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Tag: billy liar

Published September 10, 2010

Something for the Weekend

A series of book cover design concepts for The Infamous Press by Norwegian graphic designer Morten Iveland (via IS050).

Paid by the Joke — The enduring appeal of Keith Waterhouse’s Billy Liar in The Guardian:

Billy Liar’s longevity is not an example of a tale that is told and told again with a dulling faithfulness; rather, the long life of Billy Liar is a story of reincarnation, of each new generation seizing upon the tale afresh and making the story its own. Its influence may be felt in half a century of creative endeavour, in drama and literature and film, and, perhaps most keenly, in popular music: referenced, for instance, in the video for the Oasis single The Importance of Being Idle, and in a song by the Decemberists, and popping up, too, in many of Morrissey’s lyrics, including the Smiths’ 1984 hit William, It Was Really Nothing.

And if anyone at Penguin is reading, please, please reissue Billy Liar with the Tony Meeuwissen Woodbine cover from the 1970’s (come on, you know you want to):

(image via David The Designer)

If Covers Could Talk — A nice satirical book cover blog, kind of like Unhappy Hipsters for books.

And finally…

W. W. Norton, who have done great job with their Flickr — particularly their book design archive where the above stunner by Gray318 comes from — now have a Tumblr as well. The latest post, at the time of writing, is an animated scene from Stitches, the graphic memoir by David Small. Nice work.

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Published November 6, 2009

Something for the Weekend, November 6th, 2009

Wild Woodbines — The Creative Review profiles illustrator Tony Meeuwissen who designed the brilliant cover — based on a pack of cigarettes — for Keith Waterhouse’s Billy Liar pictured above (NB: David the Designer has more on this wonderful cover if you’re interested).

There is an exhibition, Tony Meeuwissen: 50 Years in Illustration and Graphic Art at the Subscriptions Rooms, George Street, Stroud (UK) from December 5th – 19th if you’re in the neighbourhood.

The Wonderful Wizards of Lodz — Vintage Polish kid’s books at A Journey Round My Skull.

In Praise of Chapbooks — Bryce Milligan, publisher/editor of Wings Press, at Publishing Perspectives:

I do not think that the average reader—no matter how happy he or she is with their voluminous digital libraries on their diminutive screens—will be satisfied to never have access to a true literary artifact, something tangible that connects them to a favorite author. It makes perfect sense that larger printed works violate both our economic and our evolving green sensibilities, but small artifacts of the author may remain a necessity, if only a psychological one.

He’s Just Like Me But >choke< EVIL! — Comics Alliance list their favorite comic book clichés.

Can you put more balloons in your stories? — Hark! A Vagrant: comics by K. Beaton (thx Sio):

And also in comics news… 70 Things You Didn’t Know About Marvel in The Times (via largehearted boy‘s Twitter).

Public Gothic — Having already ‘fessed up to slab-serif obsession earlier this week, I might as well tell you that I’m also slightly obsessed with vintage ephemera — especially luggage tags — so I’m very intrigued by this new typeface from Antrepo even though I’ve no idea how I’d use it or been able to download it!

And speaking of typography, ephemera, and luggage tags, take a look at Alistair Hall’s (We Made This) Flickr Set while you’re at it:

And finally…

Barack Obama Names Alan Moore Official White House Biographer:

“As evidenced by his epic run on Swamp Thing #21–64, Moore’s deft hand with both sociopolitical commentary and metaphysical violence makes him an ideal choice to chronicle my time in office”

Oh come on…. It would be awesome.

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Published September 9, 2009

Midweek Miscellany, September 9th, 2009

Getting Paid by the Joke — Roy Hattersley on Keith Waterhouse, author of Billy Liar, who died last week aged 80:

One of the great lines, spoken in the subsequent film version by Wilfred Pickles playing Billy’s father, combined fury and bewilderment. Why, he demanded to know, had his son told the neighbours that he had only one leg. Billy worked in a dismal office – an ironic tribute to Waterhouse’s first job as clerk to an undertaker. It seemed a step up for the son of a door-to-door vegetable salesmen and a cleaner who had left Osmondthorpe Council School at 15 with an interest in books but no qualifications and few prospects.

When’s That Book Coming Out? — A nice breakdown of the production process by Shelby Peak which explains why it seems to take a long time for books to be released after an author has turned in their final manuscript. Every time I read something like this, I wonder why we don’t hear from publishing professionals more often. It would be great to see publishers explain this kind of thing on their own blogs. (via blog.rightreading)

Spine Out — John Gall has started a blog. Holy fuck.

And — on a related note — there is a nice conversation on Vintage’s The Sun & Anchor blog between designer Peter Buchanan-Smith and photographer Todd Hido about the new Raymond Carver covers (commissioned by John Gall).

Doing the Work — A fascinating interview with Australian book designer Tony Palmer at Caustic Cover Critic:

Sometimes you hear the bigger book publishers described as being like factories – where the work is churned out in a mechanical and unthinking way. It’s never been like that for me at Penguin. The editors, production staff and designers all love their work. But love can be wild and unpredictable. So I’ve dreamt of being a plumber. I like the way water moves on surfaces. I like the fact that there are only four different ways to plumb a house. But book design? Gawd, maybe there’s about 120 right ways to do a good book cover, and there are probably millions of ways to make a bad one.

And finally…

A Master of Reinvention — Brad Mackay, director and co-founder of the Doug Wright Awards, reviews David Mazzucchelli’s remarkable Asterios Polyp for The Globe & Mail. The Comics Reporter has a critical reading guide.

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