Thank you everyone who posted on the cover design, particularly those who expressed some concern for the copyright on the image. The image is taken from Wikipedia Commons, and can be found here.
As a photographic representation of the Michelangelo's Cumaean Sybil, a work of art for which the copyright has expired, the photograph is also in the public domain. It's use on the cover is therefore not illegal.
As to whether it is aesthetically pleasing or not, that is up for argument. When I designed the cover for Ariadne, I decided to use an image of the clay-brick Avenue on Camp Street because it was related to the one of the stories in the book, "Killing the Kitten".
Why I used a portrait of the Sybil of Cumae is because Cumae and the Cumaean Sybil serve as the underlying allegorical and metaphorical bases for one of the central stories in Fictions, the one this blog is named for, and by extension the entire collection itself.
A friend and I had a discussion recently concerning. While I am a rabid proponent for the need for a provincial aesthetic in Caribbean, I subscribe to a great degree to Bacon's assertion that "All novelty is but oblivion." My homage to the Greek structural and thematic antecedents to my work is ever present - my last book was named Ariadne & Other Stories.
Why I chose that particular painting is that I did not like the other two available on Wikimedia Commons. Castagno's Sybil is representative of the Sybil of Cumae in her youth, while Raphael's painting is much too crowded - the Sybil represented in my short story, 'Cumae", is not quite, but close to, the Sybil of Petronius, referenced in Eliot's "The Waste Land", the old washed up prophetess whose pitiful existence way past her prime has been caused by her vanity. Michelangelo's Sybil is closer to the Sybil I wanted to represent: aged, grotesque, yet still very powerful.
Stolid Charisma, I take your point about the size and font of the title but perhaps you should allow for actual scale when it comes to your assertion that the "Fictions" is too small. Regarding the font, what I was aiming for was a contrast with the fairly elegant "Palatino Linotype" which is the primary font for the stories. What I am going to do is experiment a bit and see if anything else works.
About Me
- Ruel Johnson
- Freelance journalist, editorial consultant and writer living and working in Georgetown, Guyana.
2 comments:
I never suggested a change of font. But just incase you had it in mind I thought I would give you a good source to check.
Even after considering the scale I still think "FICTIONS" is too small. Its 'very' important the title of the book is the first thing the eyes notice. These little things score major points in first impression presentation. I'm taking a step or two back and the picture is still the first thing coming to my attention.
The cover should also give an obvious depiction of what to expect after you turn the cover. The picture seems to be very significant to the content of the book as you have mentioned, but not many people will pick that up.
Keep the picture.. but you going to need to find a way to give people a 'punch in the face' so they get it right away. (a quote or something?)
But hey.. don't judge a book by the cover. I'll see if I can get a friend to put his touch on it.
Hey, Charisma...
Looked it over and I get what you're saying...I am going to leave the font but expand the title. Might possibly make the author title smaller relative to the increase of the book title.
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