diff --git a/bookwyrm/apps.py b/bookwyrm/apps.py
index b0c3e3fa4..41b1a17a2 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/apps.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/apps.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 """Do further startup configuration and initialization"""
+
 import os
 import urllib
 import logging
@@ -14,16 +15,16 @@ def download_file(url, destination):
     """Downloads a file to the given path"""
     try:
         # Ensure our destination directory exists
-        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(destination))
+        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(destination), exist_ok=True)
         with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as stream:
             with open(destination, "b+w") as outfile:
                 outfile.write(stream.read())
-    except (urllib.error.HTTPError, urllib.error.URLError):
-        logger.info("Failed to download file %s", url)
-    except OSError:
-        logger.info("Couldn't open font file %s for writing", destination)
-    except:  # pylint: disable=bare-except
-        logger.info("Unknown error in file download")
+    except (urllib.error.HTTPError, urllib.error.URLError) as err:
+        logger.error("Failed to download file %s: %s", url, err)
+    except OSError as err:
+        logger.error("Couldn't open font file %s for writing: %s", destination, err)
+    except Exception as err:  # pylint:disable=broad-except
+        logger.error("Unknown error in file download: %s", err)
 
 
 class BookwyrmConfig(AppConfig):
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 4d4037681..2cb9007da 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ services:
     env_file: .env
     volumes:
       - .:/app
+      - static_volume:/app/static
     networks:
       - main
     depends_on: