Finding a quote hadn’t crossed my mind, and it’s not like I’m out rubbing shoulders much with the cream of the design crop. I told Nikki it was unlikely, but to leave it with me and I’d see what I could do.
A few days later I was having an email chat with Chris Nutter, communications director at Chermayeff & Geismar in New York. He was helping to arrange an interview with Tom Geismar, so I put two and two together and pitched the quote idea.
It wasn’t long before I emailed him a PDF containing a large chunk of the book, saying that if Tom was able read it and offer a quote, that I’d need his words by the end of the week. That only gave Tom a few days, so needless to say, I wasn’t hopeful.
Friday passed, and I thought to myself that the book wasn’t something Tom would want to put his name on. That’s fair enough. I’d be equally critical of endorsing someone I knew nothing about on the back of an emailed PDF.
Then on Tuesday Chris got back to me saying, “Tom loved your work and gave what I think, as a book author myself, is a perfect blurb.”
Brilliant! But the deadline had passed.
I immediately emailed Nikki and Cory (Cory’s the production guru at Peachpit to whom I supplied my InDesign files). They said if I was quick, there was still a chance we could change the cover, but it needed to be that day, so some hours later — at 10pm — we signed-off on a new cover including Tom’s quote.
Brilliant!
Here’s what Tom said:
“There are a lot of books out there that show collections of logos. But David Airey’s Logo Design Love is something different: it’s a guide for designers (and clients) who want to understand what this mysterious business is all about. Written in reader-friendly, concise language, with a minimum of designer jargon, Airey gives a surprisingly clear explanation of the process, using a wide assortment of real-life examples to support his points.
“Anyone involved in creating visual identities, or wanting to learn how to go about it, will find this book invaluable.”
— Tom Geismar, Chermayeff & Geismar
And here’s the new cover spread PDF (216kb)—updated from the one I shared with you a week ago. As well as adding the endorsement, I also removed the descriptive text about the “simple, modern-looking book” and improved the layout of the section with my photo—thanks very much for the feedback Ebi and Tara.
There are only a few names in the design profession that I’d want to add to my cover. I asked the first one that came to mind, no-one else, and couldn’t be happier with the result.
I guess that’s what they call the luck of the Irish.
The moral of the story? If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
As a side note, 1,700 of you have pre-ordered already. Thank you! I’m told the printed books will be warehoused on December 18th, so if you’ve bought a copy, you can expect to receive it a week or so after that date.
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Update:
Now eight translations. Who’d’ve thought?
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