I watched The Grifters the other night, which was based on a Jim Thompson book. Can’t say I cared for it much. Despite the great cast, the acting just killed me (sorta like watching Liam Neeson make a fool of himself in Star Wars I)
Anyway, Eric assures me that the book is great (but he loves the movie so what does he know.)
Regardless of either the book’s or the movie’s quality, these covers are great. Pretty sure they were done back in the early 90s. They capture the author’s Crime Noire style perfectly while still seeming fresh and interesting.
love the pulp feel: colors, typeface, b&w, cowboy hat+revolver
but is this a series? it seems to have a forced consistency. the treatment probably works best for ‘the killer’, but it seems that the others could borrow elements and aesthetics without needed to completely emulate each other. what exactly does slapping a color strip across something actually convey?
There were a number of titles from Vintage Crime / Black Lizard that looked like this—not just Jim Thompson books. I’m looking at my copy of Charles Willeford’s Cockfighter; it’s also by Keith Sheridan Associates and has the same look and feel. Chester Himes books too, if I remember correctly.
The Grifters is a great book, but Killer Inside Me is my favorite book by Jim Thompson. He is the best at gritty crime fiction. Joseph is right. There were a number of titles from Vintage Crime / Black Lizard that had a similar style to these.
Of all the Thompson/Black Lizard titles I’ve seen (I own three, and have read several others from my library), the color strip design looks best on The Killer Inside Me – it really plays up the odd angles of the photograph subject’s face, and instills the skewed/maniacal bent of the protagonist. Nice design. But it definitely didn’t work for The Grifters cover.
it’s got a easily applicable series look that works and feels good. The gecko crawling is annoying. I know it needs to be there, but on a western themed cover, it looks out of place.
It’s hard to make that font work well with anything; as exemplified here.
I agree with Shalls—as a series this feels incredibly sloppy. The real cohering factor should be the photographs, which all seem drawn from completely different stock collections and then converted to b&w. I don’t really like any of the covers, to be honest.
Come on Ben, you and the FWIS team shit better designs on your toilet break…
I don’t like the font much either, but I am assuming this is western pulp (?), and it that case fits the content. However – I do like that they are not vertically centered.
Not always easy to judge a cover without having read the book.
If anyone else goes weak-kneed over unibrows … check out tomorrow’s NYT Magazine and you’ll be in heaven from those fillies from the Yearning for Zion Ranch!
Perhaps its something you learn from actually reading the books, but why the lizard on all the covers? It seems really unconsidered.
Overall a really nice concept but poorly executed.
The Lizard on the cover is the logo for Vintage crime. I am sure the designer had not choice but to include it. Also, since these are from 1990, I suspect they were most likely put together by hand, not on computer. I think they are great.
I watched The Grifters the other night, which was based on a Jim Thompson book. Can’t say I cared for it much. Despite the great cast, the acting just killed me (sorta like watching Liam Neeson make a fool of himself in Star Wars I)
Anyway, Eric assures me that the book is great (but he loves the movie so what does he know.)
Regardless of either the book’s or the movie’s quality, these covers are great. Pretty sure they were done back in the early 90s. They capture the author’s Crime Noire style perfectly while still seeming fresh and interesting.
— Ben Pieratt, 2008-07-23 10:55:00
love the pulp feel: colors, typeface, b&w, cowboy hat+revolver
but is this a series? it seems to have a forced consistency. the treatment probably works best for ‘the killer’, but it seems that the others could borrow elements and aesthetics without needed to completely emulate each other. what exactly does slapping a color strip across something actually convey?
— shalls, 2008-07-23 12:32:00
Nice. The color strips mimic crime scene tape . ‘The Grifters’ cover doesn’t work as well as the rest of the bunch.
— Bill, 2008-07-23 12:45:00
My first idea about the orange strips was bars. Behind bars – inside – inside me, sort of. But I like the idea of it being crime scene tape.
I’d be enthusiastic about the “the killer inside me” and “savage night”, but not as a set, and indiffrent to the others. I think.
— boblet, 2008-07-23 13:08:00
Yeah I think just a consistent macro cropping overall would help these a lot, and more photo contrast like TKIM.
— Auguste, 2008-07-23 13:29:00
There were a number of titles from Vintage Crime / Black Lizard that looked like this—not just Jim Thompson books. I’m looking at my copy of Charles Willeford’s Cockfighter; it’s also by Keith Sheridan Associates and has the same look and feel. Chester Himes books too, if I remember correctly.
— Joseph, 2008-07-23 20:17:00
ok, then a lazy consistency instead of forced
— shalls, 2008-07-24 06:00:00
The Grifters is a great book, but Killer Inside Me is my favorite book by Jim Thompson. He is the best at gritty crime fiction. Joseph is right. There were a number of titles from Vintage Crime / Black Lizard that had a similar style to these.
— C. Brock, 2008-07-24 08:59:00
Of all the Thompson/Black Lizard titles I’ve seen (I own three, and have read several others from my library), the color strip design looks best on The Killer Inside Me – it really plays up the odd angles of the photograph subject’s face, and instills the skewed/maniacal bent of the protagonist. Nice design. But it definitely didn’t work for The Grifters cover.
— Pete, 2008-07-24 10:31:00
it’s got a easily applicable series look that works and feels good. The gecko crawling is annoying. I know it needs to be there, but on a western themed cover, it looks out of place.
— Ian Shimkoviak, 2008-07-24 10:57:00
is it the same guy in orange and yellow?
I hate the yellow one – mainly for the photo.
— boblet, 2008-07-24 11:22:00
It’s hard to make that font work well with anything; as exemplified here.
I agree with Shalls—as a series this feels incredibly sloppy. The real cohering factor should be the photographs, which all seem drawn from completely different stock collections and then converted to b&w. I don’t really like any of the covers, to be honest.
Come on Ben, you and the FWIS team shit better designs on your toilet break…
— C-Dog, 2008-07-24 13:30:00
I don’t like the font much either, but I am assuming this is western pulp (?), and it that case fits the content. However – I do like that they are not vertically centered.
Not always easy to judge a cover without having read the book.
— boblet, 2008-07-25 05:23:00
I like TKIM best. The crop + colored bars makes it move around. I can feel the pent-up rage. Crime-scene tape similarity is a nice bonus, too.
He’s got killer rage because of the uni-brow, right?
— von k, 2008-07-25 14:10:00
If anyone else goes weak-kneed over unibrows … check out tomorrow’s NYT Magazine and you’ll be in heaven from those fillies from the Yearning for Zion Ranch!
— Auguste, 2008-07-26 17:35:00
Perhaps its something you learn from actually reading the books, but why the lizard on all the covers? It seems really unconsidered.
Overall a really nice concept but poorly executed.
— MB, 2008-07-27 19:02:00
The Lizard on the cover is the logo for Vintage crime. I am sure the designer had not choice but to include it. Also, since these are from 1990, I suspect they were most likely put together by hand, not on computer. I think they are great.
— GK, 2008-07-28 08:34:00
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Shinjuku-Shark-2/Arimasa-Osawa/e/9781934287248/?itm=2
— John T, 2008-07-29 18:35:00
Wow, Ben, The Grifters is one of my favorite movies. I watch it every time I see it listed on TV. Whose acting don’t you like?
— shorty, 2008-07-31 18:24:00