moominmuppet (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
moominmuppet) wrote2011-11-27 09:34 pm
moominmuppet) wrote2011-11-27 09:34 pm
Entry tags:
Bookplates and a personalized visual signature
So, since a big focus of my gifts for Kidlet is going to be helping to create his personal library, I've been thinking about bookplates. Overthinking about bookplates, actually. Given that I can barely manage to think straight at the moment, we'll see how I do in explaining any of said thoughts.
On a practical level, they're useful for at least slightly increasing the odds of getting one's books back. Additionally, I have a lot of children's books already at my house. When he visits, being able to keep sorted which are his and which are mine probably isn't a bad idea.
Also, in the very long run, as he gets old enough to think about the idea, it's a nice little reminder of what a valuable thing a library is, and the history of just how valuable (and by extension, how lucky we are these days). And I do want to encourage him to develop a mental concept of "his library" -- that's important to me too.
Personalized bookplates are incredibly easy to get these days. I don't actually want to go with one of the very kid-oriented designs, because I'd like the bookplate design to work for him across various ages. I'd also like it to engage him, possibly lead him to look things up. I think of it as leaving little seeds to sprout into interests if they hit fertile soil. In looking at possibilities, I discovered it's important to me to use the phrasing "ex libris" or "from the library of" rather than "property of" -- the connotations are radically different for me.
I've been chatting with Chad about the idea I had for what I'd like to work up, and here's what I've come up with so far...
My icon above is a line from a truly marvelous poem about the wonders of books:
An Afternoon in the Stacks
By William Stafford
Closing the book, I find I have left my head
inside. It is dark in here, but the chapters open
their beautiful spaces and give a rustling sound,
words adjusting themselves to their meaning.
Long passages open at successive pages. An echo,
continuous from the title onward, hums
behind me. From in here the world looms,
a jungle redeemed by these linked sentences
carved out when an author traveled and a reader
kept the way open. When this book ends
I will pull it inside-out like a sock
and throw it back in the library. But the rumor
of it will haunt all that follows in my life.
A candleflame in Tibet leans when I move.
I'm thinking:
Closing the book I find I have left my head inside
--William Stafford
Ex libris Kidlet Lastname
(in a nice font with appropriate spacing and such)
The single line from the poem works by itself, but is an implicit encouragement to go look up the full poem, maybe encounter other poetry in the process. This is what I mean about seeds for interests, basically; maybe Kidlet will do that, maybe some other kid who inherits a third-hand copy of one of his old books might do so. Doesn't hurt to toss out seeds. When I look back on my childhood, and the things that sparked my interest and further explorations, they're often from little seeds like this.
I'd like to keep the bookplate itself white or single-color, with small line illustrations in each corner:
A TARDIS -- For adventure and exploration, and the fact that books are so much bigger on the inside (and, of course, because Doctor Who is meaningful to me and I like dropping seeds about it). This coloring page TARDIS looks like a good candidate for shrinking down.
A Magnifying Glass -- For science and learning (and because it'll be my first sciencey present to him). Something like this one could work.
A Penguin -- This one was a struggle; I want something to represent Kidlet in a meaningful way, but what to choose for a three-year-old? Every taste changes every other week. So, I thought what I'd do was mark the point of our meeting; when I first met him, he was obsessed with penguins (still is at the moment).
For the fourth corner, on the bottom right, I'd like to include what is essentially a visual signature from me. Two little line drawings, a Moomin and a Muppet.
The thing is, as soon as I had that idea, I ran into the big struggle -- which Moomin and which Muppet????
Of the Moomins, I use a Muddler icon a lot, but I don't actually identify with him on a core level -- he just represents my muddled mental state. There are a number of other characters in the series that I love, but few that I identify with, per se. As I was pondering it, I came down to two final choices -- The Autocrat (Daddy Jones), and Hodgkins. Both are from The Exploits of Moominpappa (link is to a great, but spoilery, review), which is my absolute favorite of the series. And as much as I adore The Autocrat, I really think I'm more of a low-key Hodgkins type myself.
Of the Muppets, well, there are a lot more choices. My overall "favorite Muppet" (using an unreasonably broad definition that includes Henson creatures from other films) is Aughra. She's not easy to make into a recognizable small line drawing, though, and isn't really technically a Muppet. That leaves me torn between Bunsen Honeydew, Animal, and Gonzo, although I'm currently leaning toward Gonzo (and continuing to wander the Muppet site to see if I'm reminded of any other characters that suit me better).
Also, I've decided that once I work this out, it's something I'd like to use in the long-term as a kind of graphic signature for other applications, so it matters to me to get something that really feels like a good fit.
Once I figure out his bookplates, I plan on using the same template to make my own, with slightly different symbols in the corners. Probably still a TARDIS, and probably still my graphic signature, but I think an octopus and something that represents my interests in sexuality and gender for the other two. To prevent confusion, if I do make up my own from the template, I'll also make sure Kidlet and I have different color plates.
OK, this is ridiculous. It's already 9:30 and I haven't even gotten back to my giant unfinished post from yesterday yet! And after that, I have ideas for an Explorer's Kit I'd like to assemble for Kidlet.
On a practical level, they're useful for at least slightly increasing the odds of getting one's books back. Additionally, I have a lot of children's books already at my house. When he visits, being able to keep sorted which are his and which are mine probably isn't a bad idea.
Also, in the very long run, as he gets old enough to think about the idea, it's a nice little reminder of what a valuable thing a library is, and the history of just how valuable (and by extension, how lucky we are these days). And I do want to encourage him to develop a mental concept of "his library" -- that's important to me too.
Personalized bookplates are incredibly easy to get these days. I don't actually want to go with one of the very kid-oriented designs, because I'd like the bookplate design to work for him across various ages. I'd also like it to engage him, possibly lead him to look things up. I think of it as leaving little seeds to sprout into interests if they hit fertile soil. In looking at possibilities, I discovered it's important to me to use the phrasing "ex libris" or "from the library of" rather than "property of" -- the connotations are radically different for me.
I've been chatting with Chad about the idea I had for what I'd like to work up, and here's what I've come up with so far...
My icon above is a line from a truly marvelous poem about the wonders of books:
An Afternoon in the Stacks
By William Stafford
Closing the book, I find I have left my head
inside. It is dark in here, but the chapters open
their beautiful spaces and give a rustling sound,
words adjusting themselves to their meaning.
Long passages open at successive pages. An echo,
continuous from the title onward, hums
behind me. From in here the world looms,
a jungle redeemed by these linked sentences
carved out when an author traveled and a reader
kept the way open. When this book ends
I will pull it inside-out like a sock
and throw it back in the library. But the rumor
of it will haunt all that follows in my life.
A candleflame in Tibet leans when I move.
I'm thinking:
Closing the book I find I have left my head inside
--William Stafford
Ex libris Kidlet Lastname
(in a nice font with appropriate spacing and such)
The single line from the poem works by itself, but is an implicit encouragement to go look up the full poem, maybe encounter other poetry in the process. This is what I mean about seeds for interests, basically; maybe Kidlet will do that, maybe some other kid who inherits a third-hand copy of one of his old books might do so. Doesn't hurt to toss out seeds. When I look back on my childhood, and the things that sparked my interest and further explorations, they're often from little seeds like this.
I'd like to keep the bookplate itself white or single-color, with small line illustrations in each corner:
A TARDIS -- For adventure and exploration, and the fact that books are so much bigger on the inside (and, of course, because Doctor Who is meaningful to me and I like dropping seeds about it). This coloring page TARDIS looks like a good candidate for shrinking down.
A Magnifying Glass -- For science and learning (and because it'll be my first sciencey present to him). Something like this one could work.
A Penguin -- This one was a struggle; I want something to represent Kidlet in a meaningful way, but what to choose for a three-year-old? Every taste changes every other week. So, I thought what I'd do was mark the point of our meeting; when I first met him, he was obsessed with penguins (still is at the moment).
For the fourth corner, on the bottom right, I'd like to include what is essentially a visual signature from me. Two little line drawings, a Moomin and a Muppet.
The thing is, as soon as I had that idea, I ran into the big struggle -- which Moomin and which Muppet????
Of the Moomins, I use a Muddler icon a lot, but I don't actually identify with him on a core level -- he just represents my muddled mental state. There are a number of other characters in the series that I love, but few that I identify with, per se. As I was pondering it, I came down to two final choices -- The Autocrat (Daddy Jones), and Hodgkins. Both are from The Exploits of Moominpappa (link is to a great, but spoilery, review), which is my absolute favorite of the series. And as much as I adore The Autocrat, I really think I'm more of a low-key Hodgkins type myself.
Of the Muppets, well, there are a lot more choices. My overall "favorite Muppet" (using an unreasonably broad definition that includes Henson creatures from other films) is Aughra. She's not easy to make into a recognizable small line drawing, though, and isn't really technically a Muppet. That leaves me torn between Bunsen Honeydew, Animal, and Gonzo, although I'm currently leaning toward Gonzo (and continuing to wander the Muppet site to see if I'm reminded of any other characters that suit me better).
Also, I've decided that once I work this out, it's something I'd like to use in the long-term as a kind of graphic signature for other applications, so it matters to me to get something that really feels like a good fit.
Once I figure out his bookplates, I plan on using the same template to make my own, with slightly different symbols in the corners. Probably still a TARDIS, and probably still my graphic signature, but I think an octopus and something that represents my interests in sexuality and gender for the other two. To prevent confusion, if I do make up my own from the template, I'll also make sure Kidlet and I have different color plates.
OK, this is ridiculous. It's already 9:30 and I haven't even gotten back to my giant unfinished post from yesterday yet! And after that, I have ideas for an Explorer's Kit I'd like to assemble for Kidlet.