I had this book recommended to me by a couple people. So I grabbed it.
Three thoughts:
1) The book itself didn’t do much for me. It started out great, but got fairly boring by the end. Just sayin’.
2) The cover sucks pretty hard. It looks “ok” on screen. But in person everything’s sorta fuzzy and rasterized and it’s just sort of a mess. Which is doubly odd because the cover was designed by The Chopping Block. Now I know they’re a web firm, but damn. Did they have an intern do this or something?
3) One of the vintage covers for this book is amazing. Check below.
—
, 2007-04-06 07:57:00 -0400
old school rules.
—
, 2007-04-06 09:26:00 -0400
They were filming this with Will Smith all around Greenwich Village a couple months ago. And elsewhere in the city too. I hope the film is somehow better than the cover…
I think this would have been a better cover if they had left out the three fanged individuals on the bottom which would have made the cover look less like a bad b movie poster and less blatant. Dispensing with the drop shadow on the decorative element at the top, which might work on the web but doesn’t on a book cover, would have helped as well.
I have a sense that cover design is going to start moving in a more minimalist direction and we will hopefully see less and less of these overwrought designs. To paraphrase the Clinton war room “it’s the concept, stupid”
THIS MAY BE THE MOST STUPIFYING COMMENT YOU WILL EVER READ!!!!!!
—> i’d love to know what makes the vintage version amazing. perhaps you could begin by justifying (pardon) the six exclamation marks.
—
, 2007-04-06 13:42:00 -0400
What an odd pseudo-challenge.
It speaks of a sensibility that is no longer employed. It’s stupid and gutsy and bold and wonderful like an old Steve Martin stand-up bit.
Such an odd combination of sinister imagery and jovial colors. The type is well set, the illustration is spot on, the use of white space is engaging, the composition is unusual.
A far as the six exclamation points are concerned, I assume it’s because seven would have ruined his even justification?
I kind of like both covers, indeed, all three if I’m to include beauGeste’s link. Yet all seem to miss the mark ultimately. The rasterizing Ben talks about on the Chopping Block version sounds like a real spoil, and it does seem to place a little too much stock on the decorative elements; the bold and wonderful visual hit of the older Bantam cover is let down for me by its distance from any immediately recognisable nod to the genre.
—
, 2007-04-06 20:42:00 -0400
I read this on my way to Seoul last month. A bit disappointed that “I Am Legend” only takes up half the book, and the rest is filled with hey-didn’t-Stephen-King-write-a-story-like-that-30-years-later? shorts.
As for the movie, no, it won’t be good. If you’ve read the story and heard anything about the movie shoot, you’ll know.
For the cover: why is it here at all? It’s mediocre at best, but certainly better than the “vintage” offering.
—
, 2007-04-06 23:55:00 -0400
I think my biggest problem with it is that the designer went for obvious solution – show vampires a la “night of the living dead”. I am positive you could have made a nod to the genre but still come up with an original concept. Something less predictable that would pull you in.
BeauGeste’s early edition wins if this is a three-way competition.
I agree with several of you – the current cover just seems unoriginal and uninspired.
The vintage one comes off as exciting largely because it’s just sort of neat – but I don’t think there was enough logic behind the design decisions made. It’s just sort of retro cool. Doesn’t seem very relevant to the book.
too much image effects…. makes the design focus on the figuring out the picture rather than the title… i dont really think this kind of layout works on cover but maybe effective on motion picture like most horror movies where fear and disillusioned is being portrayed. i’ll give a +5
Wasnt that story the basis for the Omega Man movie w/ Charlton Heston? I saw it on TV a while ago and the thing I remember is how empty the city was since everyone died. It seems like that sort of desolation would have led to a different cover concept.
—
, 2007-04-09 02:59:00 -0400
I like the ornamentation up top. The over all impact is flat for the book having a strong, short tile like it does. The photograph is nice. Other than that it falls short on way too many levels to be a strong cover—small type for a strong tile, monochromatic, flat, lacks depth despite and image that offers more to play with. Perhaps a blured type treatment at an angle, playing off the perspective might have been nicer.
The original cover is just bluntly ugly.
—
, 2007-04-09 12:02:00 -0400
I know some of you have to like that old cover as much as I do. But either way, I bought it and it came in today. It’s even more awesomer in person.
I agree with “the designer went for obvious solution.” Its as if the designers boss told the overworked graphic designer to hurry up and make a book cover about vampires because after reading the short story the reader can formulate many different posible designs that emphisize the last man on earth.
It as a great book all the way up to the point where it went into short stories. I was hoping for some kind of crazy escape or something, instead i get some bullshit stories…...in my opinion it should be published without all the crap.
—
, 2007-11-25 13:35:00 -0500
I have no qualms with this cover personally. It’s a stunning design that grabs you by the collar. I bought it partly because author David Wellington (Monster Island) listed it as one of his inspirations.
The book was good and kept me interested. Towards the end, it sorta fizzled out, but overall captivating read.
The design, I don’t know, it’s just as simple as the older version – which is retro-cool. The newer one gives you a sense of unstoppable doom and dread, which is essential for a horror story. You get the image of the endless army of vampires ready to tear apart Neville and it scares you a bit. This design is accomplishing a lot and I think it deserves some credit. Give it a chance, man!
I Am Legend
I had this book recommended to me by a couple people. So I grabbed it.
Three thoughts:
1) The book itself didn’t do much for me. It started out great, but got fairly boring by the end. Just sayin’.
2) The cover sucks pretty hard. It looks “ok” on screen. But in person everything’s sorta fuzzy and rasterized and it’s just sort of a mess. Which is doubly odd because the cover was designed by The Chopping Block. Now I know they’re a web firm, but damn. Did they have an intern do this or something?
3) One of the vintage covers for this book is amazing. Check below.
— , 2007-04-06 07:57:00 -0400
old school rules.
— , 2007-04-06 09:26:00 -0400
They were filming this with Will Smith all around Greenwich Village a couple months ago. And elsewhere in the city too. I hope the film is somehow better than the cover…
— ToddG , 2007-04-06 10:39:00 -0400
I think this would have been a better cover if they had left out the three fanged individuals on the bottom which would have made the cover look less like a bad b movie poster and less blatant. Dispensing with the drop shadow on the decorative element at the top, which might work on the web but doesn’t on a book cover, would have helped as well.
I found an early edition of this book which though a bit dated has more going for it. http://i.biblio.com/b/703l/69095703-0-l.jpg
I have a sense that cover design is going to start moving in a more minimalist direction and we will hopefully see less and less of these overwrought designs. To paraphrase the Clinton war room “it’s the concept, stupid”
— beauGeste , 2007-04-06 11:02:00 -0400
THIS MAY BE THE MOST STUPIFYING COMMENT YOU WILL EVER READ!!!!!!
—> i’d love to know what makes the vintage version amazing. perhaps you could begin by justifying (pardon) the six exclamation marks.
— , 2007-04-06 13:42:00 -0400
What an odd pseudo-challenge.
It speaks of a sensibility that is no longer employed. It’s stupid and gutsy and bold and wonderful like an old Steve Martin stand-up bit.
Such an odd combination of sinister imagery and jovial colors. The type is well set, the illustration is spot on, the use of white space is engaging, the composition is unusual.
A far as the six exclamation points are concerned, I assume it’s because seven would have ruined his even justification?
— Ben Pieratt , 2007-04-06 19:06:00 -0400
I kind of like both covers, indeed, all three if I’m to include beauGeste’s link. Yet all seem to miss the mark ultimately. The rasterizing Ben talks about on the Chopping Block version sounds like a real spoil, and it does seem to place a little too much stock on the decorative elements; the bold and wonderful visual hit of the older Bantam cover is let down for me by its distance from any immediately recognisable nod to the genre.
— , 2007-04-06 20:42:00 -0400
I read this on my way to Seoul last month. A bit disappointed that “I Am Legend” only takes up half the book, and the rest is filled with hey-didn’t-Stephen-King-write-a-story-like-that-30-years-later? shorts.
As for the movie, no, it won’t be good. If you’ve read the story and heard anything about the movie shoot, you’ll know.
For the cover: why is it here at all? It’s mediocre at best, but certainly better than the “vintage” offering.
— , 2007-04-06 23:55:00 -0400
I think my biggest problem with it is that the designer went for obvious solution – show vampires a la “night of the living dead”. I am positive you could have made a nod to the genre but still come up with an original concept. Something less predictable that would pull you in.
— beauGeste , 2007-04-07 00:03:00 -0400
BeauGeste’s early edition wins if this is a three-way competition.
I agree with several of you – the current cover just seems unoriginal and uninspired.
The vintage one comes off as exciting largely because it’s just sort of neat – but I don’t think there was enough logic behind the design decisions made. It’s just sort of retro cool. Doesn’t seem very relevant to the book.
— jasfitz , 2007-04-07 05:51:00 -0400
too much image effects…. makes the design focus on the figuring out the picture rather than the title… i dont really think this kind of layout works on cover but maybe effective on motion picture like most horror movies where fear and disillusioned is being portrayed. i’ll give a +5
— ongoy , 2007-04-08 14:17:00 -0400
“It’s just sort of retro cool. Doesn’t seem very relevant to the book.”
Bingo.
— , 2007-04-08 17:27:00 -0400
Acky…
— C-Dog , 2007-04-08 18:29:00 -0400
cliché isnt it?
— kbone , 2007-04-08 19:58:00 -0400
Wasnt that story the basis for the Omega Man movie w/ Charlton Heston? I saw it on TV a while ago and the thing I remember is how empty the city was since everyone died. It seems like that sort of desolation would have led to a different cover concept.
— , 2007-04-09 02:59:00 -0400
I like the ornamentation up top. The over all impact is flat for the book having a strong, short tile like it does. The photograph is nice. Other than that it falls short on way too many levels to be a strong cover—small type for a strong tile, monochromatic, flat, lacks depth despite and image that offers more to play with. Perhaps a blured type treatment at an angle, playing off the perspective might have been nicer.
The original cover is just bluntly ugly.
— , 2007-04-09 12:02:00 -0400
I know some of you have to like that old cover as much as I do. But either way, I bought it and it came in today. It’s even more awesomer in person.
Click for detail:
— Ben Pieratt , 2007-04-10 16:25:00 -0400
Your sausage fingers compliment the cover quite well. ;) Hi Ben.
— C-Dog , 2007-04-10 17:02:00 -0400
Ooo, I like that one…
— J.R. Caines , 2007-04-10 17:34:00 -0400
Oddly enough, the older (UK?) version features the same illustration but with a different (though equally bad) layout: http://tinyurl.com/2wfm4y
The image crops up quite a few times if Google it. I wonder who drew it?
The current UK cover is nice, though it is very much a soft, matt stock tactile kind of experience: http://tinyurl.com/2mfmc3
— Jim , 2007-04-25 04:00:00 -0400
I agree with “the designer went for obvious solution.” Its as if the designers boss told the overworked graphic designer to hurry up and make a book cover about vampires because after reading the short story the reader can formulate many different posible designs that emphisize the last man on earth.
— Steven , 2007-06-04 11:01:00 -0400
It as a great book all the way up to the point where it went into short stories. I was hoping for some kind of crazy escape or something, instead i get some bullshit stories…...in my opinion it should be published without all the crap.
— , 2007-11-25 13:35:00 -0500
I have no qualms with this cover personally. It’s a stunning design that grabs you by the collar. I bought it partly because author David Wellington (Monster Island) listed it as one of his inspirations.
The book was good and kept me interested. Towards the end, it sorta fizzled out, but overall captivating read.
The design, I don’t know, it’s just as simple as the older version – which is retro-cool. The newer one gives you a sense of unstoppable doom and dread, which is essential for a horror story. You get the image of the endless army of vampires ready to tear apart Neville and it scares you a bit. This design is accomplishing a lot and I think it deserves some credit. Give it a chance, man!
— Ponch , 2007-11-29 03:26:00 -0500
i like this book funny scary and wired all in one book!
— , 2007-12-08 13:35:00 -0500
i like this book funny scary and wired all in one book!
— , 2007-12-08 13:35:00 -0500
I think this one is pretty good. The Vintage one is the best.
http://www.iamlegendarchive.com/covers/french_pb_2.jpg
— Michael , 2007-12-16 04:27:00 -0500
I agree with what you said, Ben. This cover is arresting.
— yapay havuz , 2009-12-03 09:46:59 -0500
legent
— garlica , 2010-01-20 08:02:53 -0500
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— red pepper , 2010-01-28 06:30:07 -0500