RE: Judging a Book by its Cover

And a Notebook

This image uses True Grit Supply’s Nasty Copy Texture Kit and Studio AAA’s Text Dissolver Displacement Map Tool.

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?

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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.

I Can Tell Your Book Was Self-Published

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

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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.

1. Roy, Nathaniel. (2024). “To Judge or Not to Judge: My Opinions on Book Covers.” Book Cover Weekly.