Saturday, March 15, 2008

Dog with cape

The logos of most companies, including book publishers, remain the same no matter where they appear.

However, one imprint that does allow modification of its brand's appearance from book to book is Knopf, whose Borzoi (that's a dog) has been known to adapt to suit the subject of certain books whose spine s/he races down.

So I asked my editor if the Borzoi on Boys of Steel could have a red cape. To my surprise, she did not tell me to knock it off. Instead she passed the suggestion to Ross MacDonald, the book's esteemed illustrator.

Assuming that Ross had better things to do than draw a pet with a cloak, I preemptively drew one of my own. Even before doing so, I further assumed it was a lost cause, for one of three reasons:

a. Ross would do it, and do it better
b. My editor would decide against using such an image, no matter who did it
c. Knopf would change its mascot to a Weimaraner (also a dog)

Therefore, this blog gets the dubious distinction of world-premiering the Knopf Borzoi's secret identity:

Please do not use/repost this (or any other image on my blog) without permission. I am not naive. I know the huge online demand for black market caped canine clip art.

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