A: Once I had locked onto the wooden block alphabet idea, that formed the basis for my logo, it went through several lives until I connected with Victor Crapnell of Art Department Design. As for the photo of me, it was taken by Michael West in his studio when I was that younger Dad. There was no intention for its use at that point. We were just goofing around in his studio.
Ironically, I attended a book seminar one weekend in Vancouver and the topic of cover designs came up and the seminar leader declared rule number one was NOT to use your own photo on the cover, unless you were really famous. Based on how emphatic he was, I was ready to drop the idea of using it when Mary Shafizadeh (my social media and marketing consultant in L.A.) became adamant that I use it. She liked it because it was the face of the narrator of all the stories and she needed to know what the narrator looked like. She also felt that I looked worthy of trust because I seemed so natural and believable in the photo. Knowing that trust was the biggest issue for most readers of non-fiction, she felt it went a long way to bridging the trust gap.
I finally decided, being the rebel that I am, that I would buck the seminar advice and become the face of the franchise. I’d certainly be the spokesman, so I would have to step out at some point. And then working with Victor on the front cover of Book One, he was of the same mind. He wanted to see who the ‘Weekend Dad’ was from the get go. Victor and I discussed how the first book cover would be a template for the other two books. A strategy emerged and a ‘series’ design concept was established and the Book 1 cover was created. (The Book 2 cover was completed in May 2015). Now that Book 1 is out there, the reaction to the logo, title and book cover has been very positive.
