Comments on The Book Design Review: They're Not Booing, They're Saying Boook

Wow, the Murakami short was a real surprise. Espec...

2009-10-19T22:51:37.341-05:00

Wow, the Murakami short was a real surprise. Especially that one, of everything he's written. Seeing his work dressed that way makes me realize how much I appreciate the severity of the Kidd/Gall designs.

these are great. The idea is great. I think that w...

2009-10-19T10:40:56.911-05:00

these are great. The idea is great. I think that while they may not be the best design and typeface choice, they could really become a hip, pop kind of item. I'm all for anyway to get a good read in the hands of the vast reading and non-reading public.

These actually sound right up my alley. Quick read before my day gets sucked up with commitments.

Thanks for that Believer link. Looking forward to ...

2009-10-19T09:26:02.140-05:00

Thanks for that Believer link. Looking forward to reading that.

I like this idea for this reason: It's a great wa...

2009-10-19T08:41:41.502-05:00

I like this idea for this reason:

It's a great way to get literature and graphic art into the hands of people who are rapidly developing really short attention spans and who otherwise don't give a lick about art (both literary and visual) or reading that involves a commitment of mental energy and time.

However, I'm skeptical for this reason:

I'm assuming that in the vein of 18th- and 19th-century pamphleteers, the publishers would want these in the hands of the masses. But why would people pay for something that they most likely wouldn't read for free (online). Unless you drop ship them from hot-air balloons over small towns in middle America, I think this is a better idea than a real service to humanity.

There are many differences between us and the people of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, obviously. The main one in this case is that today information is available EVERYWHERE. (And for free.)

I'd love to see something like this take off, I LOVE the idea. But I'm wondering if these pamphlets will ever make it into the hands of people who would most benefit from them.

On a side note:

A great article on such a pamphleteer appeared in The Believer magazine in September 2008 by Rolf Potts entitled, "The Henry Ford of Literature."

Here's the link:

http://www.believermag.com/issues/200809/?read=article_potts

This opens the door to a whole different discussion. Would it be a better idea if whomever was publishing these pamphlets wasn't doing so from a metropolis (L.A.), but from a smaller city where there are higher concentrations of less world-saavy people.

I had no idea about all the Comic Sans controversy...

2009-10-19T08:10:15.077-05:00

I had no idea about all the Comic Sans controversy. I love that it made a column in the WSJ.

These buks are all new to me. Thanks for doing a feature on them.

That's a droll line from Vincent Connare. It is, ...

2009-10-19T07:59:13.535-05:00

That's a droll line from Vincent Connare. It is, however, perfectly wrong: it is quite possible to know a lot about typography (and understand and appreciate the reasons for Comic Sans's design) and still hate it's continued thoughtless use. I mean, it's bad enough to use speech balloons, but then to fill them with Comic Sans? Because of the name? It would have been best to hire a lettering artist, but if you are going to use an off-the-rack typeface how about one that looks like it might have been used in a speech balloon?