Book Covers - Never Sleep: Graduating to Graphic Design

Another cover from our friends at Dress Code. Never Sleep is an intriguing mix of personal anecdote and practical advice. It's somewhere between karlssonwilker's Tell Me Why, and Adrian Shaughnessy's How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul, detailing their own experience in making the transition from design school to running a studio, and offering advice, interviews, and essays along the way from their mentors and heroes.

I love a cover without a title, and it's an easy thing to get away with when your audience is all designers. It reminds me of one of my professor's mantras: 'It's all about the portfolio'. (He would say this as he passed around a sheet of paper at the end of the semester and let us fill in out own grades.)

— Fwis , 2009-05-29 09:27:51 -0400

We designed an earlier version that did have type on it (http://www.underconsideration.com/speakup/archives/book_neversleep_big.jpg), but decided to leave it off in the end because the cover was more iconic without it. We probably never would have gotten away with this if there was a client involved.

I don't know... the inconsistent lighting brewed with the drop shadow attack presents a bewildering quality concern to my eyes. It has the feel of a digital photo collage whilst, I assume, it is not suppose to have such an effect.

I much prefer the alternate cover Dan linked to above. But... the shadows... are insane. The desire to convey so much artificial depth is a strange marriage for design otherwise invested in minimalism.

I just don't think its very good- or particularly inspired. It might work well as a little brochure cover for a campus promo but as a book cover its just a bit underwhelming.

I dunno, I like it. It welcomes investigation. And, depending on what the spine looks like (warm brown of the case with vibrant lettering?), would seem rather attractive. Though, I must say, the cover with type on it looked very nice, too.

Don't like it myself. A schlubbily-dressed suburban white guy cowering behind his portfolio? I understand it's advice for graduates, but as a Parsons grad I wonder when imagery of the profession became so dumbed down , like a Judd Apatow comedy.

The cover concept seems designed to appeal to mediocrity, suburban and sad and oddly wimpy and defeatist. "Don't hurt me!", the figure seems to be saying. Well, art and design is no democracy, and anyone wearing such and ugly yellow striped shirt, sloppily untucked, I probably wouldn't hire.

The real problem is that in the last decade or so, everyone with a computer fancies themself a "graphic designer". That's exactly what this cover reminds me of. Dumbed down standards.

Old cover was deff. better. Interior spreads are nice and this is a very useful book. Its funny how designers often choke when it comes to designing their own books... or design books in general. C'est la, I've been there and frozen before too.

at 1st glance i dont know what the heck this books is all about. the idea is great but i think something is missing. maybe a little hint. the hands are off too it looks bigger.

LOL, but what do you have against yellow stripped shirts? Did you have one when you were little and were you often locked in a darkened closet?

The guy in the picture looks like the Everyman high school or college student (which is why this looks like a high school design assignment to me... you go out into the hall and take a few photos to work with in the classroom). I hardly think an untucked shirt is symbolic of defeatist mediocrity. Its just how millions (billions?) of us choose to wear our casual clothing. I, for one, would be more concerned with the man who needlessly tucks all of his shirts in.

i don't really see how this visual solution relates to the title at all.
of course i get the whole portfolio thing and those cases are pretty iconic to any design student, but this seems more like a poster for a senior exit show.

It doesn't make much sense to do non-fiction covers without titles. Unless it's a recognizable celebrity's face, you run the risk of people not knowing what the book is about.

Considering this book is geared toward designers and especially student designers, I think the cover works without a title. Certainly it might exclude some people, but it's not necessarily FOR them. Any designer recognizes what's being shown here. I know I would pick it up based off of that.

"I understand it's advice for graduates, but as a Parsons grad I wonder when imagery of the profession became so dumbed down , like a Judd Apatow comedy."
^^^ Strong case of wankery. My eyes haven't rolled this hard in a while.

I wouldn't have guessed that graphic designers are in need of toting such large portfolios. As a student of too many studio art classes during my undergrad years, I found a need to get one such portfolio. I would expect design students to carry around a stylish, over-the-shoulder messenger bag full of flash drives, portable mega-drives, and the occasional rewritable CD or DVD.

I agree with the general dissident, a title is a must. I would guess this to be the memoirs of some art student turned pretentious conceptual artist.

this is perfect – self-mocking, an in-joke, and emphasising the most important thing to a designer, their portfolio. nailed it!

I get it...its ok not bad, but not great...its a little expected in my opinion. (A portfolio for a cover for a book about graphic designer portfolios...yawn.) Having the title I think makes the cover a bit more interesting. The image would then not relate directly to the great title and it becomes a bit more interesting.

I'm so tired of people holding books in front of their faces or portfolios, or posters. I agree with the Anon. Coward before me, YAWN.

I own the book, and think combined with the bold white on black title on the spine, it works awesome. The cover is very successful in my opinion, and doesn't send out anything overly subliminal, despite the pretentious opinions of NY art school grads. These guys are badasses, and certainly have been hired.

Actually, I just thought I'd add the book is set in Arial, which is ironic because it is aimed so directly at that kind of design pretentiousness that would critique this cover so viciously. They own their own studio, which not many here can say I'm sure