Skip to content

Tag: leo nickolls

Notable YA Covers of 2021

These posts are such a last minute scramble I don’t usually offer much in the way of commentary. It is hard to ignore, however, how many of my selections this year are illustrated. This may be a reflection of my personal preferences. Certainly, it isn’t new. As I mentioned in my look back at the year’s adult covers, the trends in 2021 felt very much like a continuation of the previous couple of years. Even so, I was struck by the sophistication and the range of YA illustrations this year. There are some illustrators whose work appears here more than once, but I don’t get the sense that there is a dominant style across category. It seems to depend very much on the specifics of the genre and the age range of the readership. That said, there is, perhaps, a common theme of ornate detail and decoration.

I am also finding it harder to differentiate between covers for more mature YA readers and adult covers of the same genre these days. If the cover blurbs and other identifiers (“A Novel”) didn’t give it away, the combination of the typography, colour palette, and the apparent age of the protagonist depicted used to give me a clue. Now it seems to me that there is a blurring of the lines, and I’ve had to check a couple of times recently to be sure of the intended readership age. I’d be curious to know if this is intentional on the part of publishers.

Anyway, there are some fantastic covers this year. Buzzfeed has a really decent list with design and illustration credits too if you’re looking for a second opinion (not that they need any clicks from me!). You can find my 2020 list here if you are interested.

Happy New Year!

All Of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman; design by Will Staehle (Tor Teen / November 2021)

Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Mathieu; design by Kerri Resnick (Roaring Brook Press / October 2021)

Before We Disappear by Shaun David Hutchinson; design by Jessie Gang; illustration by Valentina Remenar (Harperteen / September 2021)

Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert; art and design Natasha Cunningham (Balzer & Bray / October 2021)

Cazadora by Romina Garber; design by Kerri Resnick; illustation by Daria Hlazatova (Wednesday Books / August 2021)

The cover of Lobizona was on last year’s list:

City of Rust by Gemma Fowler; design by Steve Wells; illustration by Karl James Mountford (Chicken House / March 2021)

The Coming Storm by Regina M. Hansen; cover art by Tran Nguyen (Atheneum Books for Young Readers / June 2021)

Dark Rise by C. S. Pacat; design by Laura Mock; illustration by Magdalena Pagowska (Quill Tree Books / September 2021)

Drawn That Way by Elissa Sussman; design by Sarah Creech; lettering and illustration by art lettering Francesca Protopapa (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers / September 2021)

Dustborn by Erin Bowman; design by Mary Claire Cruz; illustration by Matt Griffin (Clarion / April 2021)

Aside from generally being a terrific SFF illustrator, I believe Matt Griffin illustrated the cover of Ace Books’ deluxe hardcover edition of Dune by Frank Herbert a couple of years ago, so he seems like an inspired choice here.

The Falling Girls by Hayley Krischer; design by Samira Iravani; illustration by Sarah Maxwell (Razorbill / October 2021)

Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado; design by Chelsea Hunter; illustration Ericka Lugo (Holiday House / February 2021)

Fire with Fire by Destiny Soria; design by Mary Claire Cruz; illustration by Viv Tanner (Clarion / June 2021)

The Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley; design by Richard Deas; illustration Moses Lunham (Henry Holt & Company / March 2021)

(Sorry — I couldn’t find a cover image without the roundel. If anyone at Macmillan would like to send me one, I’ll be happy to replace it)

The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur; illustration Pedro Tapa (Feiwel & Friends / April 2021)

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna; design Ray Shappell; cover art by Tarajosu (Delacorte Press / February 2021)

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao; design by Talia Abramson; illustration Ashley Mackenzie (Penguin Teen / September 2021)

Lies Like Wildfire by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez; design by Casey Moses; cover art Mishko (Delacorte / September 2021)

Love is for Losers by Wibke Brueggemann; design by Rachel Vale (Macmillan Children’s Books / January 2021)

The cover of the US edition, published by ‎ Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) in February, was designed by Aurora Parlagreco with an illustration by Sally Nixon. I like it a lot too. It’s interesting to see the contrast between the UK and US markets.

Me (Moth) by Amber McBride; design and illustration by Richard Deas (Feiwel & Friends / August 2021)

Muse by Brittany Cavallaro; design by David Curtis; illustration by Florian Schommer (Katherine Tegen Books / February 2021)

Namesake by Adrienne Young; design by Kerri Resnick; photograph by Sveltana Belyaeva (Wednesday Books / March 2021)

Fable, the other half of this cover, was published in September 2020 and featured in last year’s YA cover round-up.

Oculta by Maya Motayne; design by Aurora Parlagreco and Jenna Stempel-Lobell; art by Mark Van Leeuwen (Balzer & Bray / April 2021)

The cover of Nocturna, the previous book in the series, was featured in my 2019 YA round-up.

The Ones We’re Meant To Find by Joan He; design Aurora Parlagreco; illustration Aykut Aydogdu (Roaring Brook Press / May 2021)

Red Wolf by Rachel Vincent; design Alice Wang; illustration Dan Burgess (Harperteen / July 2021)

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; illustration by Chervelle Fryer (Harperteen / July 2021)

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim; design Alison Impey; cover art by Tran Nguyen; lettering by Alix Northrup (Alfred A. Knopf BYR / July 2021)

Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen; cover art by Jeff Manning (Random House BYR / November 2021)

Smoke by Darcy Woods; design Ray Shappell; lettering and photography Agustina Gastaldi Ferrario (Crown BYR / June 2021)

Soul Lanterns by Shaw Kuzki; design Carol Ly; illustration Shoko Ishida (Delacorte / March 2021)

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow; design David Curtis (Tordotcom / October 2021)

(I’m not sure that this is actually YA technically speaking, but it fits better on this list than the other one)

Terciel & Elinor by Garth Nix; design David Curtis; illustration Ashley Mackenzie (Katherine Tegen Books / November 2021)

The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani; cover art Jenny Zemanek (Harperteen / March 2021)

This goes very nicely with the cover of Thorn, the author’s previous book, published in hardcover last year.

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron; design by Jet Purdie; illustration by Raymond Sébastien (Bloomsbury YA / June 2021)

This Will Be Funny Someday by Katie Henry; design David Curtis (Katherine Tegen Books / January 2021)

Tides of Mutiny by Rebecca Rode; design Leo Nickolls (Jimmy Patterson / September 2021)

The Verdigris Pawn by Alysa Wishingrad; design by Laura Mock ; illustration Júlia Sardà (HarperCollins / July 2021)

Yes, this is middle-grade and not YA, but I really like the lettering and I love Júlia Sardà’s illustrations so I’m allowing it.

When You Look Like Us by Pamela N. Harris; design David Dewitt; illustration Shane Ramos (Quill Tree Books / January 2021)

Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood; design Kerri Resnick; illustration Palesa (Wednesday Books / October 2021)

(Another cover image with a roundel. Apologies. At least it is somewhat less obtrusive here.)

Yolk by Mary H. K. Choi; design Lizzy Bromley; cover art by gg (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers / March 2021)

The covers of Emergency Contact and Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi designed by Lizzy Bromley with art by gg have featured in previous year’s lists.

Comments closed

Notable YA Covers of 2020

My first post of 2021 is a look back at some of the young adult covers that caught my eye last year. I’m sure that I have missed a lot of great work (waves hands at everything that went on in 2020), so apologies if your favourites aren’t here. Happy New Year!

Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams; design by Marcie Lawrence and Jenny Kimura; illustration by Tom Bagshaw (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers / June 2020)

All Our Worst Ideas by Vicky Skinner; design by Katie Klimowicz (Swoon Reads / August 2020)

Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson; design by Theresa Evangelista; illustration by Stephanie Singleton (Nancy Paulsen Books / September 2020)

Black Canary: Breaking Silence by Alexandra Monir; design by Regina Flath; illustration by Jen Bartel (Random House Books for Young Readers / December 2020)

Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown; design by Carol Ly; illustration by Noa Denmon (Henry Holt & Company / January 2020)

The Burning by Laura Bates; design by Philip Pascuzzo (Sourcebooks Fire / April 2020)

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas; design Liz Dresner; illustration by Mars Lauderbaugh (Swoon Reads / September 2020)

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; illustration by Bijou Karman (Quill Tree Books / May 2020)

Cloak of Night by Evelyn Skye; design by Alice Wang; illustration by DOFRESH; lettering by Vasava (Balzer + Bray / February 2020)

Coming Up For Air by Nicole B. Tyndall; design by Casey Moses; art by Pedro Tapa (Delacorte Press / December 2020)

Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram; design by Samira Iravani; illustration by Adams Carvalho (Dial / August 2020)

The same team also created the cover for Darius the Great is Not Okay:

The Easy Part of Impossible by Sarah Tomp; design by David DeWitt; art by Samantha French (HarperTeen / April 2020)

Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri; art direction by Elizabeth Parisi; illustration by David Curtis (Levine Querido / August 2020)

Fable by Adrienne Young; design by Kerri Resnick; photograph by Sveltana Belyaeva (Wednesday Books / September 2020)

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender; design by Chris Kwon; illustration by Alex Cabal (Balzer + Bray / May 2020)

Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee; design by Laura Benton; illustration by Charlie Bowater (Page Street Kids / June 2020)

Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez; design by Laura Williams; illustration by Rachelle Baker (Algonquin Young Readers / September 2020)

The Good Girls by Claire Eliza Bartlett; design Diana Sousa; Illustration by Kaethe Butcher (HarperTeen / December 2020)

Goodbye from Nowhere by Sara Zarr; design by Alice Wang (Balzer + Bray / April 2020)

Grief Angels by David Owen; design by Leo Nickolls (Atom / March 2020)

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; illustration by Rachelle Baker (Katherine Tegen Books / September 2020)

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke; cover art by Karl J Mountford (Chicken House / April 2020)

It’s My Life by Stacie Ramey; design by Kerri Resnick (Sourcebooks Fire / January 2020)

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu; design by Kristie Radwilowicz; illustration by David Curtis (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers / March 2020)

Lobizona by Romina Garber; design by Kerri Resnick; illustation by Daria Hlazatova (Wednesday Books / August 2020)

Nobody Knows But You by Anica Mrose Rissi; design by Molly Fehr; illustration by Hokyoung Kim (Quill Tree Books / September 2020)

Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles; design by Molly Fehr; illustration by Jor Ros (Quill Tree Books / January 2020)

Sasha Masha by Agnes Borinsky; design by Cassie Gonzalez; illustration by Carolina Rodriguez Fuenmayor (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / November 2020)

Seasons of the Storm by Elle Cosimano; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; art by Pauline Boiteux (HarperTeen / June 2020)

See No Color by Shannon Gibney; design by Chelsea Hunter; illustration by Bee Johnson (Holiday House / July 2020)

Shielded by KayLynn Flanders; design by Regina Flath; art by Alex Dos Diaz (Delacorte / July 2020)

The Silence of Bones by June Hur; design by Katie Klimowicz; art by Kasiq Jungwoo (Feiwel & Friends / April 2020)

Smash It by Francina Simone; design by Gigi Lau; illustration by Benjamin Wachenje (Inkyard Press / September 2020)

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown; design by Jessie Gang; art by Tawny Chatmon; lettering by Martina Flor (Balzer + Bray / June 2020)

The Stepping Off Place by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum; design by Catherine San Juan; Illustration by Michaela Goade (Quill Tree Books / July 2020)

The Sullivan Sisters by Kathryn Ormsbee; design by Chloë Foglia; Illustration by Pedro Tapa; lettering by Danielle Davis (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers / June 2020)

Ten Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon; design by Sarah Creech; photograph by Jacob Pritchard (Simon Pulse / July 2020)

I think this works well with the covers for Menon’s previous books, especially 2017’s When Dimple Met Rishi, designed by Regina Flath.

These Vengeful Hearts by Katherin Laurin; design Elita Sidiropoulou (Inkyard Press / September 2020)

This is Not a Ghost Story by Andrea Portes; design by Alice Wang; illustration by Francesco Bongiorni (HarperTeen / November 2020)

Tigers Not Daughters by Samantha Mabry; design Laura Williams; art and lettering by Beatriz Ramo / Naranjalidad (Algonquin Young Readers / March 2020)

Traitor by Amanda McCrina; design by Faceout Studio (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / August 2020)

Watch Over Me by Nina Lacour; design by Samira Iravani; illustration by Pippa Young (Dutton / September 2020)

The Whitsun Daughters by Carrie Mesrobian ; design by Samira Iravani; lettering by Maricor/Maricar (Dutton / August 2020)

A Wicked Magic by Sasha Laurens; design by Dana Li (Razorbill / July 2020)

Winter, White and Wicked by Shannon Dittemore; design by Hana Anouk Nakamura; illustration by Ruben Ireland (Amulet / October 2020)

The Year After You by Nina de Pass; design Casey Moses; art by Elena Pancorbo (Delacorte / March 2020)

Comments closed

Book Covers of Note, January 2020

A very quick post this month as it is almost next month (again)…

Agency by William Gibson; design by Gray318 (Berkley / January 2020)

Jon also designed the new cover for the Berkley reprint edition Gibson’s previous novel The Peripheral.

The cover of the UK edition of Agency, published by Viking this month, was designed by Chris Bentham:

The Art of War by Sun Tzu; design by Jaya Miceli (W. W. Norton / January 2020)

A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bolen; design by Milan Bozic (HarperCollins / January 2020)

Cleanness by Garth Greenwell; design by Thomas Colligan; photograph by Jack Davison (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / January 2020)

As I mentioned in my 2019 round-up, the cover of the UK edition, published by Picador this month, was designed by Ami Smithson and features black and white photograph by Mark McKnight.

Dark Mother Earth by Kristian Novak; design by Kimberly Glyder (Amazon Crossing / January 2020)

Follow Me To Ground by Sue Rainsford; design by Jaya Miceli; collage by Toon Joosen (Scribner / January 2019)

The cover of the UK edition, published by Transworld last year, was designed by Beci Kelly.

The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson; design by Leo Nickolls (Katherine Tegen Books / January 2020)

Leo also designed the covers to the previous books in the series…

Long Bright River by Liz Moore; design by Gregg Kulick (Riverhead / January 2020)

Oligarchy by Scarlett Thomas; design by Kelly Winton (Counterpoint / January 2020)

The cover of the UK edition, published by Canongate this month, was design by Gray318:

Small Days and Nights by Tishani Doshi; design by Sarahmay Wilkinson (W. W. Norton / January 2020)

Threshold by Rob Doyle; design by Greg Heinimann (Bloomsbury / January 2020)

Greg also designed the covers for This is the Ritual and Here Are the Young Men by Rob Doyle:

Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener; design by Rodrigo Corral (MCD / January 2020)

Walk the Wild With Me by Rachel Atwood; design by Leo Nickolls (DAW / December 2019)

The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings; design by Kimberly Glyder (Scribner / January 2020)

Comments closed

ABCD Award Winners 2019

The winners of the 2019 Academy of British Cover Design (ABCD) Awards were announced earlier this month and, as in previous years, the winners are an eclectic mix of styles. It is always interesting to see the covers that the designers themselves vote for. Only a couple of the winning designs have been featured here before. 

Young Adult


Run, Riot by Nikesh Shukla; design by Michelle Brackenborough (Hodder Children’s Books / June 2018)

Sci-fi/Fantasy


Folk by Zoe Gilbert; design by David Mann (Bloomsbury / July 2018)

Non-fiction


Money by Laura Whateley; design by Jack Smyth (Fourth Estate / October 2018)

Series Design

Miriam Toews; design Jonathan Pelham (Faber & Faber / September 2018)

Classics/Reissue


Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier; design by Hannah Wood; embroidery by Hand & Lock (Virago / February 2018)

Children’s 0-5


Helping Hen by Claudia Ripol and Yeonju Yang; design and illustration by Claudia Ripol and Yeonju Yang (Owl and Dog  Books / November 2018)

Children’s 6-12


The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Rauf; design by Thy Bui; illustration by Pippa Curnick  (Orion Children’s Books / July 2018)

Literary Fiction


Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata; design by Luke Bird (Portobello Books / July 2018)

Crime/Thriller


That Old Black Magic by Cathi Unsworth; design by Leo Nickolls (Serpents Tail / March 2018)

Mass Market


When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri; design by Sinem Erkas (Piaktus Books / June 2018)

You can find my previous posts on the ABCD Award winners here: 2018; 201720162015 and 2014.

And while we’re on the subject of awards, the Australian Book Design Association have announced the shortlist for this year’s awards.

4 Comments

Notable YA Covers of 2017

So here it is, Merry Xmas, everybody’s having fun, my YA (and middle-grade) covers round-up for 2017. This is far from my area of expertise (I mostly work on the adult trade side of things), but until someone else steps up to do a annual post on YA covers with design credits and publisher details you’re stuck with me. Sorry.

All the picks are, of course, mine, but thank you to all the designers who have helped me over the year with covers, suggestions, and credits, and special thanks to Erin Fitzsimmons at HarperCollins and Sarah Creech at Simon & Schuster who helped me with this post in particular. Happy holidays! 


Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson; design by Erin Fitzsimmons (Katherine Tegen Books / January 2017)


The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; Illustration by Matt Blease (HarperTeen / July 2017)


Autoboyography by Christina Lauren; design Laurent Lint; illustration by Allison Colpoys (Simon & Schuster / September 2017)


Between Two Skies by Joanne O’Sullivan; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / April 2017)


Caraval by Stephanie Garber; design by Erin Fitzsimmons and Ray Shappell (Flatiron / January 2017)


The Circus by Olivia Levez; design by Nathan Burton (Oneworld / May 2017)

Nathan’s cover for The Island by Olivia Levez was on my list of Notable YA Book Covers last year:


Dear Martin by Nic Stone; design Angela Carlino (Crown / October 2017)


Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy; design by Helen Crawford-White; embroidery by Jane Crawford-White (Pushkin Press / July 2017)


Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon; design Alyssa Nassner; illustration Amanda Lanzone (Amulet Books / March 2017)


Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney Stevens; design Heather Daugherty; illustration by Jen Heuer (HarperTeen / August 2017)


The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera; cover art by Dana Svobodova (Simon & Schuster / February 2017)


Everybody Hurts by Joanna Nadin & Anthony McGowan; design by Leo Nickolls (Atom / August 2017)


Good and Gone by Megan Frazer Blakemore; design by Katie Klimowicz illustration Thomas Danthony  (HarperCollins / December 2017)


Goodnight Boy by Nikki Sheehan; design by Edward Bettison (Oneworld / July 2017)


The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; illustration Debra Cartwright (Balzer + Bray / February 2017)


The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; design by Maria Soler (Walker Books / April 2017)


Here We Are Now by Jasmine Warga; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; illustration by Monica Ramos (Balzer + Bray / November 2017)


I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez; design by Connie Gabbert (Knopf / October 2017)


Jaya and Rasa by Sonia Patel; illustration by Zeke Peña (Cinco Puntos Press / September 2017)


The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo; design by design Natalie C. Sousa & Ellen Duda (Imprint / September 2017)


Landscape with Invisible Hand by M. T. Anderson; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / September 2017)


Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds; design by Micheal McCartney (Atheneum Books / October 2017)


The Memory Book by Lara Avery; design by Sinem Erkas (Quercus / January 2017)


Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu; design by Elizabeth H. Clark (Roaring Brook Press / September 2017)


Norse Myths: Tales of Odin, Thor, and Loki by Kevin Crossley-Holland; illustrated by Jeffrey Alan Love; artwork by Jeffrey Alan Love (Candlewick / September 2017)

The UK edition has a different, bright yellow, cover by Jeffrey Alan Love:


The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed; design by Alex Robbins (Simon Pulse / October 2017)


Now I Rise by Kiersten White; design Jet Purdie (based on design by Margaret Hope); illustration Alessandro Taini 

The cover is based on Margaret Hope’s design for And I Darken with art by Taini, which was on my list last year: 


One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus; design by Melissa Four (Penguin / June 2017)


Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen; design by Joan Wong (Wendy Lamb Books / February 2017)

 
Race to the Bottom of the Sea by Lindsay Eager; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / October 2017)


Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy; design by Aurora Parlagreco; illustration by Daniel Stolle (Balzer + Bray / May 2017)

The cover of Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy; also designed by Aurora Parlagreco and illustrated by Daniel Stolle was on my 2015 list.


Release by Patrick Ness; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; photograph by Andrew Yuzko (Harper Teen / September 2017)


Release by Patrick Ness; design by Ben Norland; illustration by Levente Szabo (Walker Books / May 2017)


Retribution Rails by Erin Bowman; cover art by Teagan White (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / November 2017)

White’s cover for Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman was on my list in 2015:


A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge; design by Rachel Vale; illustration by Aitch (Macmillan / September 2017)


Solo by Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess; design Micah Kandros (Blink / August 2017)


Spurt by Chris Miles; design by Lucy Ruth Cummins (Simon & Schuster / February 2017)


Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman; design by Sarah Creech (Simon Pulse / September 2017)


10 Things I Can See from Here by Carrie Mac; art by Steven Wilson (Knopf / February 2017)


There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins; design by Lindsey Andrews; artwork by Sean Freeman (Dutton / September 2017)


This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada; design by Regina Flath (Simon Pulse / November 2017)


A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom; design by Maggie Edkins (Poppy Books / February 2017)


Turtles All the Way Down by John Green; design by Rodrigo Corral and Zak Tebbal; lettering by June Park (Dutton / October 2017)


An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard; design by Lizzy Bromley (Saga Press / September 2017)


The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli; design by Sarah Creech; illustration by Chris Bilheimer (Balzer + Bray / April 2017)

The cover for Becky Albertalli’s previous book, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, also illustrated by Chris Bilheimer was on my 2015 list.


Vanilla by Billy Merrell; design by design by Nina Goffi (Scholastic / October 2017)


We Are Okay by Nina Lacour; design by Samira Iravani; illustration by Adams Carvalho (Dutton / February 2017)


What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard; design Elizabeth H. Clark (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / June 2017)


When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon; design by Regina Flath (Simon Pulse / May 2017)


Wildman by J.C. Geiger; design by Maria Elias; illustration by Jeff Östberg (Hyperion / June 2017)

1 Comment

Book Covers of Note August 2017

Oh hey, August.


Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson; design by Milan Bozic (Amistad / May 2017)

Robin Billardello‘s cover design for the hardcover of Another Brooklyn, released last year, is also great. 


Bolshoi Confidential by Simon Morrison; design by Jo Walker (Fourth Estate / August 2017)

They’re not really the same, but the cover of Bolshoi Confidential reminded me of La Boca‘s excellent cover design for The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman from a few years ago… 


The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa; design by Peter Mendelsund (New Directions / August 2017)


Everybody Hurts by Joanna Nadin & Anthony McGowan; design by Leo Nickolls (Atom / August 2017)


The Futilitarians by Anne Gisleson; design by Lauren Harms (Little Brown & Co. / August 2017)


The House of Government by Yuri Slezkine; design by Chris Ferrante; illustration by Francesco Bongiorni (Princeton University Press / August 2017)


Humankind by Timothy Morton; design by  Anne Jordan and Mitch Goldstein (Verso / August 2017)


I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell; design by Yeti Lambregts (Tinder Press / August 2017)

This is just the latest in a series of great covers for Maggie O’Farrell’s books designed by Yeti. 


I Am the Wolf by Mark Lanegan; design by Alex Camlin (Da Capo / August 2017)


A Life of Adventure and Delight by Akhil Sharma; design by Alex Kirby (Faber & Faber / August 2017)

The cover of the US edition designed by Peter Mendelsund was featured in last month’s post


Lovers & Strangers by Clair Wills; design by Tom Etherington (Allen Lane / August 2017)


A Man of Shadows by Jeff Noon; design by Will Staehle (Angry Robot / August 2017)


Often I Am Happy by Jens Christian Grøndahl; design by Justine Anweiler (Picador / August 2017)


Safe by Ryan Gattis; design by Alex Merto (MCD / August 2017)


Sex & Rage by Eve Babitz; design by Kelly Winton (Counterpoint / July 2017)


Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo; design by Janet Hansen (Knopf / August 2017)

  
The Story of John Nightly by Tot Taylor; design by Bob & Roberta Smith (Unbound / July 2017)


Such Small Hands by Andres Barba; design by Dan Mogford (Portobello Books / August 2017)


Turf by Elizabeth Crane; design by Kelly Winton (Soft Skull Press / June 2017)


Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash by Eka Kurniawan; design by Erik Carter (New Directions / August 2017)

Comments closed

Series Design 2016

Some of the most interesting and innovative book covers in the last few years have been designed as part of a series — designers and art directors seem to have more leeway with backlist titles (especially so if the author is no longer in the picture!) — and 2016 was no exception. Here are some of my favourite series designs from past year…

watchers-design-jason-booher

The Angelus Trilogy by John Steele; designed by Jason Booher (Blue Rider Press / 2016)

Inspector Littlejohn Mysteries by George Bellairs; design Stuart Bache (IPSO Books / 2016)

The Birds and the Bees; cover art by Timorous Beasties (Vintage / 2016)

Read more about the series on the Creative Review blog.

birds-design-keenan

Virago Modern Classics Daphne Du Maurier; designs by Jamie Keenan, Neil Gower, Gray318, and Nico Taylor (Virago / 2016)

Vintage Eliot; cover art by Zeva Oelbaum (Vintage /2016)

Read more about the series on CMYK, Vintage book design tumblr.

on_corpulence-design_david_pearson_illus_joe_mclaren

Found on the Shelves / The London Library; design by David Pearson; illustration by Joe McLaren (Pushkin Press / 2016)

Read more about the design of the series at The Bookseller

neuromancer-cover-art-daniel-brown

Gollancz William Gibson ‘Sprawl Trilogy’ and Burning Chrome; design by Sinem Erkas; cover art by Daniel Brown (Gollancz / 2016-2017)

Read more about the books and the design on the Gollancz blog.

Patrick Hamilton reissues; design by Jack Smyth (Abacus 2016- 2017)

Sonya Harnett reissues; design by Marina Messiha; cover art by Maxim Shkret (Penguin Teen Australia / 2016)

New Directions Roger Lewinter; design by Erik Carter (New Directions / 2016)

Macmillan Classics; design by Neil Lang (Macmillan India / 2016) 

This is just a fraction of the covers designed by Neil and he is working on even more to complete the series.

Beck and Mal Peet reissues; design by Jack Noel; illustration by Telegramme (Walker Books / 2016)

Pelican Shakespeare; design by Manuja Waldia (Penguin US / 2016)

Mortal Engines by Stanislaw Lem (Modern Classics); series design by Jim Stoddart; cover art by Haley Warnham (Penguin / 2016)

great-science-fiction-art-evan-hecox

The Great Science Fiction by H.G. Wells (Modern Classics); series design by Jim Stoddart; cover art by Evan Hecox (Penguin / September 2016) 

akestralforaknave-kyler-martz 

Penguin Essentials; designs by Kyler Martz, Gray318, David Foldavi, Julian House (Penguin / 2-16)

See more of the series at Design Week.

dune design Alex Trochut

Penguin Galaxy series; design by Alex Trochut (Penguin /2016)

No Man’s Land Trilogy by Andy Remic; design by Christine Foltzer; illustration by Jeffrey Alan Love (Tor / 2016)

Read more about Jeffrey Alan Love’s work on the series on Tor.com.

rings-of-saturn-design-mendelsund

New Directions W.G. Sebald; design by Peter Mendelsund (New Directions / 2016)

Save

Save

Save

Save

Comments closed

Notable YA Book Covers of 2016

Hot on the heels of my annual covers post, here is my look back at the year’s young adult book covers. As in previous years, this list is a somewhat crowd-sourced affair, so I must thank all the designers and Twitter-folk who made suggestions and helped in various others ways. I’ve tried my best to credit the designs as fully as possible, but please let me know if there are any errors or omissions.

aluta-illustration-shonagh-rae-ad-michael-solomon
Aluta by Adwoa Badoe; design Michael Solomon; cover art Shonagh Rae (Groundwood / September 2016)

American Girls by Alison Umminger; design by Philip Pascuzzo (Flat Iron / June 2016)
American Girls by Alison Umminger; design by Philip Pascuzzo (Flatiron / June 2016)

and-i-darken-cover-art-alessandro-taini
And I Darken by Kiersten White; cover art by Alessandro Taini (Corgi / July 2016)

as-i-descended-design-michelle-taormina
As I Descended by Robin Talley; design by Michelle Taormina (HarperCollins / October 2016)

beast-design-leo-nickolls
Beast by Brie Spangler; design by Leo Nickolls (Knopf / October 2016)

burning-midnight-design-leo-nickolls
Burning Midnight by Will McIntosh; design by Leo Nickolls (Delacorte / February 2016)

crooked-kingdom
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Burdago; cover art by Thomas Walker and John Bartlett; design Thomas Walker and Richard Deas (Henry Holt / September 2016)

Cuckoo design Jack Smyth
Cuckoo by Keren David; design by Jack Smyth (Atom / August 2016)

darkly-beating-heart-design-elizabeth-h-clark
A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith; design Elizabeth H. Clark (Roaring Brook / October 2016)

Enter Title Here design Maria Elias
Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanakia; design by Maria Elias (Hyperion / August 2016)

exit-pursued-by-bear-design-kristin-logsdon
Exit, Pursued by Bear by E. K. Johnston; design by Kristin Logsdon (Dutton / March 2016)

fall-of-butterflies-design-sarah-nicole-kaufman
The Fall of Butterflies by Andrea Portes; design by Sarah Nicole Kaufman (HarperTeen / May 2016)

fierce-and-subtle-poison-design-allison-colpoys
A Fierce and Subtle Poison by Samantha Mabry; design by Allison Colpoys (Algonquin / April 2016)

frannie-and-tru-design-ray-shappell
Frannie and Tru by Karen Hattrup; design by Ray Shappell (HarperCollins / June 2016)

goldenboys
Golden Boys by Sonya Hartnett; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / April 2016)

graces-design-maria-t-middleton-illustration-spencer-charles
The Graces by Laure Eve; design by Maria T. Middleton; illustration by Spencer Charles (Amulet / September 2016)

the-great-american-whatever-design-krista-vossen
The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle; design by Krista Vossen (Simon & Schuster / March 2016)

haters
The Haters by Jesse Andrews; design by Chad W. Beckerman and Will Staehle (Abrams / April 2016)

9781250078407
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo; design by Liz Dresner and Elaine C. Damasco; photograph by Michael Frost (Flatiron / May 2016)

into-white-design-april-ward
Into White by Randi Pink; design by April Ward (Feiwel & Friends / September 2016)

island-nathan-burton
The Island by Olivia Levez; design by Nathan Burton (Oneworld / November 2016)

kids-of-appetite-art-yuschav-arly
Kids of Appetite by David Arnold; design Theresa Evangelista; illustration Yuschav Arly (Viking / September 2016)

it-looks-like-this-design-matt-roeser
It Looks Like This by Rafi Mittlefehldt; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / December 2016)

last-seen-leaving
Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig; design by Rich Deas (Feiwel & Friends / October 2016)

lie-tree-art-vincent-chong-design-maria-t-middleton
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge; design by Maria T. Middleton; cover by Vincent Chong (Amulet / April 2016)


The Light Fantastic by Sarah Combs; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / September 2016)

monstrous-child-design-will-steele-illustration-olivia-lomenech-gill
The Monstrous Child by Francesca Simon; design by Will Steele; cover art by Olivia Lomenech Gill (Faber & Faber / October 2016)

nightwanderers-9780857078056_hr
The Nightwanders by C. J. Flood; design by Nic&Lou Studio (Simon & Schuster / June 2016)

fire-and-stars
Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst; design by Michelle Taormina, art by Jacob Eisinger (Balzer + Bray / November 2016)

design Matt Roeser
Phantom Limbs by Paula Garner; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / September 2016)

Replica by Lauren Oliver; design by Erin Fitzsimmons (HarperCollins / October 2016)

This really needs to be seen in person for the fancy acetate wrap as well the double covers:

save-me-kurt-cobain-art-m80-design
Save Me, Kurt Cobain by Jenny Manzer; design by M80 (Bantam / March 2016)

Scar design CS Neal
Scar by J. Albert Mann; design by Christopher Silas Neal (Calkins Creek / April 2016)

seven-ways-we-lie-design-maria-t-middleton
Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate; design by Maria T. Middleton (Abrams / March 2016)

Shadow Queen design Sarah Nichole Kaufman
The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine; design Sarah Nichole Kaufman; lettering / apple carving Sean Freeman (Balzer + Bray / February 2016)

shiver-whole-night-design-jet-purdie
Shiver the Whole Night Through by Darragh McManus; design by Jet Purdie (Hot Key Books / April 2016)

still-life-with-tornado-design-by-samira-iravani
Still Life with Tornado by A. S. King; design by Samira Iravani (Dutton / October 2016)

Study in Charlotte jacket art Dan Funderburgh design Katie Fitch
A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro; jacket art Dan Funderburgh; design Katie Fitch (Katherine Tegen Books / March 2016)

sun-is-also-a-star
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon; design Elaine C. Damasco; art Dominique Falla (Delacorte / November 2016)

swan-boy-design-nathan-burton
Swan Boy by Nikki Sheehan; design by Nathan Burton (Oneworld / November 2016)


Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs; design by Lindsey Andrews; cover art Andrew Davidson (Dutton / September 2016)

tell-me-something-real-cover-art-jill-de-haan
Tell Me Something Real by Calla Devlin; cover art Jill de Haan (Simon & Schuster / September 2016)

 Thanks for the Trouble design by Lucy Ruth Cummins
Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach; design by Lucy Ruth Cummins; Photography by Keirnan Monaghan, styling by Theo Vamvounakis (Simon and Schuster / February 2016)

this-is-where-it-ends-design-nc-sousa
This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp; design by N. C. Sousa (Sourcebooks / April 2016)

This Savage Song design Jenna Stempel
This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab; design Jenna Stempel (GreenWillow / July 2016)

thousandth-floor-design-jenna-stempel-art-sasha-vinogradova
The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee; design by Jenna Stempel; cover art by Sasha Vinogradova (HarperCollins / August 2016)

cover 100915.indd
A Totally Awkward Love Story by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison; design by Ray Shappell (Delacorte / May 2016)

unexpected-everything-design-lucy-ruth-cummins-photography-meredith-jenks
The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson; design by Lucy Ruth Cummins; photography by Meredith Jenks (Simon & Schuster / May 2016)

When Everything Feels Like the Movies design Ceara Elliot lettering Martina Flor
When Everything Feels Like the Movies by Raziel Reid; design Ceara Elliot; lettering and illustration Martina Flor (Atom / February 2016)

wink-poppy-midnight-art-by-lisa-perrin-design-by-kristin-smith
Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke; design by Kristin Smith; cover art by Lisa Perrin (Dial / April 2016)

wrecked-design-liz-casal
Wrecked by Maria Padian; design by Liz Casal (Algonquin Young Readers / October 2016)

Save

1 Comment

52 YA Covers for 2015

As my 2014 post was such a hit, here is my second annual look at the past year’s young adult book covers. This isn’t my speciality, so this list is a lot more of a crowd-sourced effort than my very personal adult list. A special thank you to all the designers who have made suggestions in the past couple of weeks  — you know who you are! — and if there are any burning omissions, please let me know in the comments!

Birdy Jet Purdie
Birdy by Jess Vallance; design by Jet Purdie (Hot Key Books / July 2015)

Big Lie design Jet Purdie
The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew; design by Jet Purdie (Hot Key Books / September 2015)

conviction-design-maria-elias-cs-neal
Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert design by Maria Elias; illustration by Christopher Silas Neal (Disney-Hyperion / May 2015)

Cut Both Ways design Erin Fitzsimmons
Cut Both Ways by Carrie Mesrobian; design by Erin Fitzsimmons (HarperCollins / September 2015)

Zebulon Finch design Lizzy Bromley illustration Ken Taylor
The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch; design by Lizzy Bromley; illustration by Ken Taylor (Simon & Schuster / October 2015 )

Delicate Monsters design Kerri Resnick
Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn; design by Kerri Resnick (St. Martin’s Griffin / June 2015)

Drop design Maria Soler illustration Levente Szabó
Drop by Katie Everson; design by Maria Soler; illustration Levente Szabó (Walker Books / August 2015)

Dumplin design by Aurora Parlagreco illus Daniel Stolle
Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy; design by Aurora Parlagreco; illustration by Daniel Stolle (Balzer + Bray / September 2015)

eden-west-design-matt-roeser
Eden West by Pete Hautman; design by Matt Roeser; illustration Dadu Shin (Candlewick / April 2015)

Emmy and Oliver design Sarah Nichole Kaufman illustration Matthew Allen
Emmy and Oliver by Robin Benway; design Sarah Nichole Kaufman; illustration Matthew Allen (Balzer + Bray / June 2015)

Everything Everything design N C Sousa
Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon; design by N. C. Sousa; cover art by Good Wives and Warriors (Delacorte / September 2015)

Extraordinary Means cover art by Julie McLaughlin
Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider; cover art by Julie McLaughlin (Simon & Schuster / June 2015)

This lung-tree illustration is just incredible, but it is worth noting that this UK cover is actually an adaptation of the killed US cover (HarperCollins).

Fans of the Impossible Life design by Jenna Stempel; art by Mia Nolting
Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa; design by Jenna Stempel; art by Mia Nolting (Balzer + Bray / September 2015)

5 to 1 design by Jennifer Heuer
5 to 1 by Holly Bodger; design by Jennifer Heuer (Knopf / May 2015)

game-of-love-and-death-artwork-cs-neal-design-nina-goffi
The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough; design by Nina Goffi; illustration by Christopher Silas Neal (Scholastic / April 2015)

9780399568909
The Golden Yarn by Cornelia Funke; design by Mirada (Breathing Books / December 2015)

History of Blood and Glitter design Kelsey Premo Jones cover art Sam Weber
History of Blood and Glitter by Hannah Moskowitz; design Kelsey Premo Jones; cover art by Sam Weber (Chronicle Books / August 2015)

I Am Princess X
I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest; design Phil Falco; cover illustration by Kali Ciesemier (Scholastic / August 2015)

Ill Give You the Sun design Maria Soler; illustration Sophie Heywood
I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson; design Maria Soler; illustration Sophie Heywood (Walker Books / April 2015)

Walker Books also reissued Jandy Nelson’s The Sky is Everywhere with matching cover art by Sophie Heywood.

Theresa Evangelista‘s design for the hardcover of I’ll Give You the Sun was on last year’s list.

Infinite In Between by Carolyn Mackler; design by Michelle Taormina; art by Matthew Allen
Infinite In Between by Carolyn Mackler; design by Michelle Taormina; art by Matthew Allen (HarperTeen / September 2015)

Island cover art Chris Riddell
Island by Nicky Singer; cover art by Chris Riddell (Caboodle Books / October 2015)

Lottery Boy design Jack Noel
Lottery Boy by Michael Byrne; design by Jack Noel (Walker Books / May 2015)

Madness So Discreet design Erin Fitzsimmons
A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; cover art by Brooke Shaden (Katherine Tegen Books / October 2015)

Mosquitoland design Theresa Evangelista illustration Andrew Fairclough
Mosquitoland by David Arnold; design by Theresa Evangelista illustration Andrew Fairclough (Viking Books / March 2015)

My Heart and Other Black Holes design Jenna Stempel
My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga; design Jenna Stempel (Balzer + Bray / February 2015)

Nest design Jon Klassen
Nest by Kenneth Oppel; design Lucy Ruth Cummins; cover art Jon Klassen (Simon & Schuster / October 2015)

It also looks pretty spiffy with the jacket removed.

Next Together design Jack Noel
The Next Together by Lauren James; design Jack Noel (Walker Books / September 2015)

Night Owls design Leo Nickolls
Night Owls by Jenn Bennett; design by Leo Nickolls (Simon & Schuster / September 2015)

panther
Panther by David Owen; design Gray318 (Corsair / March 2015)

Placebo Junkies design Ray Shappell
Placebo Junkies by J.C. Carleson; design Ray Shappell; photograph by Christine Blackburne (Knopf / October 2015)

PS I Still Love You design LR Cummins
PS I Still Love You design Lucy Ruth Cummins; Photography by Douglas Lyle Thompson (Simon & Schuster / May 2015)

Although this is really a variant to the cover of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han (on last year’s list), I still think it works really well.

queen-of-bright-shiny-things-design-anna-booth
The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things by Ann Aguirre; design by Anna Booth; photography by Jon Barkat and Gary Spector (Feiwel & Friends / April 2015)

Rest of Us Just Live Here
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; cover art by Josh Cochran (HarperCollins / October 2015)

It should be noted that this cover glows in the dark.

The UK version was designed by David McDougall for Walker Books.

Save Me design Richard Deas photo art Adam Andrearczyk
Save Me by Jenny Elliott; design Richard Deas photo art Adam Andrearczyk (Swoon Reads / July 2015)

Show and Prove design by Christian Fuenfhausen
Show and Prove by Sofia Quintero; design by Christian Fuenfhausen (Knopf / July 2015)

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda design by Alison Klapthor illustration Chris Bilheimer
Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli; design by Alison Klapthor; illustration by Chris Bilheimer (Balzer + Bray / April 2015)

Six of Crows design Rich Deas
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo; design Rich Deas (Henry Holt & Co / September 2015)

Song for Ella Grey design Liz Casal
A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond; design Liz Casal (Delacorte / October 2015)

Symphony design by Matt Roeser
Symphony for the City of the Dead by M. T. Anderson; design by Matt Roeser; illustration by Kikuo Johnson (Candlewick / September 2015)

Thing About Jellyfish design Marcie Lawrence
The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin;design by Marcie Lawrence; illustration Terry Fan and Eric Fan (Little Brown & Co / September 2015)

Tonight the Streets design Elizabeth H Clark
Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales; design Elizabeth H. Clark (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / September 2015)

trouble in me
The Trouble In Me by Jack Gantos; design by Christian Fuenfhausen (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / September 2015)

Tiny Pretty Things art Sean Freeman design Michelle Taormina
Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra & Dhonielle Clayton; design by Michelle Taormina; cover art by Sean Freeman (HarperCollins / May 2015)

Vengeance Road illustration Teagan White
Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman; illustration by Teagan White (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / September 2015)

walls-around-us
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma; design by Connie Gabbert (Algonquin Books / March 2015)

we-all-looked-up
We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach; Lucy Ruth Cummins; photographer Meredith Jenks (Simon & Schuster / March 2015)

I still prefer the title-less version!

Willful Machines design Dan Potash
Willful Machines by Tim Foreen; design by Dan Potash (Simon & Schuster / October 2015)

Winterkill design Will Steele illustration Studio Helen
Winterkill by Kate A. Boorman; design and illustration Helen Crawford-White (Faber / November 2015)

Helen’s cover for Darkthaw, the sequel to Winterkill is also rather lovely.

The US cover for Winterkill designed by Maria T. Middleton with art by Shane Rebebschied was on my list last year.

Wolf Wilder illustration Dan Burgess design Lizzy Bromley
The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell; Design by Lizzy Bromley; cover art by Dan Burgess (Simon & Schuster / August 2015)

The Winter Place design by Paul Coomey
The Winter Place by Alexander Yates; design by Paul Coomey (Simon & Schuster / October 2015)

(This probably needs to be seen in person as the blue is, I believe, a metallic finish, and the back cover is the image reversed in a lovely orange-red).

Wonders of the Invisible World design by Lynn Buckley
Wonders of the Invisible World by Christopher Barzak; design by Lynn Buckley (Knopf / September 2015)

X
X by Ilyasah Shabazz with Kekla Magoon; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick Press / January 2015)

3 Comments

Today in Micro-Trends: Neon Signs

bright-shiny-morning

Inspired by the recent Blur album cover designed by Tony Hung (read more about it here) amongst other things, here are a selection of (relatively) recent books cover designs using lettering inspired by neon signs (pictured above: Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey, designed by the one and only Gray318 in 2008):

9780375424991-brothers
Brothers by Yu Hua; design by Jonathan Sainsbury (Random House / January 2009)

ham on rye design by Steve Attardo


Bukowski series; design by Steve Attardo (Ecco / July 2014)

event-design-cb-king
Event by Slavoj Žižek; design by Christopher King (Melville House / August 2014)

extreme-centre-tariq-ali-design-dan-mogford
The Extreme Centre by Tariq Ali; design by Dan Mogford (Verso / March 2015)

the-girl-who-was-saturday-night-design-leo-nickolls
The Girl Who Was Saturday Night by Heather O’Neill; design by Leo Nickolls (Quercus / March 2015)

9780385352604
Glow by Ned Beauman; design by Oliver Munday (Knopf / January 2015)

hotel life design by simon pates
The Hotel Life by Javier Montes; design by Simon Pates (Hispabooks / October 2013)

inherent-vice-design-haggar-goretsky
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon; design by Darren Haggar and Tal Goretsky; illustration by Darshan Zenith / Cruiser Art (Penguin / August 2009)

9780143573258
Kissing in America by Margo Rabb; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; art by Thomas Burden (HarperCollins / May 2015 )

last-days-of-shanghai-design-jason-snyder
Last Days in Shanghai by Casey Walker; design by Jason Snyder (Counterpoint / December 2014)

978-0-385-53807-7
Love Me Back by Merritt Tierce; design by Emily Mahon; illustration by Rizon Parein (Doubleday / September 2014)

make-something-up-design-james-paul-jones
Make Something Up by Chuck Palahniuk; design by James Paul Jones (Jonathan Cape / May 2015)

mammons-kingdom
Mammon’s Kingdom by David Marquand; cover art by Mr Whaite (Allen Lane / May 2014)

milk-bar-life-tosi
Milk Bar Life by Christina Tosi; design by Walter Green (Clarkson Potter / April 2015)

musical-brain
The Musical Brain by César Aira; design by Rodrigo Corral (New Directions / March 2015)

no-regrets-design-jennifer-heuer
No Regrets Coyote; design by John Dufresne; design by Jennifer Heuer (W. W. Norton / July 2014)

pluto-design-jonathan-pelham
Pluto by Glyn Maxwell; design by Jonathan Pelham (Picador / April 2013)

yes-please-design-tbd
Yes Please by Amy Poehler; design by Mary Schuck (Dey Street Books / October 2014)

3 Comments

Book Covers of Note October 2014

It’s October and the fall book season is in full swing. It’s kind of bonkers in the trade from now until Christmas, so this is the second to last (if not the actual last) cover round-up for 2014. I think I can probably squeeze in one more next month, but then we will be well into ‘covers of the year’ territory so we’ll have to see. I also have more posts in the Beasts! series (and goodness know what else) to fit in somehow! While I figure that out, however, here is this month’s collection of notable book covers…

Lerner 1004
10:04 by Ben Lerner; design by Scott Richardson (McClelland & Stewart / September 2014)

puny-sorrows
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews; design by Helen Crawford-White / Studio Helen (Faber & Faber / June 2014)

Book of Strange New Things
The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber; art direction and design Rafi Romaya;  illustration Yehrin Tong (Canongate / October 2014)

9781472116666
The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell; design by Leo Nickolls (Constable / October 2014 )

broken-monsters-keith-hayes
Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes; design by Keith Hayes (Mulholland Books / September 2014)

charming-billy
Charming Billy by Alice McDermott; design by Henry Sene Yee; illustration by Bill Mudron  (Picador / October 2014)

flings-oliver-munday
Flings by Justin Taylor; design by Oliver Munday (Harper / August 2014)

I-Am-China
I Am China by Xiaolu Guo; design Emily Mahon; photograph Masha Sardari (Nan A. Talese / September 2014)

fields-of-blood
Fields of Blood by Karen Armstrong; design by Oliver Munday (Knopf / October 2014)

intervals-in-cinema
The Intervals of Cinema by Jacques Rancière; design by Jessica Svendsen (Verso / October 2014)

Limonov by Emmanuel Carrère; design by Yang Kim and Tyler Comrie (FSG / October 2014)
Limonov by Emmanuel Carrère; design by Yang Kim and Tyler Comrie (FSG / October 2014)

Limonov by Emmanuel Carrère; design by Richard Green (Allen Lane / September 2014)
Limonov by Emmanuel Carrère; design by Richard Green (Allen Lane / September 2014)

a-man-lies-summer
A Man Lies Dreaming by Lavie Tidhar; design by Ben Summers (Hodder / October 2014)

mr-gwyn
Mr. Gwyn by Alessandro Baricco; design by Sunra Thompson (McSweeney’s / July 2014)

9781846140273-isabelle-de-cat
Napoleon the Great by Andrew Roberts; design by Isabelle De Cat (Penguin / October 2014)

annotated-lovecraft
The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft edited by Leslie S. Klinger; design by gray318 (W. W. Norton / October 2014)

notre-duplex
Notre Duplex by Éléonore Létourneau; design by David Drummond (Éditions XYZ / August 2014)

not-that
Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham; design by CHIPS (Random House / September 2014)


Playing for the Commandant by Suzy Zail; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / October 2014)

radio-benjamin
Radio Benjamin edited by Lecia Rosenthal; design by Isaac Tobin (Verso / October 2014)

specter-of-capital
Specter of Capital by Joseph Vogl; design by Anne Jordan (Stamford University Press / October 2014)

white-van
The White Van by Patrick Hoffman; design by Walter Green (Grove Atlantic / September 2014)

8 Comments

Recent Covers of Note February 2014 Edition

It’s almost March and I’ve just realised that I haven’t posted very many book covers this year. To make up for this lapse, here are ten of my favourite covers from the last few months:

all-our-names
All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu; design by Isabel Urbina Peña

book-of-heaven
The Book of Heaven by Patricia Storace; design by Linda Huang

corpse-exhibition
The Corpse Exhibition by Hassan Blasim; design by Jason Ramirez

the-erl-king
The Erl King by Michel Tournier; design by Leo Nickolls

my-life-middlemarch
My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead; design by Elena Giavaldi

the-news
The News: A User’s Manual by Alain de Botton; design by Matt Dorfman

such-a-full-sea
On Such a Full Sea by Chang-Rae Lee; design by Helen Yentus, lettering Jason Booher

half-world
Half World by Scott O’Connor; design by Christopher Lin

silence-once-begun
Silence Once Begun by Jesse Ball; design by Peter Mendelsund

visionist
The Visionist by Rachel Urquhart; design by Keith Hayes

If you’d like to see more book covers, you can follow my Pinterest board or check out the ‘Book Design’ category at The Accidental Optimist.

3 Comments