Friday, October 26, 2012

Biblioasis gets a face lift

Yesterday afternoon, Tara and I spent some time running back and forth through Wyandotte Street traffic to stand on the opposite sidewalk and gawk at the Biblioasis storefront.

Why? Because yesterday we went from a charming green building with a window full of lovely books, to a charming green building with a window full of lovely books and AN AWNING!

Doesn't even look like the same building does it?
Our exterior transformation from purple rocket ship-adorned candy store to bookshop feels a lot more complete with the Biblioasis name over the front window.

Having never designed anything larger than a poster, finalizing the text for an 18-foot awning was a bit intimidating. As the awning company hoisted, drilled and secured our signage, I couldn’t help but fear the whole thing would come out a pixellated mess. Or hope I remembered how to spell ‘purveyors’ (imagine ‘purveyours and publishers of fine books.’ Yikes.) Luckily, all was well, a fact which led to copious cell phone snapshots to celebrate our new look. Then it was time to run back across the street (without being run over) to get back to work (punctuated by pedestrians popping in to say hello and take a look around; the awning is doing its job already!)

Publishing assistants distracting awning installers from their job for photo ops.

The installation of the little frill around the bottom.

Complete!
As this is not only my first 18’ design project, but also my first post on the Thirsty blog, Dan & co. thought I should introduce myself to our readers as the newest addition to the Biblioasis staff.

In brief: I’m Kate, a recent MA graduate from the English lit & Creative writing program at the University of Windsor. I have worked in the book industry in various capacities since the age of 14, starting off as a public library shelver and desk clerk, moving on to working for an independent bookstore, and finally spending a while as a freelance editor/writer/book designer. I’ve been working full-time at Biblioasis since August of this year, designing a few books (including the recently launched Ghost Road by Marty Gervais and Jessica Hiemstra’s Self-Portrait Without A Bicycle), assisting with the big move, and doing various other marketing and publishing activities around the office. It has been a great first few months at Biblioasis, and I’m looking forward to many more!

To close, here’s a quick BookFest Windsor update for you:
If you missed Ray Robertson last night, he has been scheduled for a second reading this afternoon at 2pm in the Joy Theater at the Capitol along with Phil Hall and Bruce Meyer. Ray, Phil and Bruce will be reading from their own work as well as paying homage to the work of Eugene McNamara, who unfortunately had to cancel his appearance at BookFest due to illness.

Until next time,

Kate 




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