This week I’m digging into font choices, paper sizes, and strange things like baseline grids for our Expand Heaven Here Journal. Here’s what’s inspiring me right now:
Left: Cool Journal with an Envelope on the Inside Cover; Right: Transparent Paper
During the Theme Extravaganza we took a little field trip to the incredible Anthropologie store and saw an awesome travel journal. It’s a journal inside another cover—and that second cover holds a string-tie envelope that is perfect all those little things you collect on a journey—ticket stubs, leaves, etc. Dunno if we can afford anything like that but we love the concept.
We also came across a book that used transparent paper (acetate, I think) to create beautiful layers of text and image. This seemed to really speak to the almost-visible qualities of the Kingdom of Heaven. I don’t know if we’ll be able to afford transparent sheets in our journal, but it was certainly inspiring.
Moleskine: Sweet Analog in a Digital World
I’m a fan of little notebooks. Even though I’m super-digital and never more than 15 feet (3 meters) from an Internet connection, I love having pencil and paper. I usually have a little Moleskine notebook in my bag, or on my desk, or near the phone. (Although I’m aware of these guys and have a jones to pick some up soon). The Expand Heaven Here journal will be smaller than usual, and maybe taller and thinner than past editions—perhaps close to the dimensions of the image above. I also hope to create lots of blank space for journalers to use as they wish.
Left: Distressed to Represent the Kingdom is coming; Right: Clean and Flowing to Represent the Kingdom is HereI’m not sure what sort of type we’ll use for the basic text of the journal. (I’m leaning towards Baskerville, but it may seem too ornate to me—maybe we’ll go with the brilliantly basic Helvetica). But for display faces (headlines, covers, tees, and who knows what else), I’m really drawn to the idea of contrast. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the idea that Heaven is here now, that it’s near, and drawing nearer and that it’s also not yet here, and sometimes feels quite far off. There’s a paradox in that the Kingdom of Heaven is both here now and coming soon. I think illustrating this paradox with earthy, distressed, thick slab serif type with the almost ethereal, lyrical, flowing lines of a calligraphic font would be sooo tasty.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, so please share in the comments!