Book Covers - Hamlet

Marsden's attempting to develop one of Shakespeare's greatest characters into something 'teens' can grasp and learn to love, without sacrificing the the artful subtlety and complexity of Shakespeare's language and characters. The idea isn't to lower the bar, but to warm the reader up to it. The skull is the symbol for Hamlet, but the way it is treated makes it feel other-worldy and looming. It grabbed my attention. The type feels unfinished. It works at first glance, but after looking a bit closer, it feels too vector. I know sometimes the Covers that make there way onto Amazon aren't always the final version, so maybe the type is still in the works?

Shakespeare's plays are the subject of some amazing poster design (Here and Here). But I have noticed that his books don't fare so well when it comes to cover design. Feel free to post links if you find anything interesting.

— Fwis , 2009-06-18 10:13:40 -0400

I like the giant skull in the mist treatment and agree about the type. Something about the negative spaces in the E look like sword points or fence pickets to me. I kind of like that. the rest of it needs serious massaging. It kind of looks like a "grunge" font set too large.

"A novel" seems like it could be a little better-integrated or better yet dropped altogether, but I supposed designers rarely get to decide what goes / stays.

That's ironic. I just finished a cover design for a new edition of Shakespeare's version.

Perhaps this design fits the mood of Marsden's book, I don't know, but it doesn't provoke the sense of timelessness one immediately feels in connection with Hamlet. The font is certainly a quandary. The overall distress -- between the hammy font and the acid-washed skull graphic -- feels somewhat cheap to me. Perhaps a different font, something more classical, would make the difference for my eyes.

I realize concessions must be made for young adults, or children, but I think some of the best and longest lasting designs in history have been for children's books and YAs. No reason for it to come off as obtuse or hammy.

This cover isn't bad at all! But I guess I just don't find it very compelling; particularly given the gravity of the subject and its creator.

Saw this cover at the Book Design Review site. It's great -- if I'd seen this as a kid, I'd have read it straight off. I like the way it's direct, but mysterious. The type looks right to me -- sorta unpretentious and knockabout, but also eccentric and not "respectable". The E counter spaces look daggery, which is nice for Hamlet. no? -- Eve baby

WH knows what he's doing- let me assure you. The type makes perfect sense and gives it a contemporary edge that just wouldnt be achievable with classic serif. I'm with Eve baby- the silhouette daggers in the E are a lovely subtle nod to the narrative. This was a recent book design winner in the land down under. Check out his cover for the new Nick Cave novel- the one on the far right- a no nonsense cover that knocks the US and UK versions on their respective asses:
http://20.media.tumblr.com/bP4YKyXTjnzpapf6mUH3y98Yo1_500.jpg

I think it's an attractive enough cover and a noble attempt on the writers part to bring an otherwise unappraochable character to a younger audience. Obviously the skull is an all too familiar image for Hamlet. So in that sense it's done. Love the "novel" in the nose.

Colloquially, the word "ironic" is so misused that I have virtually adopted as a synonym for "coincidence." ...Which doesn't make it any less of a grammatical error, I admit, but at least it's a flimsy defense.

This should be seen in real life, printed on uncoated stock with a dark bronzed foil stamping with embossed type.

first of all there is nothing "poor composition and type execution" about this. It's not brain science, but it's not lame by any means.

Secondly, Production value/techniques can and do make for an amazing aspect of a books final look and feel. And in fact can improve the final emotion of the piece despite the overall design. You can have a very simple and uneventful cover, but you splash some spot uv or foil on their, and BAM! you have a decent cover that has that extra layer of tactile sensibility that makes you want to grab that baby and give it a smooch.

Well, then that's where we disagree. Compositionally this thing is way bottom heavy and has no natural flow. It appears we have plenty of room up top for the Titanic. This is basic design school stuff... As someone mentioned above it does appear hatched in 5 minutes...

In defense of space, I would direct you to my favorite painting, The Death of Marat:

I don't really like this cover either, but I don't think you can fault a misuse of space. Bottom heavy stuff is WIN.

The skull is also a reference to a scene in the play where Hamlet is in a graveyard, comes across the skull and says, ‘‘Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him Horatio: / A fellow of infinite jest’’ (V.i.184).....

Oh wow! Is that what the skull refers to? Thanks for the precision Anonymous Coward, nobody knew.
Note: Now THIS is irony, and not a coincidence...

This cover made me look. I'm not a very good designer (yet) so I can't decide if it's bad or good, but the treatment of the imagery was unexpected. I mean, when I think Hamlet, I think skull, but never in this radiography-like way, so that makes it different and different is good, because it makes you look.

The colors and the type work with the whole misunderstood teenager theme (that Hamlet ultimately was). I don't think the gray looks too well, though.

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