covers
we do book cover design

Designer: Elizabeth Lahey

title: Religion Explained

author: Pascal Boyer

publisher: Basic Books, 2002

available at Amazon.com

synopsis:

Boyer presents evidence from many specialized disciplines including anthropology, cognitive science, linguistics, and evolutionary biology to support the idea that a naturalistic explanation of religion is possible.

Do I have to explain this one? I hate explaining the good ones… The human mind is predisposed toward seeing things that aren’t there — smiley faces in the sand, castles in the clouds, a “horsehead” nebula. If you see a cross in that photo, your mind is playing a trick on you.

(the cover from the previous post is basically the same trick)

Eric J, 2008-03-23 11:20:00

Non-designer sez, “That’s a really lovely piece.”

Lizzy, 2008-03-23 11:53:00

Is the cover photo looking up or down? Ithink it’s looking up. And who took it anyway?

terry bigham, 2008-03-23 13:16:00

The wonderful, mysterious photo seems a bit at odds with the didactic title. Still though, I love this cover.

There’s a clip of Pascal Boyer from Jonathan Miller’s Brief History of Disbelief over at onegoodmove.org. Click the link below to check it out.

link, 2008-03-23 13:24:00

the above link was cut off.
here it is again:
http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/2005/11/reexamining_rel.html

PF, 2008-03-23 13:27:00

simple, powerful, wonderful

Josh, 2008-03-24 00:34:00

Mysterious, beautiful, and direct.

Blake, 2008-03-24 05:39:00

Oh no, my mind is playing a trick on me! :(

But yes, very lovely cover.

Suzie, 2008-03-24 05:55:00

perfect! Is it one color?

David Drummond, 2008-03-24 08:10:00

perfect! Is it one color?

David Drummond, 2008-03-24 08:10:00

It feels like a mystery book. I suppose there is mystery in religion, but a cross obviously relates to Christianity. The idea of a cityscape makes this title seem too much like a novel. It is pleasant to behold. Everything else is bit lost on me conceptually. Nice composition though.

Ian Shimkoviak, 2008-03-24 08:57:00

David: yes, it’s greyscale

Eric J, 2008-03-24 10:03:00

I don’t think there is ‘anything else’ to lose. Its a cross in the cityscape. Finding religion inside the bounds of civilization. The ambiguity of faith in the fog. This cover hits the nail on the head (pun intended)

Chris Papasadero / Fwis, 2008-03-24 10:05:00

The shape of an intersection is a cross. I’m not sure how that’s my mind playing tricks on me. The shape IS there.

Isaac, 2008-03-24 12:36:00

Wicked!

Luke Tonge, 2008-03-24 13:47:00

too bad Basic didn’t credit the designer.

Jonathan, 2008-03-24 17:41:00

ugh, I’m sorry… not sure what happened to that, and I threw away my notes… watch this space

Eric J, 2008-03-24 22:33:00

I like the text. The picture is rather a reach. I would like to see it in person though… I’m a sucker for B&W.

C-Dog, 2008-03-25 01:03:00

“Its a cross in the cityscape. Finding religion inside the bounds of civilization. The ambiguity of faith in the fog.”

I think these are all a designers way of seeing things—not a mass market way of seeing it. The book comes off as a dark novel. All those points are great but with a title like “RELIGION EXPLAINED”, that is not arrived at with this idea. I also think it is rather pigeon holed to use the CROSS as a universal symbol of religion. It looks like a Christian novel: “Finding Christ in Dark Time” would seem like a more appropriate title for this.

This does not take away from the graphic genius of this piece, but it’s worth stating in terms of considering a cover more than a pretty image—and rather something that does justice to the books subject.

Ian Shimkoviak, 2008-03-25 10:16:00

You’re right, Ian, the cross isn’t a universal symbol for religion.

What about this?:

http://cdn.overstock.com/images/products/L10281325aa.jpg

PF, 2008-03-25 12:08:00

That would do it for me…
I was thinking an opium poppy…

Ian Shimkoviak, 2008-03-26 08:21:00

I looked at God as an entity in the fog long before I became a designer… I don’t think this, of all the other covers we’ve posted here, is a very tough conceptual leap at a..

Chris Papasadero / Fwis, 2008-04-11 12:51:00

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