ITC 29. Books
Sketches, new projects, and recommendations
Welcome back! It’s Spring! Which means more light, better temperatures, flowering forests and general positivity. Certainly welcome.
(Note→ If you’re new here or wondering why you’re receiving this: I’m Raúl and you’re receiving this email because at some point you signed up to the ‘In The Cave’ Substack newsletter).
→ Reflections
You’re receiving this on World Book Day! An international celebration, but one that holds special significance in Catalonia, coinciding with the day of our patron saint: Sant Jordi (Saint George). This celebration effectively replaces Valentine’s Day in our region, and our streets fill with hundreds of stalls overflowing with roses and books, both old and new.
What’s happening with books these days, I wonder? Seen as irreplaceable artifacts by some, and as annoying, cumbersome, and dusty curiosities by others. For a good part of the population, they are perfectly replaceable by digital information, conveniently stored on our devices. And yet, there isn’t a single important day or holiday (with an added component of consumerism) in which physical books don’t occupy a prominent place.
It doesn’t surprise me that crowdfunding projects to finance the production of expensive luxury editions of classic and modern works are so enormously successful. Books that will undoubtedly be cherished but, perhaps, just perhaps, never read.
The object has replaced the content. Aesthetics have devoured function. Or perhaps better said, the idea of the book is more powerful than the book itself. And as a designer, I feel conflicted about this.
Undoubtedly books, as sources of knowledge, whether benign or forbidden, educational or ideological, fictional or truthful, have a mythical status that will probably remain in the collective unconscious and in human culture long after they have ceased to exist as such.
Sketches!
As usual, starting this one with more recent sketches for the future sketchbook. Not sharing many this time because I’m always surpassing Substack’s recommended size limits for emails :-(
→ A recent mini-project
Xarra & Mestre
We recently created some small icons with Dani Devesa for his latest applications: Mestre and Xarra. One of Dani’s main focuses has been accessibility, a subject in which he is the greatest expert I know.
In terms of utilities, the AppStore ecosystem is full of lifeless symbols. Simple, compact, and well-designed, but extremely homogeneous, cold, and abstract. So, the intention here was to bring color and humanity to these little apps that simply make people’s lives easier. We used a bright color palette that makes them look more like friendly toys than sophisticated business software. Exactly what I miss from the early AppStore.
I love that Dani decided to use Valencian/Catalan to name his apps. Xarra (Xerra in Catalonia) means ‘Chat’, while Mestre means (yes, you guessed it) ‘Teacher’. More info here.
→ From the Reedsyverse
Book Title Generator
Last year I shared different images created for Reedsy’s Character Name Generator. For example here, here & here. Recently, the company’s generators have been reworked and improved, and also expanded. So I had the opportunity to work on more images for them, this time specifically for literary genres for book title and plot generators (and more coming!):
This exercise has been common at Reedsy, applied to different contexts, like headers for landing pages, or marketing pieces, with different degrees of abstraction. Here’s an example of some older genre badges we created for (live) events, and that I still like a lot:
🔖 This month’s recommendations
1 → A book: La Bruja en la Torre by Júlia Sardà
Júlia Sardà is back with La Bruja en La Torre (previously published in English as The Witch in The Tower). I loved the first book, The Queen In The Cave (2021), and well, basically everything she’s done over the years, and I can tell you: this is probably Júlia’s best work so far, which is a lot to say. Check Júlia’s porfolio here!
2 → A game: Demon Bluff
A rather ingenious indie game that revives the classic wolf and the village game formula, where you must guess who is lying and is a devil in disguise. To do this, you have multiple cards arranged in a circle that you can reveal to obtain clues that will help you unmask the demon(s).
Fun, simple, with great character design, and it looks like it could be greatly improved in future versions. You can play the current version on Itch.io (even in your browser) or wishlist the final game on Steam.
3 → An artist: Steven Sugar
If you’re a Steven Universe fan, the combination of that first name with Rebecca Sugar’s last name is intriguing. Coincidence? Obviously not. Steven Mark Sugar is the brother of Rebecca, creator of the now-legendary animated series and the original inspiration for the main character. But that’s not all… Steven is a truly great artist, with a remarkable talent for character and background design and a stunning portfolio closely tied, naturally, to the world of animation. He’s worked on Bravest Warriors, Adventure Time, and, yes, Steven Universe, among others. Check out his work here.
4 → Fonts: Patio Foundry
Atipo Studio have been operating as a graphic design studio for years, but I discovered them through their secondary project: a typographic foundry called Atipo Foundry. I’ve purchased some of their fonts over the time and they’re great for some uses. But now, they’re back with an alternative project: Patio Foundry. It’s almost a playground for typographic experimentation, offering some playful, display fonts. They also did a great job with all the imagery and design accompanying the fonts.
5 → Music
Moving On (2025) by Weval
Recommendation via my friend Dario. Listening to this Dutch duo is always a pleasure. This one has the right energy for moving on, indeed!
The Hunter (2022) by Marnie
This track by Helen Marnie, Ladytron’s vocalist, has been on my playlist since it came out. What a beautiful voice and what an amazing vibe.
'Cause I am the hunter now
And I won't hear your cries
So dry your eyes friend
We'll make a wish then say goodbye
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See you soon!
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