Tag: book covers 2014

Published July 15, 2015

50 Books / 50 Covers Kickstarter

50-50 kickstarter

I should have mentioned in my 50 / 50 post yesterday, that Design Observer has launched a Kickstarter campaign to create catalogue of this year’s winners:

As others have noted, it is a little odd that the project is being announced now when the winners have been chosen rather than when the competition opened (why wasn’t the cost of the catalogue factored into the entry fee?), and I wonder if a traditional publisher could not be found to partner on this project, but even if it feels like something of an afterthought, a well-designed catalogue would still be a lovely thing to have.

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Published July 14, 2015

50 Books / 50 Covers 2014 Winners

Design Observer has announced the winners of their 2014 50 Books | 50 Covers competition, organized in association with AIGA and Designers & Books.

The fifty winning covers can be seen here…

…and the fifty winning books, here.

A Maze and A Muse design Jenny Volvovski

My 2014 cover selections are here.

On Such a Full Sea design by Helen Yentus

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Published April 28, 2015

Australian Book Design Awards 2015 Shortlist

A Fairy Tale by Jonas T. Bengtsson; design by Allison Colpoys

Figgy in the World by Tamsin Janu;; design by Josh Durham

Lost & Found by Brooke Davis; design by Christa Moffitt

The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu; design by Karl Kwansy

What Came Before by Anna George; design by Laura Thomas

Australian Book Designers Association recently announced the shortlist for the Australian Book Design Awards 2015 and, as in previous years, there are some great covers to be seen.

I particularly like that they have an award for Young Designer of the Year. The designers shortlisted this year are Alissa Dinallo, Hazel Lam, and Imogen Stubbs:

This Picture of You by Sarah Hopkins; design by Alissa Dinallo

Luigi’s Freedom Ride by Alan Murray; design by Hazel Lam

The Lost Child by Suzanne McCourt; design by Imogen Stubbs

The full list can be downloaded as a PDF from the ABDA blog. The winners will be announced Friday, May 22nd in Sydney.

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Published March 6, 2015

ABCD Award Winners 2015

Congratulations to all the winners at last night’s Academy of British Cover Design Awards!

Children’s

shh
Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton; design by Chris Haughton (Walker Books / March 2014)

Young Adult

Spiders by Tom Hoyle; design by Rachel Vale; illustration by Sam Hadley (PanMacmillan / November 2014)

Sci-Fi / Fantasy

Wolves-tpb
Wolves by Simon Ings; design by Nick May; illustration by Jeffery Alan Love (Gollancz / January 2014)

Mass Market

Tigerman by Nick Harkaway; design Glenn O’Neill (William Heinemann / May 2014 )

Literary Fiction

Badmouth-jk
Badmouth by Alan Wall; design by Jamie Keenan (Harbour Books / January 2014)

Crime / Thriller

The Black Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black; design by Jonathan Pelham (Mantle / February 2014)

Non-Fiction

plenty-more
Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi; design by by Caz Hildebrand and Sakiko Kobayashi / Here Design (Ebury Press / September 2014)

Series Design

city-of-iron-fish
Gollancz Simon Ings; design by Nick May; illustration by Jeffery Alan Love

(Above: City of Iron Fish. Gollancz / April 2014 )

Classics / Reissue

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka; design by Jamie Keenan (W. W. Norton / February 2014)

Women’s Fiction (Joint Winners)

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

burial-rites
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent; design by James Annal ( Picador / March 2014 )

Well done Jon Gray and Jamie Keenan for organizing the awards. All the shortlisted covers — selected by judges Mark Ecob, Yeti Lambregts, David Mann, Richard Ogle, Donna Payne, Rafi Romaya, Henry Steadman, Jim Stoddart, Rachel Vale, and Claire Ward — can be found on the ABCD website.

You can see the 2014 winners here.

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Published January 12, 2015

2015 Design Awards

Happy New Year!

Now that all the amateur ‘best of 2014’ lists are out of the way, it’s time for the professionals submit their covers to the actual design competitions. Last week 50 Books / 50 Covers opened for entries. Meanwhile the closing dates for this year’s Australian Book Design Awards and ABCD15 in the UK are fast approaching…

50 Books / 50 Covers

Design Observer announced the opening of the 50 Books/50 Covers competition for books published in 2014. The competition will accept online entries from January 7, 2015 to March 18, 2015. See the guidelines for more details.

View the 2013 50 Books and 50 Covers

ABCD 15

If you live in the United Kingdom, the Academy of British Cover Design (ABCD) has announced the opening of its second annual cover design competition. Books published between January 1 and December 31 2014 by any designer based in the UK are eligible. All entries must be received by the 31st January 2015.

View the winners of ABCD14

Australian Book Design Awards

The Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA) has also announced the 63rd Australian Book Design Awards. The awards are open to any book designed and published for the first time in Australia between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2014. Entries close on Friday 23 January 2015.

View the winners of the 2014 ABDA Book Design Awards

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Published December 11, 2014

50 YA Covers for 2014

Like all the best things on The Casual Optimist, this post started life as a conversation on Twitter. The topic this time was the under-representation of YA book designers in all these end of the year cover lists. YA covers are becoming more and more sophisticated, yet my posts this year have rarely featured them, so feel that I am unquestionably at fault here. To make some kind of amends, I thought I would post a selection of 50 YA covers from 2014. Many, many thanks to all the book designers and publishing folk (including my colleagues Alisha, Brooke, and Megan at Raincoast) for their suggestions and assistance. And special thanks to Serah-Marie and Derek at Type Books for letting me browse their shelves with my notebook in hand…

belzhar
Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer; design by Kristin Smith (Dutton / September 2014)

beauty-of-the-broken-9781481407090_hr
Beauty of the Broken by Tawni Waters; design by Regina Flath (Simon Pulse / October 2014)

DorothyMustDie
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige; design by Ray Shapell (HarperCollins / April 2014)

EggandSpoon
Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / September 2014)

everything-leads-to-you
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour; design by Theresa Evangelista (Dutton / May 2014)

falling-into-place
Falling into Place by Amy Zhang; design by Paul Zakris (Greenwillow Books / September 2014)

far-from-you
Far From You by Tess Sharpe; design by Whitney Manger; cover photograph by Yojik (Disney-Hyperion / April 2014)

Firecracker by David Iserson; design by Emily Osborne (Razorbill / October 2014)

forever
Forever by Judy Blune (Reissue Edition); design by Lizzy Bromley (Atheneum Books for Young Readers / April 29, 2014)

girl-defective
Girl Defective by Simmone Howell; design by Debra Sfetsios-Conover; illustration Jeffrey Everett (Atheneum Books for Young Readers / September 2014)

girl-on-a-wire
Girl on a Wire by Gwenda Bond; design and illustration by Neil Swaab ( Skyscape / October 2014)

9780670016785B
Half Bad by Sally Green; design by Tim Green / Faceout Studio (Viking Juvenile / March 2014)

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares; design by Natalie Sousa (Delacorte Press, April 2014)

high-and-dry
High and Dry by Sarah Skilton; design by The Heads of State (Amulet Books / April 2014)

House of Ivy and Sorrow by Natalie Whipple; design by Erin Fitzsimmons (Turtleback Books / April 2014)

if-you-find-me
If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch; design by Sinem Erkas (Indigo / January 2014)

ill-give-you-the-sun
I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson; design by Theresa Evangelista ( Dial / 2014)

into-the-grey
Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / August 2014)

Jackaby
Jackaby by William Ritter; design by Joel Tippie / Jdrift (Algonquin Young Readers / September 2014)

lets-get-lost
Let’s Get Lost by Adi Alsaid; design by Natalie Sousa (Harlequin Teen / July 2014)

Like No Other by Una LaMarche; design by Emily Osborne; cover illustration by Michael Kirkham (Razorbill / September 2014)

9780374346676
Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira; design by Andrew Arnold (FSG Books for Young Readers / March 2014)

9781452110219
The Meaning of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovern; design by Amelia May Mack (Chronicle Books / June 2014)

My-True-Love-Gave-to-Me
My True Love Gave to Me edited by Stephanie Perkins; design & illustration by Jim Tierney (St. Martin’s Griffin / October 2014)

no-one-else-can-have-you
No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale; design by Michelle Taormina (HarperTeen / January 2014)

100-sideways-miles-9781442444959_hr
100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith; design by Lucy Ruth Cummins (Simon & Schuster for Young Readers / September 2014)

paper-airplanes
Paper Airplanes by Dawn O’Porter; design by Maria T. Middleton (Amulet / September 2014)

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

promise-of-shadows
Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland; design by Lucy Ruth Cummins; cover art by Luke Lucas (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers / March 2014)

ring-and-the-crown
The Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz; design by Tanya Ross-Hughes; model photo by Ali Smith; title type by Mario Hugo (Hyperion / April 2014)

ruin-and-rising
Ruin & Rising by Leigh Bardugo; design by Jen Wang (Henry Holt & Co. / June 2014)

The previous two books in the series, also designed by Jen Wang:

Salvage
Salvage by Keren David; design by Sophie Burdess (Atom / July 2014)

say-what-you-will
Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern; cover art by Ann Shen; design by Alison Klapthor (HarperTeen / June 2014)

schizo
Schizo by Nic Sheff; design by Kristin Smith (Philomel /September 30, 2014)

since-youve-been-gone
Since You’ve Been Gone by Megan Matson; design by Lucy Ruth Cummins; photography by Meredith Jenks (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers / July 2014)

Smart
Smart by Kim Slater; cover illustration by Helen Crawford-White / Studio Helen (Macmillan Children’s Books / June 2014)

AvaLavender
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick Press / March 2014 )

side-effects-may-vary
Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy; design and illustration by Annemieke Beemster Leverenz (Balzer + Bray / 2014)

this-side-of-salvation
This Side of Salvation by Jeri Smith-Ready; design by Karina Granda (Simon Pulse / April 2014)

Tape
Tape by Steven Camden; cover art by Keri Smith (HarperCollins Children’s Books / January 2014)

tease
Tease by Amanda Maciel; design by Erin Fitzsimmons (Balzer + Bray / April 2014)

9781596437746
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki; design by Jillian Tamaki & Colleen AF Venable; cover art Jillian Tamaki (First Second / May 2014)

To_all_the_boys
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han; design by Lucy Ruth Cummins; photographer Anna Wolf (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers / April 2014)

trouble-9781442497726_hr
Trouble by Non Pratt; design by Lucy Ruth Cummins; illustration by Dermot Flynn (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers / June 2014)

truth-about-alice
The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu; design by Elizabeth H Clark (Roaring Brook Press / June 2014)

two-girls-staring
Two Girls Staring at the Ceiling by Lucy Frank; design by Rachael Cole; cover art Elinor Hills (Schwartz & Wade / August 2014)

we-were-liars
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart; design by Angela Carlino (Delacorte Press / May 2014)

9780374384678
The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski; design by Elizabeth H Clark; photography by Ali Smith (FSG Books for Young Readers / March 2014)

9781419712357
Winterkill by Kate A. Boorman; design by Maria T. Middleton; illustration by Shane Rebebschied (Harry N. Abrams / September 2014)

year-of-the-rat
The Year of the Rat by Clare Furniss; design by Matt Johnson (Simon & Schuster Childrens Books / April 2014)

Thanks all

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Published December 8, 2014

Series Book Covers 2014

In the past, I’ve often included a few series designs in with my favourite covers of the year. This year, I saw so many great covers that were part of a series, I thought a they deserved a post of their own…

9781847493774 — Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes; design by Nathan Burton (Alma / 2014)

The Gambler by Fydor Dostoevsky; design by Nathan Burton (Alma / 2014)

Notes from the Underground by Fydor Dostoevsky; design by Nathan Burton (Alma / 2014)

Alma Classics; design by Nathan Burton (Alma / 2014)

A Winter's Tale — A Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare; design by Michel Vrana (Broadview / 2014)

As You Like It by William Shakespeare; design by Michel Vrana (Broadview / 2014)

Henry V by William Shakespeare; design by Michel Vrana (Broadview / 2014)

Broadview Shakespeare; design by Michel Vrana (Broadview / 2014)

9780141396064 — Nova Express by William Burroughs; cover art by Julian House (Penguin Classics 2014)

The Son Machine by William Burroughs; cover art by Julian House (Penguin Classics 2014)

The Ticket That Exploded by William Burroughs; cover art by Julian House (Penguin Classics 2014)

The Cut-Up Trilogy by William Burroughs; cover art by Julian House (Penguin Classics 2014)

LaSolutionEsquimauAW — Snapshots–Nouvelles voix du Caine Prize; design by David Pearson (Éditions Zulma / 2014)

Le Complex d’Eden Bellweather by Benjamin Wood; design by David Pearson (Éditions Zulma / 2014)

L’Exception by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir ; design by David Pearson (Éditions Zulma / 2014)

Éditions Zulma; design by David Pearson (Éditions Zulma / 2014)

Come, Sweet Death by Wolf Haas; design by Christopher Brian King (Melville House / 2014)

Resurrection by Wolf Haas; design by Christopher Brian King (Melville House / 2014)

Wolf Haas; design by Christopher Brian King (Melville House / 2014)

My Fellow Skin by Erwin Mortier; design by David Pearson (Pushkin Press / 2014)

Shutterspeed by Erwin Mortier; design by David Pearson (Pushkin Press / 2014)

Marcel by Erwin Mortier; design by David Pearson (Pushkin Press / 2014)

Erwin Mortier; design by David Pearson (Pushkin Press / 2014)

9780241970317 — After You with the Pistol by Kyril Bonfiglioli; design by Richard Green; illustration by Luke Pearson (Penguin / 2014)

The Great Mordecai Moustache Mystery by Kyril Bonfiglioli; design by Richard Green; illustration by Luke Pearson (Penguin / 2014)

Something Nasty in the Woodshed by Kyril Bonfiglioli; design by Richard Green; illustration by Luke Pearson (Penguin / 2014)

Charlie Mortdecai by Kyril Bonfiglioli; design by Richard Bravery illustration by Luke Pearson (Penguin / 2014)

If I Die in a Combat Zone by Tim O’Brien; design by Cardon Webb (Broadway / 2014)

Tomcat in Love by Tim O’Brien; design by Cardon Webb (Broadway / 2014)

Northern Lights by Tim O’Brien; design by Cardon Webb (Broadway / 2014)

Tim O’Brien; design by Cardon Webb (Broadway / 2014)

9780143569725 — Cloudstreet by Tim Winton; design by Adam Laszczuk; illustration by Josh Durham (Penguin Australia / 2014)

A Fortunate Life by A. B. Facey; design by Adam Laszczuk; illustration by Josh Durham (Penguin Australia / 2014)

The Tall Man by Chloe Hooper; design by Adam Laszczuk; illustration by Josh Durham (Penguin Australia / 2014)

Penguin Australian Classics; design by Adam Laszczuk; illustration by Josh Durham (Penguin Australia / 2014)

9780141976150 — Greek and Roman Political Ideas by Melissa Lane; cover design by Matthew Young; logo design by Richard Green (Pelican 2014)

Economics: The User’s Guide by Ha-Joon Chang; cover design by Matthew Young; logo design by Richard Green (Pelican 2014)

Revolutionary Russia, 1891-1991 by Orlando Figes; cover design by Matthew Young; logo design by Richard Green (Pelican 2014)

Pelican relaunch; cover design by Matthew Young; logo design by Richard Green (Pelican 2014)

Regeneration by Pat Barker; design by Mr Foxx (Penguin / 2014)

An Ice Cream War by William Boyd; design by Joe Cruz (Penguin / 2014)

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison; design by JP King (Penguin / 2014)

Penguin Essentials; design various (Penguin / 2014)

9780141395852 — Letters from a Stoic by Seneca; design by Coralie Bickford-Smith (Penguin Classics 2014)

Essays and Aphorisms by Arthur Schopenhauer; design by Coralie Bickford-Smith (Penguin Classics 2014)

The Art of War by Sun-Tzu; design by Coralie Bickford-Smith (Penguin Classics 2014)

Penguin Pocket Hardbacks; design by Coralie Bickford-Smith (Penguin Classics 2014)

Les fantômes fument en cachette by Miléna Babin; design by David Drummond (Les Éditions XYZ / 2014)

Notre Duplex by Éléonore Létourneau; design by David Drummond (Éditions XYZ / 2014)

Quand j’étais l’Amérique by Elsa Pépin; design by David Drummond (Les Éditions XYZ / 2014)

Quai No. 5; design by David Drummond (Les Éditions XYZ / 2014)

Sicilian Uncles by Leonardo Sciascia; design by Dan Mogford (Granta / 2014)

The Moro Affair by Leonardo Sciascia; design by Dan Mogford (Granta / 2014)

The Wine-Dark Sea by Leonardo Sciascia; design by Dan Mogford (Granta / 2014)

Leonardo Sciascia; design by Dan Mogford (Granta / 2014)1

9780374534691 — August 1914 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn; design by Oliver Munday (FSG / 2014)

November 1916 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn; design by Oliver Munday (FSG / 2014)

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn; design by Oliver Munday (FSG / 2014)

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn; design by Oliver Munday (FSG / 2014)

authority — Authority by Jeff VanderMeer (US); design by Charlotte Strick; Illustration by Eric Nyquist (FSG / 2014)

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (US); design by Charlotte Strick; Illustration by Eric Nyquist (FSG / 2014)

Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer (US); design by Charlotte Strick; Illustration by Eric Nyquist (FSG / 2014)

The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer (US); design by Charlotte Strick; Illustration by Eric Nyquist (FSG / 2014)

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (UK); design by Jo Walker; illustration by Kai and Sunny (Fourth Estate / 2014)

Authority by by Jeff VanderMeer (UK); design by Jo Walker; illustration by Kai and Sunny (Fourth Estate / 2014)

Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer (UK); design by Jo Walker; illustration by Kai and Sunny (Fourth Estate / 2014)

The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer (UK); design by Jo Walker; illustration by Kai and Sunny (Fourth Estate / 2014)

ukojenie_RBG2 — Ukojenie by Jeff VanderMeer (Poland); cover art by Patryk Mogilnicki (Otwarte / 2014)

Unicestwienie by Jeff VanderMeer (Poland); cover art by Patryk Mogilnicki (Otwarte / 2014)

Ujarzmienie by Jeff VanderMeer (Poland); cover art by Patryk Mogilnicki (Otwarte / 2014)

The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer (Poland); cover art by Patryk Mogilnicki (Otwarte / 2014)

city-of-saints — City of Saints & Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer backlist; design by Crush Creative (Tor / 2014)

Shriek: An Afterword by Jeff VanderMeer backlist; design by Crush Creative (Tor / 2014)

Veniss Underground by Jeff VanderMeer backlist; design by Crush Creative (Tor / 2014)

Jeff VanderMeer backlist; design by Crush Creative (Tor / 2014)

The Ego and His Own by Max Stirner; design by Rumors (Verso / 2014)

Freud and the Non-European by Edward Said; design by Rumors (Verso / 2014)

Verso Radical Thinkers; design by Rumors (Verso / 2014)

battle-of-ap-bac — The Battle of AP Bac by Neil Sheehan; design by Joan Wong (Vintage / 2014)

How War Begins by John Keegan; design by Joan Wong (Vintage / 2014)

Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood; design by Joan Wong (Vintage / 2014)

Vintage Shorts; design by Joan Wong (Vintage / 2014)

9782896494927 — Fleur de Cerisier by Aline Apostolska; design by David Drummond (VLB éditeur / 2014)

Elle Etait si Jolie by Pierre Szalowski; design by David Drummond (VLB éditeur / 2014)

Les Iles Canaries by Claudia Larochelle; design by David Drummond (VLB éditeur / 2014)

Vol 459; design by David Drummond (VLB éditeur / 2014)

Archetype by M. D. Waters; design by Jaya Miceli (Plume / 2014)

Prototype by M. D. Waters; design by Jaya Miceli (Plume / 2014)

M. D. Waters; design by Jaya Miceli (Plume / 2014)

9780099598282 — Art and Lies by Jeanette Winterson; design by James Paul Jones (Vintage / 2014)

The Passion by Jeanette Winterson; design by James Paul Jones (Vintage / 2014)

Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson; design by James Paul Jones (Vintage / 2014)

Vintage Winterson; design by James Paul Jones (Vintage / 2014)

3 Comments

Published December 8, 2014

50 Covers for 2014

Book designers, you do amazing work. Thank you. I am especially grateful to all the designers and art directors (not to mention publicists and other publishing folk) who have shared their wisdom, provided me with images, and helped me with design credits this year — these posts would not be possible without you. I also want thank my fellow book design bloggers, notably Book Covrs, Booketing, and Caustic Cover Critic, for their sterling work, and my local bookstores, Type, Book City on the Danforth, Ben McNally Books, and Indigo Bay & Bloor, for letting me browse their shelves.

Here are my covers of 2014:

all-my-puny-sorrows
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews; design by Sunra Thompson (McSweeney’s / November 2014)

All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu; design by Isabel Urbina Peña (Knopf / March 2014)

bark
Bark by Lorrie Moore; design by Carol Devine Carson; photography by Josef Sudek (Knopf / February 2014)

The Book of Heaven by Patricia Storace; design by Linda Huang (Pantheon / February 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)

9781476747231
The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt; design by Christopher Lin (Simon & Schuster / March 2014)

Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall by Will Chancellor; design by Richard Ljoenes (HarperCollins / July 2014)

Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes; design by Keith Hayes (Mulholland Books / September 2014)

California by Edan Lepucki; design Julianna Lee (Little Brown & Co. / July 2014)

chop-chop
Chop Chop by Simon Wroe; design by Ben Wiseman (Penguin / April 2014)

clothes-music-boys
Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys by Viv Albertine; design by Luke Bird (Faber & Faber / May 2014)

The Corpse Exhibition by Hassan Blasim; design by Jason Ramirez (Penguin / February 2014)

dept-of-speculation-gray-318
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill; design by Gray318 (Granta / March 2014)

Dog-Ear
Dog Ear by Jim Johnstone; design by David Drummond (Signal Editions / May 2014)

The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison; design by Tom Darracott (Granta / June 2014)

Enlightenment 2.0 by Joseph Heath; design by David A. Gee (HarperCollins / April 2014)

Forensic Songs by Mike McCormack; design by Jason Booher (SOHO / July 2014)

fourth-july-creek
Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson; design by Allison Saltzman; illustration by Bryan Nash Gill (Ecco / June 2014)

Friendship by Emily Gould; design by Jennifer Carrow (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / July 2014)

fullblood-arabian
Fullblood Arabian by Osama Alomar; design by Paul Sahre (New Directions / March 2014)

A-Girl-is-a-Half-formed-Thing
A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride; design by Donna Payne (Faber & Faber / April 2014)

Happy are the Happy by Yesmina Reza; design by Suzanne Dean (Harvill Secker / July 2014)

The Histories by Herodotus, translated by Tom Holland; design by Coralie Bickford-Smith (Penguin Classics / September 2014)

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

Karate Chop by Dorthe Nors; design by Carol Hayes (Graywolf February 2014)

leaving-the-sea
Leaving the Sea by Ben Marcus; design by Peter Mendelsund (Knopf / January 2014)

And here it is side by side with 2012’s The Flame Alphabet:

The Liar’s Wife by Mary Gordon; design by Linda Huang (Pantheon / August 2014)

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

9781447259374
The Man Who Couldn’t Stop; design by Katie Tooke (Picador / April 2014)

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka; design by Jamie Keenan (W. W. Norton / February 2014)

My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead; design by Elena Giavaldi (Crown / January 2014)

Napoleon the Great by Andrew Roberts; design by Isabelle De Cat (Penguin / October 2014)

on-such-a-full-sea
On Such a Full Sea by Chang-Rae Lee; design by Helen Yentus; lettering Jason Booher (Riverhead / January 2014)

our-poison-horse
Our Poison Horse by Derrick Brown; design by Jennifer Heuer (Write Bloody / October 2014)

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

Russians by Gregory Feifer; design by Catherine Casalino (Twelve Books / February 2014)

The Scarborough by Michael Lista; design by David Drummond (Véhicule Press / September 2014)

The Secret World of Oil by Ken Silverstein; design by Matt Dorfman (Verso / May 2014)

9780307908483
Silence Once Begun by Jesse Ball; design by Peter Mendelsund (Pantheon / January 2014)

silent-history
The Silent History by Eli Horowitz, Kevin Moffett, Matthew Derby; design by Oliver Munday (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / June 2014)

song-for-approaching
Song for an Approaching Storm by Peter Fröberg Idling; design by David Pearson (Pushkin Press / March 2014)

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

9780374270650
Strange Bodies by Marcel Theroux; design by Nayon Cho; illustration by Mark Stutzman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / February 2014)

Ugly Girls by Lindsay Hunter; design by Charlotte Strick; photograph by Natalie Dirks (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / November 2014)

9781447229759
Vanishing by Gerard Woodward; design by Jamie Keenan (Picador UK / March 2014)

Wittgenstein Jr by Lars Iyers; design by Christopher Brian King (Melville House / September 2014)

Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle; design by Timothy Goodman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / September 2014)

Area-X
9780374261177
Area X by Jeff VanderMeer; design by Rodrigo Corral (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / November 2014)

young-skins
young-skins-full
Young Skins: Stories by Colin Barrett; design by James Paul Jones (Jonathan Cape / March 2014)

Your Face in Mine by Jess Row; design by Oliver Munday (Riverhead / August 2014)

Thanks all.

20 Comments

Published November 3, 2014

Book Covers of Note November 2014

This is the last of the monthly cover round-ups for 2014, and I have a lot to cram in before I start on my big end of year list, so it’s a bit of corker (if I do say so myself) with lots of gold foil and other fancy finishes:

Amnesia
Amnesia by Peter Carey; design by Alex Kirby (Faber & Faber / October 2014)

(The dust jacket is actually acetate)

The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis; illustration by Matt Taylor; type design and art direction by Richard Bravery (Viking / August 2014)

9780374166670
The Big Green Tent by Ludmila Ulitskaya; design by Devin Washburn (FSG / December 2014)

convulsing-bodies-anne-jordan
Convulsing Bodies by Mark D. Jordan; design by Anne Jordan (Stanford University Press / October 2014)

Critical_Journeys
Critical Journeys by Robert Schroeder; design Jana Vukovic (Library Juice Press / September 2014)

dear-reader
Dear Reader by Paul Fournel; illustration by Jean Jullien (Pushkin Press / November 2014)

9780871409287
The Enormous Room by E. E. Cummings; design by Devin Washburn (Liveright / October 2014)

Fiddler-on-the-Roof-Cover
Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein; design Christopher Silas Neal (Crown / September 2014)

forgive me leonard peacock
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick; design by Gray318 (Little Brown & Co / July 2014)

girl-defective
Girl Defective by Simmone Howell; design by Debra Sfetsios-Conover; illustration Jeffrey Everett (Atheneum / September 2014)

(I also really like Sandy Cull’s design for the Australian edition published by Pan Macmillan in 2013)

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The Hoarders by Scott Herring; design by David Drummond (University of Chicago Press / November 2014)

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In Case of Emergency by Courtney Moreno; design by Sunra Thompson (McSweeney’s / September 2014)

Wint_9780385677851_jkt_all_r6.indd
Into the Blizzard by Michael Winter; design by Scott Richardson (Doubleday Canada / November 2014)

its-not-me
It’s Not Me It’s You by Mhairi McFarlane; design by Heike Schüssler; illustration by Gianmarco Magnani / Silence Television (HarperCollins / November 2014)

little-failure-pb
Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart; design by Rodrigo Corral Design (Random House / October 2014)

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Smoke Proofs by Andrew Steeves; design by Andrew Steeves (Gaspereau Press / September 2014)

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The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James; design by Coralie Bickford-Smith (Penguin / November 2014)

rabbit
The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen; design by Nathan Burton (Pushkin Press / September 2014)

(The hardcover edition, designed by David Pearson, is also amazing)

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Sailing the Forest by Robin Robertson; design by Neil Lang (Picador / September 2014)

(The skull is gold foil on the finished book)

sense-of-style
The Sense of Style by Steven Pinker; design by Louise Fili; illustration by R. O. Blechman (Viking / September 2014)

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The Sense of Style by Steven Pinker; design by Jim Stoddart & Isabelle de Cat; photograph by Kayla Varley (Penguin / September 2014)

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Tales of the Marvellous and the Strange translated by Malcolm C. Lyons; design by ~~Coralie Bickford-Smith~~ Isabelle de Cat; illustration by Nina Chakrabarti (Penguin / November 2014)

(Just look at all that gold!)

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Ugly Girls by Lindsay Hunter; design by Charlotte Strick; photograph by Natalie Dirks (FSG / November 2014)

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What I Want to Tell You Goes Like This by Matt Rader; design by Ben Didier / Pretty/Ugly Design (Nightwood Editions / October 2014 )

you
You by Caroline Kepnes; design by Natalie Sousa (Atria / September 2014)

3 Comments

Published October 2, 2014

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)

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 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 Richard Green (Allen Lane / September 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 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

Published September 3, 2014

Book Covers of Note September 2014

It’s hard to believe it is already September, but here we are… time for another round of book covers!

If you’re new to this feature, each month I collect together new and recent covers that have caught my eye in the previous few weeks. Although the focus is on books released in the current month, the posts also include covers I’ve missed earlier in the year. You can find the previous month’s posts here.

Thanks (as always) to my local bookstores — Type Books on Queen West, Book City on the Danforth, and Indigo Bay & Bloor — for fighting the good fight (and their wonderful displays!).

9781568987262_cfl
Abbott Miller: Design and Content; design by Pentagram (Princeton Architectural Press / September 2014)

Arvida by Samuel Archibald; design by Catherine D’Amours / Pointbarre (Le Quartanier / August 2014)

(this is an obvious miss from last month’s post about maps. Sorry Catherine!)

assassination-of-margaret-thatcher
The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel; design by Rodrigo Corral Design; photograph Demurez/Glasshouse (Henry Holt / September 2014)

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The City Under the Skin by Geoff Nicholson; design by Oliver Munday; photograph by George Baier IV (FSG / June 2014)

(Another one that should have been in the maps post. And yes, that really is someone’s back apparently)

The Establishment by Owen Jones; design by Richard Green (Allen Lane / September 2014)

forensic-songs
Forensic Songs by Mike McCormack; design by Jason Booher (SOHO / July 2014)

God Telling a Joke by David Margoshes; design by David Drummond (Oolichan Books / May 2014)

Hack Attack by Nick Davies; design by David Drummond (Faber & Faber / August 2014)

The Histories by Herodotus; design by Coralie Bickford-Smith (Penguin Classics / September 2014)

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison; design by JP King (Penguin / August 2014)

lippy-booher
Lippy by Bush Moukarzel; design by Jason Booher (Oberon Books / August 2014)

The Most Dangerous Animal of All by Gary L. Stewart with Susan Mustafa; design by Jarrod Taylor (HarperCollins / June 2014)

(I’m not endorsing the content of this book at all, but the red acetate cover does need to be seen in person to be fully appreciated)

smoke-gets-in
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty; design by David High / High Design (W. W. Norton / September 2014)

The Transcriptionist by Amy Rowland; design by Keith Hayes (Algonquin Books / May 2014)

Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle; design by Timothy Goodman (FSG / September 2014)

wittgenstein-jr
Wittgenstein Jr by Lars Iyers; design by Christopher Brian King (Melville House / September 2014)

You by Zoran Drvenkar; design by Kelly Blair (Knopf / August 2014)

2 Comments

Published September 2, 2014

BUONA LA PRIMA! An Exhibition of the Best Italian Book Design

Jean-Cayrol-Notte-e-nebbia-Nonostante-edizioni

Italian design journalist Stefano Salis has kindly let me know about BUONA LA PRIMA!, an exhibition he has curated for the Artelibro Festival in Bologna later this month. For the exhibition, a committee of 15 professionals in the field of editorial graphics has selected the best Italian books covers published published in the past year. All 45 finalists (three for each judge) can be viewed on the Artelibro website, and visitors can vote for their favourite.

Silvia-Borando-Vicino-lontano-Minibombo-FRONTE1

Paolo-Ventura-The-Napoleonic-Soldier-and-Other-Stories-Un-sedicesimo-34-rivista-libro-Corraini-Edizioni

In addition to the prize assigned by popular vote, the jury of experts will also award a ‘Critics Prize’ to the best cover, in conjunction with the votes expressed by Ricardo Franco Levi, President of Artelibro, Romano Montroni, President of the Italian Center for the Book, and Giovanni Gregoletto, bibliophile and owner of Cantine Gregoletto that sponsor the exhibition.

AA.VV_.-a-cura-di-Andrea-Cortellessa-La-terra-della-prosa-L’Orma-editore

The two winners will be announced on Sunday, September 21 at 12:30, with a toast at Palazzo Re Enzo.
COPERTINA BAUMAN DEFINITIVO
Niccolò-Machiavelli-Il-principe-Utet
BUONA LA PRIMA! opens Friday, September 12th at 6pm, in the Biblioteca d’Arte e di Storia di San Giorgio in Poggiale.

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