Book Covers blog

Eating Animals

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:41:17 -0500

This of course is related visually to Everything Is Illuminated and nicely creates a variegated but consistent brand for Jonathan Foer. I'm so jealous of designers who get multiple books to design upon; its seems like a much more interesting challenge to take what you've already done and riff on it while creating something new. Does anyone anticipate this in creating their covers? You know the author isn't dying of the consumption, so he or she will likely create new works; so create a 'brand' that can be carried forward through time. Or is it just coincidental, and you've got to catch up to your previous work with the newer jacket?

The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:10:41 -0500

Its fairly rote but I love the smudged stamp and the uncanny, frenetic attention to detail. I have more covers to post from the nanowrimo project but I'm going to sprinkle them in. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Hundred Hit Wonder

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:30:18 -0500

As part of the National Novel Writing Month I will be posting quickly-designed covers for participating authors - a new one every day. The synopsis for this cover is AWESOME.

Rhythm of a (Reluctant) Desi Heart

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:52:19 -0500

I asked the talented Elena Giavaldi to help me out with this cover as I'm falling behind on this Nanowrimo project I swear she did it in five minutes.

Soviet Kid

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:26:51 -0500

As part of the National Novel Writing Month I will be posting quickly-designed covers for participating authors - a new one every day. The story is that the protagonist cobbles together clues about her father through underground Russian Cold War comics.

Die Peperoni im Heu (The Red Pepper In the Hay)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:36:51 -0500

As part of the National Novel Writing Month I will be posting quickly-designed covers for participating authors - a new one every day. This story is, quite simply, about a cow who finds a red pepper in the hay, and it changes her life. I know. It is totally radical. I wish I had more time to spend on the type on these, but as it is I really have to burn through them in 30 minutes. I'm already behind by three or four covers. Dangit!

King of the Food Court

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:01:59 -0500

As part of the National Novel Writing Month I will be posting quickly-designed covers for participating authors - a new one every day. I've always wanted an excuse to use Keedy Sans and I'm positive I've seen it on a fast food menu, so here you go! Old timers come to him for coffee Pretty girls talk to him for rest Plastic trays and paper plates All the people here got dates With the King of the Food Court

Meet John Foe

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:25:19 -0500

As part of the National Novel Writing Month I will be posting quickly-designed covers for participating authors - a new one every day. This cover is a job for... Congress-Man? Action Comics, I thank you.

The Beauty of a Grid

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:58:13 -0500

As part of the National Novel Writing Month I will be posting quickly-designed covers for participating authors - a new one every day. This will likely end in tears. Click here for the synopsis of this book. I wanted to create something that would represent – and agitate – the OCD-stricken protagonist. I really really really hope the book is not semi-autobiographical, heh.

Traffic Lights

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:34:21 -0500

The Business

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:02:35 -0500

For the month of November I am going to be participating in National Novel Writing Month by attempting to design one cover for participating authors every day - 30 covers in 30 days. The authors are randomly selected by the propietors of the NaNoWriMo project to have their synopsis/title designed around by yours truly. The point here is volume/output and not necessarily quality, but I'll do my best. This is probably a very foolish stunt on my part, and even more foolish to be turning it over to you dogs of war to critique! I won't pretend that these are going to be mindbogglingly good, as despite all appearances I have a life beyond graphic design, so i can only take about an hour a day on these. Here's the first one. You can read about the story here on the author's Nanowrimo profile. I would have liked to spend more time on the type, but I've gotta crank out the next one right away!

The Interrogative Mood: A Novel?

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:22:59 -0400

Another one of the few, the proud, the brave: a title-less cover, this one actually making a lot of sense. Considering the contents – a string of surreal questions about the necessary (or not) things in our filled-to-the-brim lives – the minimalist treatment also makes perfect sense. Of course, it is a bit easy to toss a question mark about in order for someone to pick it up, but even the question mark itself is weighty and ponderous.

Everything You Know

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:22:19 -0400

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the AIGA event Knopf: Then and Now and it was great to see some jackets I hadn't ever seen before, like this Barbara de Wilde cover. Note the complete lack of color on the first edition, and then the second edition and how it changed... not necessarily for the better. An oldie but a goodie, and the first time I'd seen it. Also, thanks Knopf for sharing your experiences and stories!

The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:14:43 -0400

It took me a few moments to pick up what was going on here, but this is a great use of the concept to convey the rest of the communication requirements - my only wish is that they would have had a real plastic cap, but I know this is probably not very readable or viable! Thank you Penguin for leaving the jacket otherwise untouched - I'd be curious to know how this was photographed and where you folks got the transparent bottle, etc.

On Beauty

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:46:49 -0400

Sorry for the poor image quality! A better one here. Like the cover for white teeth, this jacket treats the typography with reverence and import; the custom(?) lettering is deeply debossed into the rough paper, making this book as tactile as Smith's last. The type is very, very beautiful and I'd like to know the typographer, as I'm still occasionally working type on the other blog even though I failed miserably at that project. Also, in other very important news, a press release about the amazing group at Knopf: On Wednesday, October 21st at 6:30pm, AIGA/NY is bringing together (for the first time on stage) the legendary Alfred A. Knopf design team of Carol Devine Carson, Barbara de Wilde, Archie Ferguson, and Chip Kidd. Moderated by Peter Terzian, a contributing editor for Print magazine, the roundtable takes a look at the design group that redefined the art of American book packaging in the late 1980s. Two decades later, with the department continuing to set the bar for the trade publishing industry, the quartet will give a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of their most daring cover designs, discuss the process of collaboration, and describe the challenges affecting book jacket design today. Peter is a great design writer and the team is my own personal pantheon. Please buy tickets

Under the Dome: A Novel

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:32:41 -0400

Sorry for being down for a while; Amazon pulled some trickery with their API which we use to pull covers. This cover is great! I mean, for a Stephen King novel its quite amazing. Congratulations to Mr. King and the publisher, and of course the art director, for moving big-name writers' covers in a new direction. Interestingly, there is a story about the cover on Amazon's page - maybe they're trying to take our readership away! The cover wraps. Are we going to see more of this on these big name covers? Are we cantankerous covers.fwis.com readers responsible for the new movement? Or is it the talented AD's toiling away at their day jobs, jacket after forlorn jacket falling in sacrifice to The One That Gets Through? Stay tuned dear readers for this and more exciting news from the first, greatest, and original book cover blog!

Good Stuff Coming

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:12:21 -0400

We apologize for the delay. Stay tuned for some exciting changes to your favorite Covers Blog. New Covers, same great taste!

A Monster's Notes

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:22:27 -0400

Another reworking of a classic, A Monster's Notes is a lyrical take on the story of Frankenstein, told through a series of letters from the monster himself to his creator, Dr. Frankenstein. I love how delicate and beautiful the cover is, possibly making a statement about the humanity that the author injects into the seemingly mindless monster.

The Quick and the Dead

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:47:00 -0400

This is one of those "I wish I did that" moments. The hourglass that covers the cover and envelopes the title also reads seamlessly as an ampersand. Beautiful, subtle, and strong execution seems to be the MO of the Walker Art Center design team. Check out more of Chad's work here.

Hater

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:54:48 -0400

David Moody is a force. He originally self published this novel, determined to get it out. Later, the book was picked up not only by a publisher, but also by Guillermo Del Toro, the director of the Hellboy movies and the forth coming The Hobbit. The story follows a blue collar working man trying to protect his family amidst a breakout of a mysterious violent impulse. Those that catch the condition are dubbed 'haters' and wander the streets preforming random acts of violence against anyone and everyone. It's somewhere between the apocalyptic zombie rage thriller 28 days later and the amoral vigilantism of Javier Bardem's character in No Country for Old Men. In the same do-it-all-yourself attitude that got this book into mass-distribution, David Moody went ahead and designed the cover himself as well. The splattered blood typography is expected, but the perfect execution is not, especially coming from the author himself. The incomplete letter A in the title, the delicate scratched feel to the author's name — it all works really well. The only area this design suffers is in the treatment of the cover lines, and probably in the production. It could have benefited from a matte finish with a light gloss over the blood. But overall, this is impressive, and the raw ability of the author to push his work toward excellence makes me want to read it.