With the holidays right around the corner, I’ve decided to put my artistic talents to use this year by making personalized bookplate sets. A little bit too sure of myself (and my design skills), I figured this would be a simple project. How hard could it be to make elegant ownership labels for my book collecting friends and family?
Little did I know! Classy bookplate design isn’t for amateurs without imagination (or time). It’s for the creative pros. The more I researched the vibrant history of bookplates, the more I realized the rich world of “ex libris” would provide more inspiration than I could possibly imagine — not only for my homemade gift project but for my other design work as well.
Amid the plethora of sites available online about bookplates, my favorites — to date — include the following resources:
- Gallery of Bookplates (great timeline with samples)
- The Cyber Journal of Heraldic Bookplates
- University of Texas’ Library/ Special Collections
- Early American Fiction: A Sampler — Bookplates
- Hungarian Bookplates
- Ex Webis / Ex Libris
- American Society of Bookplate Collectors and Designers
- Thomas Murray’s Bookplate Collection
Is anyone else interested in bookplates and/or know of bookplate designers worth checking out?
Okay, since no one seems to be keen on exploring ex libris as potential holiday gifts, I'm guessing everyone is either planning to do shopping online for traditional presents... or make something other than bookplates.
If you plan to use your design skills for out-of-the-ordinary presents, tell us what you're doing. Don't be shy. I know there are some Martha Stewarts of the graphic design world out there, just like me. Share!
On Nov.05.2002 at 01:26 PM