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THE CARE AND FEEDING OF YOUR ARTIST. A
street artist pretties up London’s South Bank, near all of the fun
stuff: Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye – which looks
like a giant Ferris wheel and gets destroyed in superhero movies. I’ve
discovered not only how to keep artists happy, but how to help them do
their best work as well. Leave them the heck alone. Photo by Oatsy40 / flickr.
A FEW MONTHS AGO I submitted an illustrated book that the publisher
intended to print in black and white.
I
was actually bummed out by that idea because my strength is in color,
illustrated books. And black and white feels so 1950s.
On
the other hand, I know that with great images and artsy designers it’s
possible to produce an attractive illustrated book in black and white.
And
yellow.
And
blue.
Those
are the colors it takes to produce a book in living color.
The
editorial team decided to scrap the idea of a black and white book.
They took the plunge into full color.
Last
week the editor emailed me. I haven’t worked with him on any
illustrated books yet. This is our first one together. So I guess he
wanted to check in with me before they got too far into the process of
bringing the book to 3-D.
This
is a complex job. Only the good Lord knows how many pictures I
submitted; I haven’t bothered to count them. And this books has more
maps than any other book I have ever written.
The
editor said the designers had some questions about how I wanted to
approach the book. So he asked me if I had any particular design effect
in mind.
I
understand that the response I sent made the designers happy. So I
thought you might be interested in reading what I said.
At
this point, especially with the book going full color, if you’ve got
designers who know the heck what they’re doing, turn the dawgs loose.
Let them design. Give design the primacy. I’ll cut copy to fit or
enhance the design. I’ll write copy to fill in as needed. I’ll find
other images as needed.
Let
them figure out how to create a book that will win design awards, and
I’ll work with them to make the editorial elements fit their needs.
So
I’m not thinking about giving them a long leash. I’m thinking we take
them off the leash and tell them to attack.
I
saw the first designed pages on Wednesday.
Bow-WOW.
Good
dawgs.
Note
to self: Tag the email you sent that editor. Keep it for future use.
If
there’s one thing creative people appreciate more than encouragement,
it’s freedom.
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