title: Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior

Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior

This is one of those covers that sings on the the shelf, even though it is graphically quiet, and not immediately apparent what draws you to it. It has all the elements of a boring cover: centered, restrained typography, an almost black & white color palette, and a big ol' photo.

But it's all about tight art direction, down to the details (I'd like to know if the period after 'Spent' was a part of the original title, or a smart move on the part of the designer). Evan Gaffney has proved himself as an adept designer (look here, here, and here), but good art direction can sometimes get overlooked by design critics. For me, this recalls George Lois's amazing covers for Esquire in the early 80's — amazing concepts beautifully photographed, with some occasional photo-illustration.

— Fwis , 2009-07-24 10:20:31 -0400

The quiet layout and addition of the period remind me of the 1960s printed ad campaign for the VW Beetle. Google 'Volkswagen Beetle Lemon' and you'll see what I mean.

— Anonymous Coward , 2009-07-24 12:46:21 -0400

inspired by Banksy?
http://media.photobucket.com/image/banksy%20caveman/galvino36/BANKSY-TROLLY-CAVEMEN.jpg

— , 2009-07-25 16:48:18 -0400

Gotta say I much prefer Anonymous and Shalls' examples to this cover.

In my opinion, the image of the caveman here isn't monumental enough for the task. (It's kind of cheesy and too put-on.) Unlike the image in the nearly identical VW ad. Here, the titled competes with the author line and it feels weird that one should have pronounced punctuation and the other not. You lose a lot of balance somehow.

Perhaps if the text were reformatted and the image replaced with Banksy's this would be more successful in my eyes.

— Chad , 2009-07-25 22:48:28 -0400

Knowing Evan, this is totally a unique concept; and the image's finality is correct given the title's punctuation.

— Anonymous Coward , 2009-07-26 04:14:05 -0400

It's immediately attractive on the shelf. Well, that format is so familiar, like a classic Wordpress layout. It works because we know it does. Type text here.

The image is the most nebulous part. It might help to call the book 'Evolution and Consumer Behavior.' Then the photo becomes representative and it doesn’t cast aside the notion of being 'Spent.' or what definition of 'Sex' the author is referring to.

Maybe if the caveman is having sex whilst pushing the cart and handing money to a cashier? Or should there be a lady caveperson in the picture with a little dress on to draw differences between the sexes? Photographs are tricky for book covers.

— Anonymous Coward , 2009-07-27 01:55:31 -0400

this image was used on another book cover. cant remember the title though.

— Anonymous Coward , 2009-07-27 22:25:15 -0400

This cover kind of weirds me out. Looks like a caveman with 70s hair escaped from The Natural History Museum to go glugging around Wal-Mart. He looks very ill-intentioned. Yes, he is most definitely up to no good. (Consumerism?)

— Anonymous Coward , 2009-07-29 11:39:24 -0400

kodomanlar ordeklerle kosarken birden karsilarinda orhan gencebay cikmis sonra muslum b una bozulmus baslamislar kolbasti oynamaya sonra yorulmuslar otururken mum sondu yapmaya karar vermisler acaba niye?

— yapay havuz , 2009-12-03 10:31:47 -0500

biber hapi
fx15
lida
avcilar rent a car
magna rx
penis büyütücü
elektronik sigara

— red pepper , 2010-01-28 08:50:29 -0500