I loved hearing about your journey! Your sense of humor seems to have helped you a lot through it all, i'm glad you're sharing it with us now :))
Also, i love papyrus!! It was the most popular font when i was designing "home pages" in Photofiltre for a horse game in 2015-ish. I made so much (fake) money from it, it even bought me a hundred unicorns (the pretty ones too!).
Now you can't shit on papyrus anymore without shitting on middle-grade girls, and we can't have that, can we? 😁
Hey hey! Small world. I worked at the Holland Sentinel and commuted from GR because it was cheaper and I thought living in Holland would be lame, haha.
This is such a fun, short-burst recap of your book design career trajectory to-date. Really like how some of the opportunities you were seeking out would initially not come through, but then would circle back and open up. Inspired by the diligence, and how you just kept putting in the work to push things forward. Thank you for sharing!
Aw, man, what a story! What a journey. There were definitely some moments in there that felt all too familiar.
The big takeaway here? I mean, besides the fact that becoming a book designer is NOT easy? It's that if you want something bad enough and are willing to sacrifice and put in the work, you can make it happen. You did it. You're doing it. Bravo, sir.
Also, you should turn this into a book! Somewhat joking, but I would be crazy curious to know what the cover of Nathaniel Roy's autobiography would look like.
Thank you, Shane! It was fun to reflect on the journey with some hindsight when there were so many moments I was asking “what am I doing? Will I be able to be a book designer without moving to New York?”
I don’t know if I’d turn this specific story into a book, but I do have plans to collect some of my favorite newsletters from my first year into one—this one included. Because I’m a sucker for meta ideas, I’m hiring my friend to design the cover, and I’m going to write about the process for a book-exclusive essay.
I would ask myself why I want to use Papyrus, and then search the internet for something with those attributes.
If it’s a system font, and it feels like a convenient way to communicate old/foreign/etc., it means that everyone else with a computer is going to do the same thing and the font will have stereotypical, cultural associations before you even type a word. It adds a layer of cultural meaning that can undermine your design and what you’re trying to communicate with it!
Wow! What a great comment. Thank you for taking the time to write all of that out. It is very helpful!
". . . everyone else with a computer is going to do the same thing . . ."
Yes! I like that! That's a feature, not a bug. Using Papyrus is a way to tap into some very resonant cultural tropes that everyone instinctively feels. Basically, it says "this is something that is supposed to be old or ancient", and it generates an instant first impression in a viewer. On the other hand, it's non-committal about exactly what this old or ancient thing actually is. It could be Ancient Egypt, sure, but it could be any ancient Mediterranean culture -- North African, Roman, Greek, Byzantine, Turkish, you name it. But it could also be Old Norse or Anglo-Saxon, or Renaissance, or even Hogwart's or Narnia. It's 2025, and most people's understanding of "old and ancient" is a mixture of random facts about things like the Pyramids or the Bible or Lord of the Rings, so there's a lot of room for interpretation.
In any case, it doesn't seem that you object to the font on **aesthetic** grounds -- you don't think that it's *ugly*. Instead, it seems as though you don't like it because of the issue of cultural associations. Fair enough.
I think we can both agree -- if there is a use for Papyrus, it can only be as a display font, and it's completely unacceptable for body text.
I loved hearing about your journey! Your sense of humor seems to have helped you a lot through it all, i'm glad you're sharing it with us now :))
Also, i love papyrus!! It was the most popular font when i was designing "home pages" in Photofiltre for a horse game in 2015-ish. I made so much (fake) money from it, it even bought me a hundred unicorns (the pretty ones too!).
Now you can't shit on papyrus anymore without shitting on middle-grade girls, and we can't have that, can we? 😁
Thanks, Rose!
Hahaha I suppose you are right.😁
I do love hearing about people’s early encounters with graphic design
Hey, Grand Rapids! I live there as we speak (or type, I guess). 20 years ago, I wrote sports reports for the Advance newspaper. Ah, local media.
Hey hey! Small world. I worked at the Holland Sentinel and commuted from GR because it was cheaper and I thought living in Holland would be lame, haha.
Wait... you're telling me this process takes longer than two weeks!?
In all seriousness though, I love hearing about the journey.
haha! just a bit. thanks for reading.
This is great! I think a lot of us have these fits and starts stories behind our “careers”.
Thank you, Davin! I think you’re right. That’s no single path.
This was really interesting to read. You're a super hard worker!
Thanks Auzin! Only for some things 😉
This is such a fun, short-burst recap of your book design career trajectory to-date. Really like how some of the opportunities you were seeking out would initially not come through, but then would circle back and open up. Inspired by the diligence, and how you just kept putting in the work to push things forward. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you Jeffrey! I have learned that “no” might very well mean “not right now” or “not yet.”
Aw, man, what a story! What a journey. There were definitely some moments in there that felt all too familiar.
The big takeaway here? I mean, besides the fact that becoming a book designer is NOT easy? It's that if you want something bad enough and are willing to sacrifice and put in the work, you can make it happen. You did it. You're doing it. Bravo, sir.
Also, you should turn this into a book! Somewhat joking, but I would be crazy curious to know what the cover of Nathaniel Roy's autobiography would look like.
Thank you, Shane! It was fun to reflect on the journey with some hindsight when there were so many moments I was asking “what am I doing? Will I be able to be a book designer without moving to New York?”
I don’t know if I’d turn this specific story into a book, but I do have plans to collect some of my favorite newsletters from my first year into one—this one included. Because I’m a sucker for meta ideas, I’m hiring my friend to design the cover, and I’m going to write about the process for a book-exclusive essay.
That sounds fantastic. Wishing you all the best on that endeavor.
Avatar! 😱
OK, Mr. Smart Guy. If you don't like Papyrus, then what do you suggest for a replacement?
I would ask myself why I want to use Papyrus, and then search the internet for something with those attributes.
If it’s a system font, and it feels like a convenient way to communicate old/foreign/etc., it means that everyone else with a computer is going to do the same thing and the font will have stereotypical, cultural associations before you even type a word. It adds a layer of cultural meaning that can undermine your design and what you’re trying to communicate with it!
Wow! What a great comment. Thank you for taking the time to write all of that out. It is very helpful!
". . . everyone else with a computer is going to do the same thing . . ."
Yes! I like that! That's a feature, not a bug. Using Papyrus is a way to tap into some very resonant cultural tropes that everyone instinctively feels. Basically, it says "this is something that is supposed to be old or ancient", and it generates an instant first impression in a viewer. On the other hand, it's non-committal about exactly what this old or ancient thing actually is. It could be Ancient Egypt, sure, but it could be any ancient Mediterranean culture -- North African, Roman, Greek, Byzantine, Turkish, you name it. But it could also be Old Norse or Anglo-Saxon, or Renaissance, or even Hogwart's or Narnia. It's 2025, and most people's understanding of "old and ancient" is a mixture of random facts about things like the Pyramids or the Bible or Lord of the Rings, so there's a lot of room for interpretation.
In any case, it doesn't seem that you object to the font on **aesthetic** grounds -- you don't think that it's *ugly*. Instead, it seems as though you don't like it because of the issue of cultural associations. Fair enough.
I think we can both agree -- if there is a use for Papyrus, it can only be as a display font, and it's completely unacceptable for body text.