WEEK 43 - Ever dreamed of designing a book cover?
Hey HOMwork friends, Happy Friday!
For those of you just joining us, you can see 80+ past assignments in our Challenge Archive. No pressure to complete them all, but many of you have asked, so here you go!
Know what I do sometimes for a fun creative challenge?
I like to invent a title and cover for my memoir! Thinking about a cover and title of my own memoir is a fun and playful way to think about how I’d “frame” my life and all the decisions I’ve made. Sometimes I imagine the cover of my whole life, and sometimes I stick to the last year or two.
Here’s why a memoir cover is a fun way to think about (and share!) yourself and your work: We love to get a better understanding of the people “behind” the artwork. Thinking of your life in terms of a memoir is a way to share about yourself that seems a little more fun and quirky and a little less “look at me!”. It’s an especially good way to share for creatives who don’t love getting in front of the camera - because with a title and cover art, you are sharing about yourself through your artwork!
If I was going to design a cover for a “mini-memoir” of my past year, the title would be Busy But Good. My life has been faster paced this year than in previous years (and I thought I was going pretty fast before haha) and I’ve been juggling a lot more in my business than ever before. I hired my first employee and have been speaking and teaching way more. There’s not a lot of down time (and it IS stressful sometimes) but it’s also pretty freakin' fun!
FREE PHOTOSHOP BRUSHES!
We're mixing things up to give you a variety of creative freebies. This week, we've got two FREE Photoshop textures for you to experiment with, courtesy of DesignCuts.
<< Click here to download them!
Your Assignment: If the past year of your life was a book, what would it be titled? Think about it and design an actual book cover for it!
Caption Idea: Choose the most epic or memorable month of the past year, give it a chapter title, and tell us all about it.
This assignment was inspired by one of my Passion to Paid students, Casey Schuurman, and her clever project @booksiwishexisted. Casey came up with the genius idea of designing beautiful book covers for books that should exist but don’t. There are some gems I would read in a heartbeat, like How to Play Monopoly and Keep Your Friends and How Much to Drink When Meeting Your Partner’s Parents.
Another really fun book-themed Instagram account is @storyofmyfuckinglife, which features hilarious titles like New Haircuts and Other Ways to Not to Actually Deal With the Issue Affecting Your Life Right Now.
Regardless of the “genre” of your book, sharing about yourself through a unique title and creative cover art will allow you to connect with your audience.
Don't forget to tag me @homsweethom because I'll be sharing my faves in my Story all week. Can't wait to see your book and hear about your year!
Love,
Lauren
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P.S. It's Q&A time! Reply to this email with your #1 question about connecting & engaging with your audience, and I'll pick a few to answer in my upcoming IGTV videos. Click here to watch the latest one about how to create work that attracts clients!
