Gall’s got a new Murakami paperback design. It’s as wonderful as all the rest. What’s double-nice is that in this case, there’s two great interviews to go along with it.
#1) An interview with Chip Kidd and John Gall (click “art”) about their covers for Murakami. (Judging by the fact that they’re calling Kafka On the Shore his new book, this interview must be a couple years old. But oh well.)
Yet again I’m surprised at a J.G. cover. I don’t detest this, but I’m not really taken by it. I like the dots, but I don’t love the dots with that font or that picture. The supporting text, aside from the author and title, feel poorly spaced; and I don’t care for condensed Futura – that font only really shines in its bold form.
I guess I don’t understand the function of the dots with that image or the title. I hear what you’re saying, Ian, about the “dreamlike” quality, but I don’t get that impression myself.
It’s not ugly but I don’t really know a good reason why it works. I’m not impressed with it like I am with so many Gall covers.
Murakami readers know to expect a lot to go unexplained in his work, so I hesitate to explain the cover, but…
The art comes from the private collection of the amazing painter Alex Gross.
http://www.alexgross.com/
He then altered the image to fit a couple specifications I had (close the eye, etc).
The iridescent dots (need to see in person. I’m like, “am I really about to use prismatic foil? voluntarily?”) refer to the sleeping woman in the story who is being observed via a snowy video screen.
There’s a reason for the choice of typeface as well.
My hope with these covers is to tap into that ambiguous dreamlike state that Murakami so masterfully conjurs.
I LOOOOVE this cover! In fact, I love all of his covers… Chip Kidd and Gall have done a great job with them all. And I’m super impressed that Gall made a glossy cover look this good! This is a cover that angers me, it angers me that it’s not in my portfolio… drooling…
In Chips version of this cover, he actually uses a sort of screen effect which alludes more bluntly to the “snowy video screen” (I think they sprung for a varnish on that cover), but this is a fun interpretation of that too. I still like my dream speckles interpretation—especially since it is all iridescent…
This exemplifies the curse of the paperback designer: There’s always so much more copy to go on the cover than the hardcover edition. You are doubly cursed if the hardcover made a bestseller list because that’s another line for the paperback.
Given how much folks loved Mr. Kidd’s hardcover design, I prefer this one. Is there a pattern to the dots? They are rather like the stars one sees after being smacked in the face—akin to the effect of reading too much Murakami.
Its a pretty cover but I must say having read Johns explanation almost none what he hopes to achieve comes across to me- certainly at first glance. Having said that, I do like this and it works for Murakami.
they look like morse code (braille has vertical arrangements) which works for me as murikami’s books often have characters who are lost at sea and trying to communicate through a mental fog. On the whole I prefer the paperback treatments to the hardcovers – photos don’t seem quite appropriate for murikami’s world.
I thought that as well but the pattern wouldn’t be in a straight line; Looks more like Morse code. Regardless, as always Gall blew it out of the water.
“Is anyone else a little star-struck that John freaking Gall visits and posts on this website? That’s pretty exciting to me… —C-Dog”
Heh, while this is nice, and among the series it’s probably the nicest, it got me thinking about the times I’ve been most engrossed in a Murakami novel… and almost every time there has been no book cover involved.
Be they old library hardcovers with missing dustjackets or PDFs I laid out from hand-me-down text files, the one cover I do recall is tinged in the disappointment of going from a really old library copy of part one of Norwegian Wood by Alfred Birnbaum to the Gall covered version by Jay Rubin (switching from reading the nickname “Kamikaze” to reading it as “Stormtrooper” always struck me as a good indicator of the difference in translation style).
Hmm… so I guess any cover on a Murakami novel that involves anything more than basic text is going to disappoint me. Too bad, since both versions of this match the book’s content well.
My favorite part of this cover besides the front is the way it gradates and wraps around the spine, onto the back. I love the way it fades and colors itself.
Gall’s got a new Murakami paperback design. It’s as wonderful as all the rest. What’s double-nice is that in this case, there’s two great interviews to go along with it.
#1) An interview with Chip Kidd and John Gall (click “art”) about their covers for Murakami. (Judging by the fact that they’re calling Kafka On the Shore his new book, this interview must be a couple years old. But oh well.)
#2) A great little interview with Gall by Barnes & Noble about his five rules for designing book covers. Nice socks!
Enjoy!
(Thanks to Design Related for the headsup on this stuff.)
— Ben Pieratt, 2008-05-15 17:50:00
The circles are iridiscent.
This is also the first of JG’s Murakami covers to be glossy and not matte.
— GH, 2008-05-15 18:34:00
Thanks!
Haven’t seen this one in person yet, obviously.
— Ben Pieratt, 2008-05-15 20:17:00
I always wondered where they got these Japanese woman paintings that are used on a few of the Haruki covers.
It’s odd, but the dots sprayed almost logically across this sleeping face make it seem like you’re entering a dream state… Little dream speckles.
Judging from Galls little B&N interview, he probably got inspired by an old peg board in the hall, or a morse code pattern.
The back cover and spine on this is nice as well.
In the end, a very likable cover.
— ian shimkoviak, 2008-05-15 21:19:00
Yet again I’m surprised at a J.G. cover. I don’t detest this, but I’m not really taken by it. I like the dots, but I don’t love the dots with that font or that picture. The supporting text, aside from the author and title, feel poorly spaced; and I don’t care for condensed Futura – that font only really shines in its bold form.
I guess I don’t understand the function of the dots with that image or the title. I hear what you’re saying, Ian, about the “dreamlike” quality, but I don’t get that impression myself.
It’s not ugly but I don’t really know a good reason why it works. I’m not impressed with it like I am with so many Gall covers.
— C-Dog, 2008-05-16 03:06:00
Murakami readers know to expect a lot to go unexplained in his work, so I hesitate to explain the cover, but…
The art comes from the private collection of the amazing painter Alex Gross.
http://www.alexgross.com/
He then altered the image to fit a couple specifications I had (close the eye, etc).
The iridescent dots (need to see in person. I’m like, “am I really about to use prismatic foil? voluntarily?”) refer to the sleeping woman in the story who is being observed via a snowy video screen.
There’s a reason for the choice of typeface as well.
My hope with these covers is to tap into that ambiguous dreamlike state that Murakami so masterfully conjurs.
— jg, 2008-05-16 08:17:00
I LOOOOVE this cover! In fact, I love all of his covers… Chip Kidd and Gall have done a great job with them all. And I’m super impressed that Gall made a glossy cover look this good! This is a cover that angers me, it angers me that it’s not in my portfolio… drooling…
— Jason R Gabbert, 2008-05-16 08:26:00
In Chips version of this cover, he actually uses a sort of screen effect which alludes more bluntly to the “snowy video screen” (I think they sprung for a varnish on that cover), but this is a fun interpretation of that too. I still like my dream speckles interpretation—especially since it is all iridescent…
— ian shimkoviak, 2008-05-16 11:15:00
Wild speculation: are the dots braille?
— Tim, 2008-05-16 11:35:00
This exemplifies the curse of the paperback designer: There’s always so much more copy to go on the cover than the hardcover edition. You are doubly cursed if the hardcover made a bestseller list because that’s another line for the paperback.
Given how much folks loved Mr. Kidd’s hardcover design, I prefer this one. Is there a pattern to the dots? They are rather like the stars one sees after being smacked in the face—akin to the effect of reading too much Murakami.
— Michael McCartney, 2008-05-16 12:22:00
In Chips version of this cover, he actually uses a sort of screen effect which alludes more bluntly to the “snowy video screen”
Ian I think Chips cover is simply a photo looking through the doors to a pachinko parlour.
— pogo, 2008-05-16 14:40:00
do the dots glow in the dark then? fabulous!
— pogo, 2008-05-16 14:42:00
Its a pretty cover but I must say having read Johns explanation almost none what he hopes to achieve comes across to me- certainly at first glance. Having said that, I do like this and it works for Murakami.
— pogo, 2008-05-16 14:48:00
they look like morse code (braille has vertical arrangements) which works for me as murikami’s books often have characters who are lost at sea and trying to communicate through a mental fog. On the whole I prefer the paperback treatments to the hardcovers – photos don’t seem quite appropriate for murikami’s world.
— will, 2008-05-16 15:58:00
Is anyone else a little star-struck that John freaking Gall visits and posts on this website? That’s pretty exciting to me…
— C-Dog, 2008-05-16 18:31:00
Even though I love Kidd’s cover, Gall you did it! Can’t wait to see it at the store.
— Arthur, 2008-05-17 08:58:00
“Wild speculation: are the dots braille? —Tim”I thought that as well but the pattern wouldn’t be in a straight line; Looks more like Morse code. Regardless, as always Gall blew it out of the water.
“Is anyone else a little star-struck that John freaking Gall visits and posts on this website? That’s pretty exciting to me… —C-Dog”
Me too buddy. Me too.
— Aaron Artessa, 2008-05-20 06:33:00
Your RSS flux is not working, can you fix that?
— gould, 2008-05-20 08:54:00
It’s very rare that any Murakami book comes with a bad cover. This is no exception. It’s stunning.
Murakami cover designs (and the book cover work of Paul Bacon) are what got me into design/book covers. I’m glad to see some posted here.
— m welch, 2008-05-23 12:28:00
Heh, while this is nice, and among the series it’s probably the nicest, it got me thinking about the times I’ve been most engrossed in a Murakami novel… and almost every time there has been no book cover involved.
Be they old library hardcovers with missing dustjackets or PDFs I laid out from hand-me-down text files, the one cover I do recall is tinged in the disappointment of going from a really old library copy of part one of Norwegian Wood by Alfred Birnbaum to the Gall covered version by Jay Rubin (switching from reading the nickname “Kamikaze” to reading it as “Stormtrooper” always struck me as a good indicator of the difference in translation style).
Hmm… so I guess any cover on a Murakami novel that involves anything more than basic text is going to disappoint me. Too bad, since both versions of this match the book’s content well.
— Joseph K, 2008-06-14 09:41:00
Oh, and thanks for fixing the RSS. I’d given up on this place, but I guess I left it in my RSS reader, luckily.
— Joseph K, 2008-06-14 09:42:00
My favorite part of this cover besides the front is the way it gradates and wraps around the spine, onto the back. I love the way it fades and colors itself.
— Andrew Kopietz, 2008-07-11 00:12:00