My First Book Cover
About a month ago my friend Phil Long asked me to design the cover for his upcoming book, Spirit is Deeper than Flesh. Phil is a fantastic author, and I knew from reading his first book, One Trick Pony, that this new book was going to challenge and inspire people and be used by God to impact their lives. For the past few years I’ve been extremely consistent in turning down requests to do side projects, even when close friends or relatives ask, because my time with my wife and kids is just too valuable to sacrifice. But after thinking about it for a couple of days and talking it over with Lisa, I decided to make an exception in this case. It was a short-term commitment, a chance to try something new, and an exciting opportunity to contribute to something that I felt God was going to use to touch the hearts of people in a powerful way.
So I said yes. And got busy reading Phil’s manuscript, thinking up ideas, and making sketches. I’ve always envied designers who seem to effortlessly hit home runs with every swing, because I’m not able to work like that at all. My design process basically involves piling up a mountain of bad drafts, repeatedly sifting through them to find the bits with merit, and then slowly distilling those into candidates with potential. In this case it involved downloading 99 stock photos, assembling 29 concepts, and then circulating 17 different candidates for review. Fortunately, out of all that we eventually got something worth running with:
If you want to see the full cover (including the spine and back) along with some of the candidates that got left on the cutting room floor, you can check out this gallery.
Phil has made the unique (and I think very cool) decision to make the entire text of the book available to read for free at his Spirit is Deeper than Flesh website. Really. Go read as much as you want. Of course, if you decide that you want to own a hard copy anyway, you can buy it at Amazon. I’ve also heard a rumor that visitors who come to the Easter service this Sunday at Glenwood Community Church might get a free copy on their way out…
And to round out my shameless plugs… you should check out this YouTube video of Phil reciting his “three minute creed” poem from the opening pages. Good stuff!
5 Comments So Far
2. kingedward wrote:
‘Tis quite cool. I am interested in reading it- in both formats. The hard copy will have to wait until I have a job.
I will take a look at your little gallery of could-a-been options next time I log into Kuzoa. :c)
Eddy ~~~
3. Annabellissima wrote:
It’s BEAUTIFUL Clint! Sean and I are both very impressed and like the cover design A LOT 
I knew you had talent at design when you did Lisamo’s album cover, but this just cements it. If it weren’t for the expansive time it takes away from your family to do this stuff, I’d suggest doing it for a living. I tried looking at the gallery, but for some reason Picaso doesn’t work for me when I try to look at your galleries.
1. Lisa wrote:
Stinkin’ awesome, Clint! That came out really neat!