
MEMORANDUM
TO: EVERYONE
RE: THE PHRASE “DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER” AND ITS VARIATIONS
Effective immediately, the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” and its variations (hereinafter referred to as “the phrase”) are hereby retired.
These variations include, but are not limited to:
“Never judge a book by its cover.”
“Actually, we do judge books by their cover.”
“Designers want you to judge a book by its cover.”
“We are told to never judge a book by its cover, however we all do.”
The phrase, metaphorical in origin, is trite, boring, and increasingly employed toward a literal meaning—thereby rendering it no longer useful towards its original purpose in describing a person.
Furthermore, recent studies have shown the quality of critical writing about art, design, and publishing increase tenfold when the phrase is omitted. The science is clear.1
Henceforth, please refrain from usage of the phrase in all written communications.
Nathaniel Roy
Book Cover Designer
Jokes aside, have you ever found the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” insightful? I don’t mean to offend, but I think its usage is hackneyed and a little lazy. At this point, no one who is not a child needs to hear any variation of the phrase—whether it be for or against the practice of judging books by their covers.
How do you feel about the phrase?
Notebook
What I’m working on:
In honor of the matchup between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University this Saturday, I wrote something for you to read at halftime. It’s perfect for sports fans, former yearbook students, and archivist nerds alike. It’s called Sparty and the Wolverine: The Seventy-Six Years That Rivals Shared a Name.
Coming down the pike:
Another installment of “I Can Tell Your Book was Self-Published.” I’m calling it “I Can Tell Your Book was Self-Published 2: Electric Boogaloo” because I am very funny.
In addition to my regular newsletter, I’m working on building a new series of missives that get nitty gritty about the details behind several of my book cover designs. There will be GIFs!
What I’m reading:
For spooky season: The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson. So far the stories are more mildly unsettling than creepy, but I am enjoying them. I love short stories and am happy to finally read some Jackson.
Next up for my book club with my mom: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. It comes highly recommended by many, and has a stellar Goodreads rating, but one such comment on Goodreads made me laugh:
The prose is so purple that even Prince at the peak of his career would have stayed away from it.
As I write this newsletter, I am sitting on the couch with my wife and newborn watching Beverly Hills Cop. Parental leave is good.
As always, thanks for reading.
Until next time,
Nathaniel
Colophon
A Book Designer’s Notebook is a newsletter about books, design, and creative practice from the desk of Nathaniel Roy.
It uses the typefaces Merriweather, Futura, and whatever fonts Substack has chosen. Merriweather is a Google font designed to be a text face that is pleasant to read on screens. Futura is geometric sans-serif designed by Paul Renner in 1927. It is on the moon.
Nathaniel Roy is a book designer, collage maker, photo taker, self publisher, and a few other things in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
You can see his work and hire him here. If you want to support this newsletter, you can buy him a coffee here.
Roy, Nathaniel. (2024). “To Judge or Not to Judge: My Opinions on Book Covers.” Book Cover Weekly.
It's fine as a phrase. When I first heard it as a child I understood its meaning immediately without further clarification; and it's very sticky / memorable. So it's not so much about the metaphor but the mnemonic.
I feel the same about the phrase, "Sex Sells." It's lazy and trite. "...they can't do what we do and they hate us for it." ... and that tension; damn good writing...
https://youtu.be/gmQqpPwxfoA?feature=shared
Also, that "monkey crap" was the inspiration for the mixed metaphor that is the title of my first book of essays, "Monkey with a Loaded Typewriter"
And ... DUDE... the Oxford comma is dead.. dead, dead, dead 💀 😀