typography – Deborah Makarios

If you have ever taken an interest in heraldry, and more particularly, Scottish heraldry, there will have been a moment when you have asked yourself: what’s with the naked guy??

The coat of arms of Dalziel is heraldically described as “Sable, a man’s body proper” – which is to say, black, with a naked guy on it. It should be noted that “proper” in heraldic terms refers to something being displayed in its natural colour – a lion vert is green; a lion proper is yellow – rather than any armorial judgement on the inappropriateness or otherwise of full frontal nudity.

A heraldic display including the Dalziel coat of arms showing a naked man on a black background, and the motto I Dare. — The heraldic supporters also look a bit baffled, if not slightly embarrassed.

Whether the naked man is proper in non-heraldic terms is one question. The larger question, of course, is what on earth is he doing there? Who thought this was a good idea?? And why???

The story goes that many many years ago, back in the reign of King Kenneth “Kinslayer” the Second, i.e. not long before dates went from having three digits to having four, a beloved kinsman of King Kenneth the Kinslayer was slain – not, in this case, by Kenneth – and he was Not Amused. (King Kenneth, that is, though the kinsman was probably not amused either.)

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Yes, I am as excited as you are. No, wait – I am more excited than you are! (Unless you are bouncing up and down going eeee! in which case, welcome to the team.)

I could blether on for hours about the long road to this point, but instead I will cut the cackle, come to the ‘osses, and show you this:

Isn’t it beautiful?

My thanks go to the Caped Gooseberry for getting the background to look the way I wanted it to, and to Eve Doyle for the stunning typography which is, I think we can all agree, the best bit.

Now, those of you who have encountered books before may be wondering where the rest of it is. What about a spine? Or a back cover? Fear not. There shall be a back and a spine (although the spine will not be in the middle of the back, as is usual in most vertebrates I know of).

All detective 193412 — Here’s a spine on the front cover!

And if you want to one day see them – or, indeed, see what lies inside this lovely-looking book cover, then pop across to the Home page and put your details in the form at the bottom.

Not the one at the very bottom – that’ll get you subscribed to the blog. The one headed Want To Be The First To Hear About New Releases? (Because you do, don’t you? First-equal, anyway.)

In fact, those who sign up will also be the first to hear when Restoration Day is available for pre-order, as it undoubtedly will be once I get all the technical duckies in a row.

It has just occurred to me to wonder where that expression came from. What are the duckies lining up for? I fear it will end badly for them. But not for us! We shall have books, spiny and otherwise.

Rejoice!

Tag: typography

The Two Mysteries of Dalziel

Restoration Day Has a Cover!