Your Thoughts

So I am working hard this week, as this is finals week for me at Fuller.  I am reading and writing like a mad man.  I am not only writing for classes these days, but over a month ago I was commissioned by someone to do some writing for their denomination.  He had read some of the things I wrote and thought that it should have a wider reading.  It is going to be six little books dealing with the equippers in Ephesians chapter four.  (I should note that these are a series of workbooks, so they will have that kind of style) The first book is an overview and the other five books will deal with each of the equippers.  Today my friend sent me a copy of the covers to get my opinion.  And now I am posting them here to get your feedback.  Let me know what you think. Keep in mind this particular set is for a particular audience that my friend knows well.  If I were decide to in the future to put this all in one book it may take a very different form.  So now you have a little sense of the audience and work. You have a couple of days to give feedback.  I will be sharing with him my feedback this coming Monday.  I'm not personally attached to anything so be honest. Thanks for your help.  Click the image for a larger view.

Comments

[esther]

hey JR i am so excited that you are doing these books! i really like the graphic and the bottom portion of the cover - very well done! personally i'm not a big fan of the font choices for the titles. the main title is okay but the subtitles lose their impact because of the font choice. personally when it comes to design i'm a big fan of the simpler the better so i think with the whole title section proportions between the type, number, and white line width could be reworked a bit more. hope thats helpful!

It's really great that you're getting to pull these ideas together into such a great package to share with others!! I'm not excited about the fonts and the line under "Re-Sketching . . ." should be very different than the font above. I do think the graphic is quite creative but something always hits me wrong when we associate church with building.

[JR Woodward]

Esther,

Hey thanks for your feedback. I threw up a little bit more about the audience and the nature of these books so you can know that. I will take your feedback into account.

To whomever left the other comment,

Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate you taking the time to give it. Peace.

[Chris Garner]

Hi JR:)
Congrats on a great series..i have deeply appreciated the 'awakener' info from Kairos so far and i think it is a good easy format to take it to other churches!

I agree about the fonts. I love the concept of the coaching sketch and would stick with it. From there i think the fonts clash - the deco font in the title clashes with the techno font (for series title) and the serif font used for your name, which also may be too big.
The background design is quite stylish and crisp and possibly clashes with the serif font too. It seems an odd mix to put the classic font on a modern background.

On a slighty more missional note: i love the church sketch idea..but perhaps the focus from ephesians is that it is not just about working to build a single church? I would stick with the style but perhaps have people in it..or the world..or other churches connected?

Sorry if this sounds critical..i think i'm just pumped FOR your writings mate!

Any chance it would be available for your blog audience when printed?
have a great day - and may you have increased strength and energy for this week of finals!
peace//chris

[randplaty]

I like the football plays type of sketch.

[Ben Myers]

Looks great -- well done!

[JR Woodward]

Chris,

Thanks a bunch for your thoughts and they don't sound critical, because I am asking you to give your constructive critique and probably because up to this point, besides choosing the title, I haven't done anything with the design.

Random Platypus, (I couldn't find your name on your blog)

Thanks for your thoughts. Where can I find out more information about you. I was able to quickly read a couple posts and they were interesting to me.

Ben,

Thanks man. I appreciate your comment. Hope all is going well for you. I always enjoy your blog. Peace.

[Jonathan Brink]

First, my initial reaction was that I love the color.

I agree with the font issue. You have four different fonts that run in different veins. Trajan, which is your name font, is typically very traditional and crisp. But your sketch font is very contemporary and fun. It feels like a mixed message.

I used to run a marketing agency and we would typically have no more than three fonts. The primary font is the message, the secondary font would compliment. And the third, if necessary, would be a serif font for text.

What's the primary message of the books: contemporary or traditional?

The number also feels squeezed in.

[JR Woodward]

Jonathan,

Dude, thanks for taking the time to give some thoughtful advice. It is so great being able to get feedback from the blogging community that I am apart of. Peace.

[Ritish]

To add to the other comment, I like the number being offset but again that adds to whether you want to take a contemporary or traditional design path.

The colors seem to add to this contemp/trad dilemma. crimson/gold (trad) vs. watermelon/canary (contemp). And for 6 books some of the colors are too similar (the reds and the yellows). Then the green and gray not having a complimentary color seems to throw things off in a feng shui sort of way.

[Curtis Woodward]

Hey Jr.
It is so exciting to see you put together a book. I have been waiting a long time for this. Are they available to buy yet? Where can I purchase them when they are available?
Keep up the Lords Work.

[JR Woodward]

Curtis,

Hey, thanks for the encouragement. I am still writing so they aren't available yet. I will let you know when I know more. I'm sure I will post about it, so just keep an eye out. Hope all is going well for you.

[Chris Ridgeway]

Ha! I was going to say the same things as several others - the first thing I noticed was too many typefaces. :) But looks like you've got plenty of the same good advice.

More to the point though, I think it's cool that you're doing these up in some form. I had always wondered what happened to the larger project on this.

grace,
chris