Behind the Scenes: The September 2010 Cover

leaves by André Mora, letters by Emily Busey, photography by Andrew Waits

The Cover

This morning I found a leaf in my pocket. This has been happening a lot lately. I’ve been collecting the first falling leaves of autumn and copying them, making my own paper versions for the September 2010 issue of City Arts. What started as a simple idea — let's make our own leaves before the trees change color — became an all-consuming side project.

Kraft

It started with a pair of scissors and some Kraft paper. I studied a few leaves I found outside and began cutting. I researched all the tress in our state to find new patterns, and I continued cutting. Soon, others in the office were making their own versions. We tried colored construction paper, but the folds wouldn't hold. The rough, brown Kraft paper, however, held every subtle crease. Sometimes I would work on a single leaf for an hour. 

It has been therapeutic, save for one morning. I was waiting for my bus when a stranger sat down to explain the world to me. After a few minutes I looked around as if to say, I’m not with him. It was then that I realized he might not be the crazy one – with scraps of paper falling at my feet and fake leaves covering my lap, I was the one obsessed. 

Keep it in the frame

We never once considered using Photoshop to execute this cover. It might have been be easier to control the leaves one by one and make a composite image, but I never wanted this to feel perfected. Instead, we set up a small piece of grass and let spontaneity take over — even while it produced some maddening effects. There's no right way to capture a set of leaves and letters falling. Just like the leaves themselves, which are imperfect in all of their own ways, setting up a single frame was a lesson in subjectivity, and an exercise in patience. The letters are cut from balsa wood, and I strongly advise any designers reading never to kern balsa wood on grass. Or on dowels stuck in sod. Maybe avoid balsa wood altogether.

The Nature of It

While constructing leaves, I paid close attention to real leaves scattered on the sidewalks. I avoided too many 1:1 replicas, though the successful attempts surprised even myself. Making the paper leaves came naturally, as if I'd been doing it for much longer than than a few weeks. I attribute most of that to the three years I spent on a farm, before I joined City Arts. During those years I had the luxury of time, the room to find something interesting and look at it closely for hours. 

As another season begins, take a new approach to what's around you. If you want to understand something better, try to make it yourself. Be that crazy person at the bus stop if only for a morning. •

pine cone and leaves on André's desk