You may remember the Penguin Classics Deluxe editions, which began with Chris Ware’s edition of Candide, and then quickly expanded with others graced by Art Spiegelman, Anders Nilsen, Roz Chast and more.

A new round of volumes escaped my notice and began trickling into bookstores last October, including Gravity’s Rainbow as depicted by Frank Miller, Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s take on Rashomon, and Jason’s Dharma Bums.

When assigning a book cover to a designer or illustrator with a well-known and well-developed style, there’s some risk of the designer getting in the way of the author. Ware’s Candide very nearly became more his than Voltaire’s. I think the genius of this series — and these three volumes in particular — is that the illustrators are so perfectly matched to their titles that they gently skirt this trap. I can easily imagine any of these authors saying, “Yes, this is what I want for my book.”

(I just re-read an older post regarding this series, and rumor has it that Pynchon specifically requested Miller, so there you go).

Three more tomorrow…

— , 2007-05-21 14:19:00 -0400

Apparently they had wanted to get Marjane Satrapi to do “The Three Musketeers” but she was too preoccupied with the film of “Persepolis”.

Of these, I think I like Rashomon the best. Gravity’s Rainbow is great and ominous. Although the guy in The Dharma Bums is neat to look at it, I feel like the hitchhiking pose would make readers think of “On the Road” more than “The Dharma Bums”, which is more about meditation and Buddhism than bumming rides across America.

Subtly serialized reprints are quite possibly the best thing since sliced bread.

Cool. I just saw this the other day. This has a very good shelf presence. Very memorable. I think the title was slightly embossed for Gravity’s Rainbow. Nice choice for the typeface too. Really sucks you in—like your droppin’ one off…

This image of a bomb dropping has a very pop appeal and appears on numerous anti-war Polish and Soviet posters—one of those, “I’ve seen that somewhere…” moments for sure.

The Living and The Dead, also by Jason, is superbly produced. This comic style reproduces so well on uncoated stock. Great for a quick pick-me-up read. I wonder how much the per copy print cost is for those?...

These are all great and good examples of comic art as a solid contemporary solution for classic cover design. Talk about broad appeal…

Kafka, illustrated by Crumb, is another beautiful sample that would fit well with this… Also Epileptic, by David B. Don’t know if those are by Penguin though.

Great Posting! These books offer more surprises when you turn them over, and even open the flaps. They’re covered in comics. If possible, please post these too – although Amazon probably doesn’t have all that.

covers.fwis.com has made another notch up the Google ranking list (search words: “book cover design”). Was 5th for long time, then 4th, now the third!
CONGRATULATIONS!

‘Shelf presence’ ... wow – Ian, your design writing gets better and better!

Shelf presence is one of the most important factors of a covers design. A concept is fine and dandy (or daisy—as you like), but if it does not catch your eye in a mirage of books it fails at the primary task of being a “desirable item” (aka—”consume me please”). Yes, authors, publishers and printing techniques can also sell a book (or in our case, the designer behind the magic), but it’s shelf presence, irregardless of all those points—should be strong and well defined.

...Just as google ranking defines a successful website. The site might be crap, but if it succeeds in crawling to the top of the heap—it’s done it’s job. If it’s a nice website, well, all the more power to it…

So covers.fwis.com is like a good cover design concept with great shelf presence.

Eric, I believe Paul Buckley is the designer. I saw this book at Labyrinth last year and it stopped me in my tracks. It’s sweet, and I love those paperback flaps, too.

I’ve remember the Dorothy Parker.
Is that a Seth cover?
These are all quite nice. I just wish that there was some common, Penguin-ish design element throughout the entire series. Can’t think of anything right now, but something that would help tie them together – just a bit more.

I guess it’s just the little Penguin logo. They are all by different authors, so there would be no reason to tie them together with say a graphic element or type/composition treatment. They need to stand alone. I actually hate it when a publisher wants to slap their ill-developed “classics” series logo on the cover. The funny little penguin tells me exactly what it is. Also, sometimes the book trim size (format) and cover stock can define an entire series…

When I was a kid I was always really disappointed if I picked a book up that had comic style drawing on the outside and none on the inside. I think one might initially think that the Dharma Bums and Rashomon reissues were possibly graphic novels, perhaps this might lead to a twinge of disappointment even in grown-ups. That said, I love the Chris ware Voltaire and the Gravity’s Rainbow covers.

I wouldn’t be persuaded into picking this book up by it’s visual presence, nor its imagery or title.

Adverbs by Daniel Handler (pub by Harper Collins) follows in this breed—and a number of others too, and I must admit, I have picked them up in hopes of a comic novel. So maybe this kind of style does get in the way a bit. But, damn it, they’re so fun to hold and look at and muse over! And by golly it’s time comic art was used for more than a strip…

Any thought’s on that Auguste? BeauGest?
You know, thoughts that aren’t counting my thoughts;)

It’s a great cover C-dog. Especially in person. I’m sure the book is a fine read too. Don’t knock it till you try it… No, but seriously, what don’t you dig about it…? I guess it’s a bit abstract. But the story coincidently mentions these rockets throughout the text as well as many sexual references—the rocket can be interpreted as a phallic symbol…

I must confess, I almost stole this book form a little gallery in the DUMBO the other day. 5+5 galley on 111 front st. The dude at the gallery was super rude and the book was just sitting there. He turned around and I could have slipped it in my bag. I’m not a thief, but a book is a book and a book with a story behind it is more than a book…

It’s a book with a story behind it. And anything that has a story behind a story is a story worth the trouble…

Ah… back in SF… Back at the computer… back doing what I love to do… not what I am good at, but what i love to do. And ain’t that what life’s about?....

This cover popped out at me when I first saw it in the store. I picked it up and smiled when I saw it was GR. This is one of my favorite covers of the year.

kodomanlar ordeklerle kosarken birden karsilarinda orhan gencebay cikmis sonra muslum b una bozulmus baslamislar kolbasti oynamaya sonra yorulmuslar otururken mum sondu yapmaya karar vermisler acaba niye?

Gravity's Rainbow

— GH , 2007-05-23 00:25:00 -0400

— , 2007-05-23 04:48:00 -0400

— Ian B. Shimkoviak , 2007-05-23 06:25:00 -0400

— , 2007-05-23 06:38:00 -0400

— priit , 2007-05-23 08:36:00 -0400

— priit , 2007-05-23 10:01:00 -0400

ditto priit.

— Ian B. Shimkoviak , 2007-05-23 14:07:00 -0400

— Hollis , 2007-05-23 15:03:00 -0400

Does the whole series have French flaps?

— , 2007-05-23 15:14:00 -0400

Yes, they all do. The Portable Dorothy Parker is my favourite

— ss , 2007-05-23 16:21:00 -0400

— , 2007-05-24 00:14:00 -0400

— Ian B. Shimkoviak , 2007-05-24 02:34:00 -0400

(Ian why doth thou not comment again?)

— Auguste , 2007-05-24 16:19:00 -0400

— , 2007-05-24 18:34:00 -0400

It really does nothing for me.

It’s ho-hum through and through.

— C-Dog , 2007-05-25 07:51:00 -0400

Another dumb thought from a dumb designer…

My fourth to be exact, for those who are keeping count;)

— Ian B. Shimkoviak , 2007-05-25 08:59:00 -0400

— Ian B. Shimkoviak , 2007-06-08 13:04:00 -0400

— , 2007-08-23 12:46:00 -0400

— yapay havuz , 2009-12-03 10:15:42 -0500

garlica

— garlica , 2010-01-20 08:12:37 -0500

biber hapi
fx15
lida
rent a car
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penis büyütücü
elektronik sigara

— red pepper , 2010-01-28 07:29:36 -0500