotional expert Joanna Penn enumerates several solid points to consider when engaged in the dreaded work of blurb construction. While many of the points (introduce key characters, describe the setting, a hint of mystery, etc.) might seem obvious, many authors opt instead for a leaden synopsis that gives away every important plot point.

Free and Nearly Free Fonts

Hundreds of websites cater to the Internet's limitless appetite for free typefaces. Only a few restrict themselves to high quality fonts. Font Squirrel is one such, and Lost Type allows users to pay what they want for their font of choice. Some of the Font Squirrel offerings have multiple weights, and a few are issued by commercial type designers, such as Plex, a huge font family commissioned by IBM.

Client Testimonials #2

“Working Type did a fantastic design job for my cookbook, “Enjoying Food Again”. Luke had good ideas particularly for the section pages and typography but he was also happy to listen to what I wanted the book to look like. He was easy to work with and it all came together fairly quickly in spite of its size. I would be happy to use him again.   ”

— Rhonda Allen

Client Testimonials #1

“Just wanted to thank you for all your brilliant work on “When Moons Collide” — apart from the wonderful typesetting, so many people have expressed amazement re the cover; one of them said she could just stare at it in eternal wonder! [My sentiments exactly!]”

— James Martin, author of ‘When Moons Collide’

Bookmarks — A Promotional Tool for Authors

Kathryn Gauci writes nuanced and emotionally affecting historical tales, often set in Greece or Turkey. When giving talks or promoting her books in other venues, she hands out bookmarks to potential purchasers. Inexpensive to print, the bookmarks are a useful reminder of her work, and might be viewed later by other readers.

Greek Courage

In the early 19th Century Greek patriots began the long and bloody process of re-establishing their independence after centuries under the Ottoman yoke. Yvonne Payne's story Rodanthe's Gift dramatises aspects of the rebellion that took place in Crete. We combined images of a mountainous Cretan landscape, gold Napoleons and a contemporary artwork. The title type is Yana. More information here.

A War of Hearts

Samantha Grosser writes psychologically compelling and sensitive stories of men and women, bringing the eras in which they lived to vivid life. Another Time and Place is set in World War Two and depicts two lovers separated by war, with no news of each other. Our cover design focused on the female protagonist, with a night-time colour palette and a transition from an interior setting to a broader landscape.

Tales of Mice and Men — Book Cover Design

Les Pobijie writes of a vanishing world — a small Australian town with an actual functioning newspaper. The tone of his novel is broad farce, with many mishaps and misunderstandings in store for the callow young journalist at the centre of the story. We combined a masked gunman, explosion, an authentic NSW pub and the intrepid hero. The typeface for the title and author name is Thunderhouse.

By the Book — Cover Design

Often described as the only masterpiece ever produced by a committee, the King James edition of the Bible remained influential for several centuries. Samantha Grosser explores the world of the people who created the King James Bible, their aspirations, allegiances and betrayals. We used the frontespiece of the 1611 edition of the bible, along with contemporary portraits and a muted colour palette.

When First We Practice to Deceive — Cover Design

Deceit is a political thriller set in Australia. It depicts a parliament dominated by a deeply shady prime minister and surrounded by ambitious and ruthless supplicants. We wanted the cover to convey an air of foreboding and menace, and also of critical decisions to be made.

Using Images in Blog Posts

At Blogging.com, an interesting deep dive into using images in websites and blog posts, with a focus on the ethical use of creative commons images. The post goes into considerable detail on attribution, modification and sources for free or low cost images. As the page notes, including images in a blog post dramatically improves audience reach.

Making Old ISBNs New Again

If you bought a batch of ISBNs some years ago, and didn't allocate all of them, you may have noticed they are somewhat shorter than the current 13 digit ISBN formulation. Fortunately, new life can be breathed into your old truncated numbers. They can then go on to parent handsome barcodes to assist in the tracking of your magnum opus across the web and bookstores worldwide...