The Brief

Before I started to mind map and sketch ideas for this brief, I wanted to first do some background research to understand the origins and meanings behind the idioms:

Bookworm/s:

Bookworm was a term first coined in the 1590s as “a person devoted to study”. It was in reference to the larvae of certain insects that eat holes in the bindings and paper of old books. Quite almost literally a bookworm is someone who devours books.

Originally, ‘bookworm’ was an entirely negative term: ‘worm’ was an Elizabethan insult that meant “wretch,” and to be called a ‘bookworm’ was an insult. The term still carries a tinge of disapproval—who wants to be called a worm?—but is widely considered to be more positive than it once was.

– https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/is-the-meaning-of-bookworm-positive-or-negative

A closed/open book:

If someone is described as a closed book it means that they are shut off and do not give much away; we do not know anything about them. On the flip side to be an open book means that you can be easily read and understood and that you are open to communication and revealing yourself.

The oldest trick in the book:

Dating back to the 19th century it simply means a method of deception which has been used so often that it is no longer likely to be effective.

It is a means of diverting attention and to create a diversion; search out a scapegoat and put the blame on someone else.

You can’t judge a book by its cover:

“Don’t judge a book by its cover” is a metaphorical phrase that means you should never judge the worth, value or appearance of something or someone alone.

“The origin of the idiom “Don’t judge a book by its cover” has its roots in George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss (1860), in which Mr. Tulliver has used the phrase in order to discuss The History of the Devil by Daniel Defoe. There are a lot of allusions related to this phrase, according to some other sources; this phrase has its origin in Chinese history.

Different writers in their respective eras had used this idiom in different contexts, because this idiom can be used in different contexts due to its meaning and match with different situations. We use idioms at special points in different situations and contexts. This idiom has been also used by Edwin Rolfe [de] and Lester Fuller in their respective novels. Edwin has used it in his 1946’s murder mystery novel and Fuller in his novel Murder in the Glass Room. These both writers had used this idiom in the form “You can never tell a book by its cover.”  The phrase has also its history in an edition of the African journal American speech during 1994 and it was used in the form “You can’t judge a book by its binding”. – https://grammarhow.com/dont-judge-a-book-by-its-cover/

In someone’s good/bad books:

To be in someone’s good books means that you are in favour and they are pleased with you, to be in bad books is when a person is angry and displeased with you.

In the Middle Ages ‘one’s books’ was understood to mean ‘one’s reckoning or cognizance’, that is, the esteem in which one was held by others. To be ‘out of someone’s books’ meant you were no longer part of their life and of no interest to them. This meaning is first recorded in The Parlyament of Deuylles, 1509 – “He is out of our bokes, and we out of his”. The use of books to indicate favour or disfavour is enshrined in several phrases – ‘good books’, ‘bad books’, ‘black books’.

The saying also refers back to the term “in good/bad graces” which dates back to the 1400s.

By the book:

The idiom “By the book” means to do something right and adhering to existing rules, regulations and laws. The first recording of this idiom was by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet in 1597 with “you kiss by the book”; the book being referred to was the Bible. The Bible is essentially the universal “book of rules”.

It is thought that originally, “by the book” was a reference to swearing on the Christian Bible in under oath. To swear by the book was to swear you were telling the truth.

When I started to research into these idioms I honestly thought I would find more background history than what I did. I thought I would find more information about how these sayings came about but as it turns out all I have to go with is the knowledge I originally had on what the phrases mean.

Sketching ideas:

I decided to mind map and research more into “You can’t judge a book by it’s cover”. I started with ideas around being deceived and things not always being what they seem or appear. My thought process went in the direction of one of the books I wrote about in the first exercise – “Oliver all alone” where a young puppy is left at home at nighttime by his owners and starts seeing things around the house that are not real such as a tiny house plant that appears massive in the shadows on the wall. It also reminded me of the poison apple in Snow White; although it was red and rosy it was rancid and poisonous inside. This then made me think of food that might looks nice on the outside but is awful on the inside and to eat and vice versa.. and then to food combinations that shouldn’t work but what do. I wanted to emphasise the don’t judge by appearances or by preconceptions. I googled some food combos that shouldn’t work together but what do and one of them was ice cream and fries which really took me by surprise! I have never heard of this food combo before which is surprising because the more I researched into it the more I found out that it has been a known delicacy for a while! The one that I thought of and what I used to have every Sunday night for my tea was a banana sandwich. I still love them now! A Pineapple was another one; because it is spiky, prickly and scary looking from the outside but sweet on the inside!

I also thought about designing very plain, boring covers with just the minimal typography; I even thought about designing a cover using Comic Sans for the font – Don’t judge a book by it’s cover just because the typography is crap!!

The brief also asks me to think about the composition; where my objects and text will sit in the frame (book cover): For one idea I have situated “Don’t judge a book” on the spine of the book as this is the actual physical book, I have then placed “by its cover” on the front cover of the book. For another design I have come up with the idea of a Ben and Jerrys style ice-cream tub with “Don’t judge a book by its cover” featuring on the tub itself. I have only done basic thumbnail sketches at this stage though so further development in the next exercise will show how I develop the concepts, ideas and layouts.

This also got me thinking about a book I bought when I was younger from the school book fair called “The Worm Charmers“; I have already explained in previous posts about the fact my Mum was very picky over the quality of books I read and when I got home with this as my purchase her response was – “Why on earth have you brought that? worms?!” thinking the book would be ridiculous. I started to read it and was gripped by the storyline of crime, drug trafficking and kidnap! I can remember at the weekends curling up against the warm radiator in the lounge and losing myself in this plot… the point I’m making though? Don’t judge a book by its cover. My mum assumed I had bought a weird book about worms and charming worms out of pots or something like you do snakes!! haha! but in fact it was about something completely different with a good storyline!

https://www.etymonline.com/word/bookworm

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/199800.html

https://idiomorigins.org/origin/be-in-someones-goodbad-books