Sketches: What If They Lived?

You know, I did the series of thumbnail sketches for this book so long ago (this scan is from late May), that I have only a dim memory of my thought process at that time. But I think the idea of a book title as a question is tremendously appealing, in that it lends itself to the (obvious) element of the question mark. (And there are some very attractive question marks, typographically speaking.) So I did several variations on that approach, along with some slightly more conservative stuff, you know, just in case.

I'll bet I suggested my favorite was the one in the top right corner, because that was what we went with.

When the time came to put together a more formal version of the cover (this time, in late September), I really had only the title to work with, so I put in placeholder text ("Blah blah blah blah") for the rest of the elements. The large question mark was set in Clarendon, at a slight angle to fit the space better. I tried a version with all of the type set in Clarendon, but decided on Bodoni, instead, because I wanted to use the variety of different weights.


I really like that white version of the cover (on the left) — I like white covers, because they seem to be more rare — but I felt that the question mark held together better with the period when the top was white, to match the predominant color of the photo. I mean, yeah, I suppose it works just as well with the black of the photo defining the round edge of the period (and if I keep looking at it, I'll probably change my mind!), but I chose to go with the black version.

Here's the finished cover, which I put together just this morning. I resisted adding lots of color for it's own sake, because I think this design works best in very simple black-and-white — but I also didn't want the cover to look as though it were unfinished. I've introduced a small amount of blue (I tried a few other colors, including red, though that somehow seemed too gory for the subject matter), but I've kept the title in white, because it's important that it be linked with the question mark. And because I like it like that.