Thinking about blue

While working on my book-dummy for Instant Nomad, I found myself thinking about the color blue, perhaps in part because I am in a bit of blue mood.

Initially I was considering a middle gray for the endpapers to hold the hard covers on and I now find myself rethinking this design element. So I have the colored paper sampler in front of me and all of the various blue colors fanned out into a spiral pattern. Eliminating the two greenish-blues, one looking of which is more like a teal color, was the easy part. Next was eliminating a really grayed-down blue, a really dark deep blue and what I would call a baby-blue, that my mom would have really liked. That process has the potential blues whittled down to three. Nice.

For my book designer and book bindery, I need to figure out which PMS (Panatone Matching System) these blues might represent. I had been considering a blue thread for the Smyth sewing of the the book, but other than conceptualize that this would be ‘blue’, I had not really taken the next step to identify which blue is THE blue I want to use. Now that I am thinking about a special edition of the book, I want to house this in a special slip-case and likewise I want a blue linen covering. To tie all of these elements together, I need to select a blue.

Perhaps a blue that creates an underlying tension for me versus a ‘nice’ looking blue, which would have been my initial choice. And there is one blues that does create a bit more tension for me…because I am not a big fan of this color. That same color might not create the same effect for others who are interested in this book, but then this is autobiographical, so since this is about my anxiety, then it’s my choice.

Btw, in one of my last posts about a tighter edit for this book-dummy, that edit is now completed. I now have a book-dummy for a 96 page book and I will have to admit, it reads pretty darn good. After checking with the printer, it seems that if I make the book’s trim size just a bit smaller, I can probably reduce my printing costs by 25%. That change in size would make this book really feasible to print locally in the U.S. (not China) and still have it at a cost/price that I can sell this book through book stores. Cool!

Cheers

Doug

____

Featured image above: Instant Nomad #2510 (NoWhere Man) copyright Douglas Stockdale