Book Design and Fine Photography
Great list — I agree with almost all of them, but wanted to call a few out especially:
Infinite Country, mentioned here;
O, Steven Carroll, cover by John Gray;
Speak, Okinawa, Elizabeth Miki Brina, cover by Janet Hansen; and
Migratory Birds, Mariana Oliver, cover by Anna Morrison.
Five book design items that caught my attention recently.
First, from ArtNet News. Prior to basically everything, Andy Warhol did this:
“The whimsical book was a collaboration with interior decorator Suzie Frankfurt, who wrote the ridiculous recipes, and the artist’s mother, Julia Warhola, who provided the calligraphy, replete with charming misspellings. [It] was the last of a number of books Warhol designed in the 1950s, before he shot to fame in 1962 with Pop art compositions featuring Campbell’s soup and Coca-Cola. Book design offered him a valuable creative outlet during the years he worked as a commercial illustrator.” See more.
The rest are from the New Yorker‘s “Briefly Noted” reviews — which, I’ll admit, inspired the title of this post. They pick four titles weekly, and while I’m sure many are great, actually great book design is rare. So to have four in two weeks … well, just had to say, “noted.” (The New Yorker is, of course, subscription — but there is a free account with limited options if you’d like to read their review.)
The first three are from the March 8th, 2021, issue, starting with In Memory of Memory:
The simplicity of the concentric rectangles — and “destination” dot — is mesmerizing.
Next, Cathedral:
Not a simple illustration in this case, and still an attention-getter in the background. Nice.
Next, my favorite of this set, The Weak Spot:
A very brief (176 page!) debut novel with hits-above-its-weight cover design. (Content, too, presumably…;)
Lastly, from the March 15th issue, Infinite Country:
Color and composition unite into something … infinitely good.
Enjoy.
From Bookshop.org’s description: “Why do some book covers instantly grab your attention, while others never get a second glance? Fusing word and image, as well as design thinking and literary criticism, this captivating investigation goes behind the scenes of the cover design process to answer this question and more.”
“As the outward face of the text, the book cover makes an all-important first impression. The Look of the Book examines art at the edges of literature through notable covers and the stories behind them, galleries of the many different jackets of bestselling books, an overview of book cover trends throughout history, and insights from dozens of literary and design luminaries.”
Looks like great stuff (if you’ll pardon the expression). Get it from Amazon Smile or Bookshop.org. (Via Kottke, unsurprisingly.)
“Book design has become more important than ever – but what makes an iconic jacket, asks Clare Thorp.” BBC Culture takes a look.
From DesignWeek, a great story on AIGA’s 50 Books | 50 Covers.
“The Book Concierge is NPR’s annual, interactive, year-end reading guide. Mix and match tags such as Book Club Ideas, Biography & Memoir, or Ladies First to filter results and find the book that’s perfect for you or someone you love.”
“Emily Mahon has been Art Director at Doubleday Books since 2006, and has also done freelance work for a wide range of publishing clients, including St. Martin’s Press, HarperCollins, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Henry Holt and Company, Alfred A, Knopf, Little, Brown and Company, Simon & Schuster, among others.
I asked Mahon about her approach to book cover design, the design process, working with outside artists, and updating classics like Frankenstein.“
Interesting interview with an accomplished book designer and art director, courtesy of Forbes Magazine.
My new favorite book design site. Well done!
Looking for imagery for your book cover? Creative Commons features a library of more than 300 million images, indexed from 19 different collections, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, DeviantArt, Behance, and Flickr. Images can be searched using keywords and filter the results based on the license type and/or the collection from which the content is sourced, essential for book design — as the vast majority of covers require commercial licenses.