Visual Texture

If you've checked any of the reading list... I've been reading some books by Roy H. Williams, aka The Wizard of Ads. I'm currently on the third book in the series, Magical Worlds of the Wizard of Ads. These books, while focusing on advertising, speak very much about creativity and communication.

But what I want to mention today is the covers. They just look cool. The books themselves aren't all that long... a little over 200 pages each, but something about the cover of these books makes you feel like you are pulling some ancient tome off the shelf... or the coffee table. It really does just depends on where I set it down last.

They have this really old leather look to them... roughed up, soft, wrinkly. But they are just a slick cover.

But that visible texture does something to you... it shapes the way that you perceive the book.

Whoever said you can't judge a book by its cover was probably misquoted. We do judge books by their covers. We just shouldn't.

Sometimes you get what you expect. Sometimes we don't.

Pattern and texture are so critical to design.

And I'm not limiting that to print and web... there's decorating, fashion, speaking...

Even chrome has a texture.

It's slick.