RoR: Forum

I placed this sketch into the public folder of my Yahoo! Photos so I hope everyone can see it from here. It seemed to disappear and reappear but I think I have it right now.

Post 1

Wednesday, September 13, 2006 - 11:37am

1. Your link gave me a file-not-found error.

2. Are you too late to change the title? "...-driven" is the clich� of 2006, and it will look terribly dated by Valentine's day. The subject-matter looks interesting, and I'd hate to see such a fate for your book.

Peter

Post 2

Wednesday, September 13, 2006 - 2:50pm

Try this. Can you see it?

Can you give me a better book title? Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VisionDrivenLife/ and ponder it.

Post 3

Wednesday, September 13, 2006 - 7:06pm

Luke, do you like this design idea? What do you like about it? What do you want the image to convey?

This is what I don't like about it:

It reminds me of the old Soviet appeals to the proletariat. That's the first thing that lept into my mind when I saw it. I understand that the figures are carving themselves out of the stone formation, and I like that concept, but something is really bothering me about this rendition. Maybe it's the hammers in the air. Maybe it's the way they're looking down instead of up. Maybe I'm getting the message that the human experience is something to break out of. I'm not sure.

My old friend, Dave Oyerly, used to say that Objectivism is all about understanding that "the world is your oyster." There's a special joy in that kind of outlook. I'm not seeing any joy in the cover.

Post 4

Wednesday, September 13, 2006 - 10:37pm

Luke,

I like the title and the art concept. The only way to get a better title would be to excerpt the best terse phrase in your book. The art idea is good, but it needs much better execution. I would also not have two individuals on the cover. If they are both on the front then the forms will be too crowded. If one's on the front and one on the back it seems like tokenism to include the second sex.

You might also consider using a child instead of an adult, if that doesn't clash too much with your content. A baby can be sex neutral, and more unexpected and so attention-grabbing. The execution of a child would be much more difficult though.

Another concept might be the view of a man in the foreground, off center and facing away into a landscape with a beautiful city on the horizon.

I would omit the hyphen from the title as well, especially on the cover. While technically grammatically correct, it interrupts the flow as if the vision were an alternative of driven life thus:

"The Vision ~ Driven Life"

As for the title being a cliché, that will only matter if the text doesn't live up to it.
It is a long tradition to re-use a title, but with a twist, for rhetorical purposes.
Ever heard of The Romantic Manifesto?

Teresa,

I have long said, using "want" in the sense of lack:

The world is my oyster,
I shall not want.

Perhaps a rewrite of the psalm would be good for the back cover? I don't know the rest of the psalm, so I don't know how easy it would be to adapt. And your Soviet caveat is apropos, but I think it is more a matter of execution again.

Ted

Post 5

Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 5:38am

Teresa asked:

Luke, do you like this design idea? What do you like about it? What do you want the image to convey?

Let me repeat what I said in the main article:

Inspired by the classic sculpture Man Carving His Own Destiny, this work shows that both man and woman can carve their own unique lives on Earth in a sunlit, benevolent universe. The art piece symbolizes key concepts of rationality, productiveness and pride as well as psychological visibility as the subjects view the inner and outer work of each other along with their own work.

Ted noted:

You might also consider using a child instead of an adult, if that doesn't clash too much with your content. A baby can be sex neutral, and more unexpected and so attention-grabbing. The execution of a child would be much more difficult though.

Intriguing!

I want the cover to convey the thrust of the book in art form, namely, the idea of the individual shaping himself and his world into the image of his own chosen values. This diametrically opposes the thrust of Christian collectivist Rick Warren's book The Purpose-Driven Life which argues that the Christian individual needs to mold himself into God's image and become a mere organ in the body of the church. Since I am not an artist, and since my flow charts will numb the mind of the average reader, I need some help with designing a good, artistic cover to capture the sense of life of the book.

Post 6

Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 6:16am

You might also consider using a child instead of an adult, if that doesn't clash too much with your content. A baby can be sex neutral, and more unexpected and so attention-grabbing. The execution of a child would be much more difficult though.

Ooo, I like that! Liking this idea better:

Another concept might be the view of a man in the foreground, off center and facing away into a landscape with a beautiful city on the horizon.

Or one figure, stepping out of the rocks toward that (not too?) distant city? I really like that idea too, Ted.

The world is my oyster,
I shall not want.

Perhaps a rewrite of the psalm would be good for the back cover? I don't know the rest of the psalm, so I don't know how easy it would be to adapt.

Love it. What a great idea. Psalm 23 has loads of potential.

Post 7

Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 6:15am

(Edited by Doris J Walton on 9/14, 2:15pm)

(Edited by Doris J Walton on 9/14, 2:21pm)

Post 8

Friday, September 15, 2006 - 6:10am

Doris wrote me privately explaining her difficulties with posting here and asking me to walk her through the process. So I will ty to explain it and others can feel free to correct me.

1. Click the "Reply" link on any of the posts in this thread.
2. A new window should open with a text box for typing.
3. Write your message.
4. Click the gray "Post/Preview" button.
5. Preview the message at the top of the page.
6. Edit further in the edit box at the bottom of the page as needed, clicking "Post/Preview" each time you edit the message.
7. Verify the message looks the way you want it to look at the top of the page.
8. Click the gray "Post" message in the middle left of the page.

I use Internet Explorer so if you use a different browser you may have issues I do not have.

Post 9

Friday, September 15, 2006 - 7:05am