You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover

Um yeah, you can't but I do. How else can a girl choose a book at the library when she's once again forgotten the list of 'books I should read because they're supposed to be good/ classics/ will make me seem smarter'.

But this makes me a bit sad for my humble brown journal, the cover is far from exciting. But then for the most part neither is the content. I only showed the pages I wanted to so nobody gets to see the boring and embarrassing lists.

So here is the cover again and then my brilliant first year design school break down of it all.

Key Visual Elements

The Cover And I

• It was a gift so I didn't want to waste it and 'saved' it for a special occasion i.e leaving the home country and travelling.
• As it's from China I always assumed the grey text on the front was Chinese text, actually looking at it I think it may just be a stylised motif.
• I consciously made an effort not to write/ doodle on the front cover but, I had important numbers that I needed to remember and find easily so wrote them down on the cover.
• I often worry that the cover has been sullied by my ugly, scrawled numbers but I refuse to let myself adorn the cover in any other way.
• There is a bit of an irony in that I've chosen to show the nice pages of my book but the front cover better represents the majority of the pages inside, that is scrawled notes and numbers, personal references which have been made with little or no aesthetic considerations.

Which Leads Me On To 'Things For Further Consideration'

Engrish vs. bad Asian text tattoos on non-Asian people... 

Notebook covers I really like

 Umm, hello, these are pretty much what I would draw on the cover if I allowed myself to draw anything. Found via.

 

Beautiful drawings and the colours work with what I've got, might have to learn to draw people. Found via.

 

What sweet row houses, pretty colours and kind of makes a frame for an awesome title. Found via.

Oh, pretty colours, nice shapes that make a pretty pattern, sweet and simple. Found via.

And last but not least, great colour, illustrative style AND right on theme. Found via.