title: Among Other Things, I've Taken Up Smoking

Among Other Things, I've Taken Up Smoking

Honestly, this reminds me of something Paul Sahre would do, (supporting evidence #1, supporting evidence #2), just not quite as developed or clever.

Given our immense respect for Sahre’s work, however, that’s a pretty big compliment.

— , 2007-09-05 17:34:00 -0400

sure does. and that is what I love about it. This cover rocks in it’s modernist simplicity and conceptual bareness. There is a message here lurking. And you SO want to know what it is. This is good book design. However, most of all, I like the authors name. Saw this at the store and wrote it off as a Sahre piece. Who’s the culprit?

— ian s. , 2007-09-05 17:56:00 -0400

I think it’s a very effective and would absolutely catch my eye on the shelf.

— Michael C , 2007-09-05 18:26:00 -0400

Ah, this is great—just so self-assuredly belligerent. I second Ian S with SO wanting to unlock the puzzle.

— , 2007-09-05 19:06:00 -0400

Love it!

..someone please tell me why you yanks HAVE to put ‘a novel’ on every single novel? – in the UK we just put them in a section on the store and no-one is confused.

— Luke Tonge , 2007-09-05 23:03:00 -0400

I think part of the reason is the belief that novels consistently outperform short story collecctions, so there’s a desire to identify novels as such.

I love the colors of the image. And the design makes its point subtly and with force.

— GH , 2007-09-06 00:36:00 -0400

Good comparison, though I’d argue it’s rather clever, and rather developed…just not as much as Sahre. I love it.

— Blake , 2007-09-06 01:10:00 -0400

Love it ‘cept for the line break in the title.

— , 2007-09-06 03:06:00 -0400

“The World Without Us” should have had THIS cover. Same or similar concept but better executed.

— beauGeste , 2007-09-06 04:51:00 -0400

I totally agree about “The World Without Us”. Who did this cover? It’s fantastic.

— Carl , 2007-09-06 05:01:00 -0400

My first thought was the same as beauGeste’s.

— , 2007-09-06 05:51:00 -0400

Dave-I think the line break in the title sets up the structure of the type.

The sunset on top really gives the sky depth.

Nice.

— ERIC , 2007-09-06 06:09:00 -0400

eh. it’s nice, but you know what REALLY catches my eye…. “Aoibheann.” wow.

— jaclyn , 2007-09-06 13:19:00 -0400

Sorry, I just don’t see the oh-so-obvious Paul Sahre look other than that it looks good and the text is set in parellel narrow columns but surely Paul doesn’t have a patent out on that…

— , 2007-09-06 13:50:00 -0400

although perhaps this is a bit closer

— , 2007-09-06 13:53:00 -0400

still no designer on this one huh?

— Ian S. , 2007-09-07 06:49:00 -0400

I’m not a fan… The picture is just “alright” with me. The urban-to-rural motif isn’t terribly original on contextual level. Also, the columnar texting is distracting and awkward. Columns belong in a newspaper.

It’s modern, but not modern chic.

— C-Dog , 2007-09-08 12:13:00 -0400

Also, the colors really suxOr.

— C-Dog , 2007-09-08 12:18:00 -0400

just as boring and pretentious as something Paul Sahre would do

— mike , 2007-09-08 12:39:00 -0400

Pretty cover for a crap book. Which marks this as a ringing success. Hurray for packagers.

So, is it ironic to un-ironically use Helvetica now? Or since Helvetica (or, you know, whatever Helvetica-y sans serif this type is set in) is now a movie, is it chic again to use it? Or is set in NYC with lots of subway references and so there are actual reasons to use Helvetica?

Anyone?

Cause otherwise, it’s like some outdated American Apparel ad.

— Christian in NYC , 2007-09-09 11:19:00 -0400

[An American Apparel ad minus the booty, naturally.] I’ll stop double-posting now.

— Christian in NYC , 2007-09-09 11:21:00 -0400

Its instinctive and unjustified. And it’s also the kind of thing Richard P Lohse would be doing now if he were with us…
If it works, it works.

— , 2007-09-10 10:50:00 -0400

This book is a novel; The World Without Us is non-fiction. Each chosen cover design works well as selected. No need to compare the two.

— , 2007-09-27 07:36:00 -0400

Paul Sahre did do this cover. It’s up on his website.

— ian shimkoviak , 2007-12-27 18:10:00 -0500

Aha!

http://www.paulsahre.com/index.php?/work07/among_other_things_ive_taken_up_smoking/

— , 2008-02-12 14:36:00 -0500

I love this except for the three columns. The type in general looks unfinished, I think. Is he trying to give the impression of it fading from left to right? A little more time, or a little change in scale, or something, could have improved it a lot.

— , 2008-06-06 04:32:00 -0400