This is another one of those posts that started out on Twitter — a flippant tweet from me sparking a conversation about books with cassette tapes and vinyl records on their covers. It turns out that putting a record on a cover has become quite popular. Unfortunately the composition of many of these covers is often strikingly similar, even if the tone/intent is different.
The combination of clunky retro-future technology of cassettes and the DIY aesthetic of mix tapes, on the other hand, provides a richer vein of inspiration…
The Art Behind the Tape by Marshall “DJ Mars” Thomas, Djibril Ndiaye, Maurice Garland, and Tai Saint-Louis; design UnderConsideration (2015)
The Big Rewind by Libby Cudmore; design by design Regina Starace (William Morrrow / February 2016)
The Counter-narratives of Radical Theology and Popular Music edited by Michael Grimshaw; design Palgrave Macmillan Design (Palgrave Macmillan / May 2014)
Don’t You Forget About Me by Jancee Dunn; design by Catherine Casalino (Villard Books / July 2008)
Earthbound by Paul Morley; design by Jim Stoddart (Penguin / August 2013)
He Died with His Eyes Open by Derek Raymond; design by Christopher Brian King (Melville House / October 2011)
An Iron Rose by Peter Temple; design by W. H. Chong (Text / June 2016)
Kill Your Friends by John Niven; design by Glenn ONeill; Photograph Colin Thomas (Cornerstone / July 2014)
Landscapes of the Metropolis of Death by Otto Dov Kulka; design by Jim Stoddart (Penguin / March 2014)
Bar Yarns and Manic Depressive Mix Tapes by Jim Walsh; design by Michel Vrana; lettering by Robert Lawson (University of Minnesota Press / NYP)
The New Sorrows of the Young W. by Ulrich Plenzdorf; design Clare Skeats; cover art by Joel Penkman; series design David Pearson (Pushkin Press / September 2015)
Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; design by Erik Mohr (Solaris / October 2015)
Tape by Steven Camden; cover art by Keri Smith (HarperCollins Children’s Books / January 2014)
Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra; design Christopher Brand; photography Bobby Doherty (Hogarth / October 2015)
(I also rather like this tape-related killed cover by designer Na Kim)
So there you have it — cassette tape book covers are a thing. But please let’s not get started on VHS tape book covers…