The Cover of My Imaginary Memoir

“If there was a book about your life, what would the title be?”

This was the prompt for this week’s #goodtypetuesday, a 24-hour lettering and typography challenge hosted by @goodtype. Although this week’s a bit busy for me, I couldn’t pass up the chance to combine lettering and books, as well as the opportunity to imagine the realization of my dream: writing a book!

If I wrote a memoir, I would begin with my first-generation experience: the challenges of straddling two cultures, constantly trying to please parents while still trying to fit in. My biggest challenge as a first gen kid was telling my traditional parents about my white boyfriend (now husband). I wrote about this on OneFifty years ago; it was one of my favorite pieces on that blog. Since I have gotten to know a whole new circle of creatives after starting my lettering/Instagram journey, I used today’s Goodtype challenge to introduce my new community to my story.

The design I created is a simple one; I didn’t have a lot of time to figure out how to doctor an image to make it look like an actual book cover. I just wanted to doodle for the night. I tried to channel some of my favorite simple book covers: Americanah and Eleanor & Park.

I love their distinctive type, but more than that, I love that something about their design lends themselves to a soft book cover. I love books with soft covers and thick, jagged pages. If I ever got myself to complete writing anything beyond a blog post, it would be bound with a soft, cuddly cover and roughly-cut pages.

What about you? What would the cover of your life story look like?