I had been asked to design the book. It was an even greater honour when Kathleen permitted me to use some of the symbols in her work to further enhance the stories for the publication. I worked with her on selecting symbols and characters from her paintings to help engage readers on their journey through the text.
Traversing the frontmatter
When presenting a book to a potential reader for the first time, I like to think of the cover, and the opening pages for that matter, as the book’s moment to introduce itself. A good cover asks questions and offers insight into the ideas the book holds and the stories it shares. The design merely leads and implies.
Listen deeply, let these stories in
Front cover featuring my image treatment, cover and book design with artworks by Kathleen Wallace and photography by Judy Lovell
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Listen deeply, let these stories in
Front cover and flap featuring my image treatment, cover and book design with artworks by Kathleen Wallace and photography by Judy Lovell
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Listen deeply, let these stories in
Cover flap and endpaper featuring my image treatment, cover and book design with artworks by Kathleen Wallace and photography by Judy Lovell
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Listen deeply, let these stories in
Title page featuring my image treatment, cover and book design with artworks by Kathleen Wallace and photography by Judy Lovell
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Listen deeply, let these stories in
Dedication page featuring my image treatment, cover and book design with artworks by Kathleen Wallace and photography by Judy Lovell
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Listen deeply, let these stories in
Contents table featuring my image treatment, cover and book design with artworks by Kathleen Wallace and photography by Judy Lovell
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With this book I was hoping to create some cinematic tension to bring the coastal reader from their edge of the country into the dry interior and its wide-open-spaces. Graphic treatments on the cover of Kathleen’s ancestral symbols emerge from the landscape, one appearing among a tree and largely as a gloss varnish against the cover’s matt surface. It catches the light but isn’t necessarily there. While another might be a willy-willy among the trees on the sandy plain. As the reader unfurls the cover flap, more symbols appear in the landscape as the full title invites you to Listen deeply, let these stories in. The cover photo becomes a stylised graphic, encouraging the reader to relinquish familiar conventional ideas of the land and its elements and comprehensively appreciate the presence of symbols and spirits travelling though the landscape—through the book’s frontmatter: title page, dedication and contents.
Intent of the content
Arriving at the start of each new chapter, symbols along with a full bleed image, title and text introduce the reader to the new topic. And as the text explains the new topic, photo editing communicates on another level, rewarding the viewer for looking deeper and discovering the featured spirit or symbols beyond the ornate patterns of Kathleen’s paintings.
Listen deeply, let these stories in
Book contents featuring my image treatment, cover and book design with artworks by Kathleen Wallace and photography by Judy Lovell
Discover what has been said about this book or explore more of my publication and cover designs
Listen deeply, let these stories in
Book contents featuring my image treatment, cover and book design with artworks by Kathleen Wallace and photography by Judy Lovell
Discover what has been said about this book or explore more of my publication and cover designs
Listen deeply, let these stories in
Book contents featuring my image treatment, cover and book design with artworks by Kathleen Wallace and photography by Judy Lovell
Discover what has been said about this book or explore more of my publication and cover designs
Listen deeply, let these stories in
Book contents featuring my image treatment, cover and book design with artworks by Kathleen Wallace and photography by Judy Lovell
Discover what has been said about this book or explore more of my publication and cover designs
Listen deeply, let these stories in
Book contents featuring my image treatment, cover and book design with artworks by Kathleen Wallace and photography by Judy Lovell
Discover what has been said about this book or explore more of my publication and cover designs
Listen deeply, let these stories in
Book contents featuring my image treatment, cover and book design with artworks by Kathleen Wallace and photography by Judy Lovell
Discover what has been said about this book or explore more of my publication and cover designs
Listen deeply, let these stories in
Book contents featuring my image treatment, cover and book design with artworks by Kathleen Wallace and photography by Judy Lovell
Discover what has been said about this book or explore more of my publication and cover designs
Listen deeply, let these stories in
Book contents featuring my image treatment, cover and book design with artworks by Kathleen Wallace and photography by Judy Lovell
Discover what has been said about this book or explore more of my publication and cover designs
Through these images of petroglyphs, contemporary paintings, photographs of her traditional processes and Kathleen’s telling of her ancient and ancestral stories, we get a comprehensive picture of her life and that of Eastern Arrernte people.
As Kathleen put it
“ to all the people I would say: Come, listen to us, we will tell you our culture. Learn from us. That way we will all survive. We share this country. We need to work together and learn from each other.
I hope you listen deeply and let these stories in. They … are for all time, for the old days, to help remember the old people, but also for the future and for young people now. ”
Musing on launching
At the launch of the book in her community of Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa), I spoke about Kathleen permitting me to use symbols from her work within the book design and how it enabled me to offer the reader an avenue of understanding into her art. Later when the book was officially launched by owner of Kathleen’s work, singer/songwriter Paul Kelly paraphrased me in his speech when he said:
Darren’s design selects icons from Kathleen’s paintings and offers them as avenues of understanding into her life and culture.
Australian singer/songwriter Paul Kelly speaking at the launch of Kathleen Wallace’s book Listen deeply, let these stories in
Later while he was performing some of his songs for the community, I reflected, thinking: “ Wow, the great songwriter just quoted me! ”
