Bookmarked!

September 24th, 2010 by Sara

For any website, one of the most important – and by extension the most difficult – aspect is encouraging people to visit and spend time looking at what the site in question has to offer. I had owned a number of websites previously and had always fallen short when it came to advertising…so this time I was going to take no prisoners.

With I.Q. being a literature website, I had the idea of creating a bookmark which had the site’s information on the back. I also wanted these strips of glossy paper to be something which people would want to actually use instead of throw away the moment they received one. To achieve this, the front design obviously had to be appealing whilst still fitting into the general ‘feel’ of the I.Q. site (which at the time was still in a state of flux as I went through a number of trial-and-errors in the overall design). Problematically, I knew that I was wholly unable to deliver this, since anyone who knows me also knows I cannot draw for toffee (or any other confectionary for that matter).

Having been an article writer for a different website in the couple of months prior to Inspired-Quill’s creation, I had been fortunate enough to be in contact with the American artist Alexandra Vernon. Very kindly, she agreed to design and draw the front of the bookmarks in exchange for some simple advertising on the back. Trying to set up the website without any finance, this was obviously a great boon for me, and something which was greatly appreciated.

I ordered 5,000 of these a couple of weeks later, and I’ve spent the better part of half a year subsequently trying to get rid of them. (I think I still have over half of them left!) Needless to say, bookshops which I visit are asked to have a small pile of them. I have been amazed by the response I’ve had. Granted, the bookmarks are absolutely free, but I hadn’t expected as many places to be amenable as they have been, so I can only offer my gratitude. (Especially to the University of Leicester Bookshops).

A few months ago, when I asked Alexandra to offer a bit of a blurb as to why she chose the scene she did for the bookmarks, as well as why she took on the project, she replied with the following.

“I have the ocean in my soul, and the dream of living in a house overlooking the ocean. The seaside is also the perfect place to sit on a blanket on a sunny day and read a book. I have always loved books, whether it’s a book of Scripture, poetry, a thick Russian novel, (or any of the many subjects that fascinate me) books have been some of my very best friends.

My favorite medium to work in is mixed media collage since it gives me the added dimension of an image within an image, and adds texture to my color palette. The scene depicted in this bookmark has memories of Cape Cod, where I lived for 2 years, intermingled with other seacoasts I’ve known.

When Sara asked me if I’d care to make a bookmark design, I was delighted by the idea. I’m always ready for a challenge, and the long, narrow format was something I had never done before. I was also inspired by Sara’s enthusiasm and spirit.”

Although this article is technically rather late in making its way to the site, I felt the need to write it up – as much as a thank you as anything else – especially now that Inspired-Quill has reached its first birthday.

And yes, the article pictures for this are photographs I’ve taken of the bookmarks themselves.

Click HERE to go to Alexandra’s website.

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