Congratulations Emily Tea!
After exhaustive deliberation, I’ve decided to select this design from Emily Tea to be the cover of my novel Isn’t It Pretty To Think So? I believe in the emotions she aims to achieve in her art and I’m excited to work with her on refining the final book cover.
I spent the last few days fastidiously going through every one of your submitted designs and I fell in love with several of them — truly remarkable work from many of you. Thank you.
I was blown away by both the turnout of this contest and the level of talent displayed in the submissions. This remains one of the toughest decisions I’ve made as there were a few designs I was still considering in the final hour.
I hope I was, at the very least, able to send some notes to all of you who submitted. Also, I’ve created a mental list of those of you with impressive submissions with the intention of sending more opportunities your way in the future.
I’m overwhelmed by the support you all continue to give me. Thank you for being a part of my ongoing journey.
Emily is a Los Angeles-based painter who listens to Bob Dylan and the Jesus and Mary Chain. She loves Sofia Coppola. Her two favorite books are Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides and Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. Read more about Emily here.
Thank you Nick !!
To say I’m happy and thankful is an understatement.
Half of it was about trying to come up with a fantastic cover, and the other half was about getting over myself - for once, not listening to that negative side of me that does everything in its power to limit the possibilities. During the competition, I tried not to look at the other submissions because I didn’t want to build my confidence from comparing my work to others. There are a lot of talented people out there, and I won’t ever achieve much if I think success is solely based on being better than everyone else. Looking towards myself is the only way I can ever truly overcome my self-doubt. The amazing thing about people is that everyone has tremendous potential regardless of their circumstances. The challenges I face exist for my happiness, which is something I didn’t fully understand until a couple weeks ago. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo has helped me realize this, along with Daisaku Ikeda’s guidance - particularly this quote: “It’s not about others; it’s about you winning, and winning over yourself.”
Good job to everyone who submitted a design to this contest. I know it takes a lot to put yourself out there.
And thanks to the new followers (hope you stick around!) and my lovely, supportive friends.
Alright. I’m done expressing all my sappy happy feelings for now.
