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Tag: Design

Published November 19, 2014

The Great Discontent: John Gall

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Just fantastic interview with book designer and art director John Gall at The Great Discontent:

I find it hard to think about design in terms of changing the world, but it’s important to think about design in terms of the decisions you make about what you make. Ask yourself: “What am I putting out into the world? Am I helping sell Big Macs or deodorant or iPhones or whatever?” I have nothing against any of those, but at some point in my life, I decided to focus on books. Books are intrinsically good: even the worst book—with some notable exceptions—isn’t truly bad. If people are reading, it is good. As designers, we’re attached to the selling of something; no matter what we’re making there is a selling component. In that sense, the decision to work with books was very much about the larger picture of what I was helping to usher into the world.

I talked to John about his collages waaaaaay back in 2011.

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Published November 5, 2014

Amnesia Cover Design by Alex Kirby

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The cover for the new Faber & Faber edition of Amnesia by Peter Carey was featured in this month’s ‘book covers of note‘ post, and designer Alex Kirby kindly sent me some lovely photographs of the book with and without it’s acetate dust jacket so you can get a better look at it:

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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)

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

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

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Convulsing Bodies by Mark D. Jordan; design by Anne Jordan (Stanford University Press / October 2014)

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

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

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

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

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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)

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

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

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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)

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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)

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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 )

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

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Published October 24, 2014

Penguin Modern Classics The Cut-Up Trilogy by William Burroughs

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)

Following on from yesterday’s post on Penguin’s pocket hardback classics, Penguin Modern Classics are also reissuing William Burroughs’ cut-up trilogy with menacingly dark collage cover art by Julian House:

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Published October 20, 2014

Design Matters with Tom Geismar

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Kicking off a new season of Design Matters, Debbie Millman talks to pioneer of American graphic design Tom Geismar about how the practice of design has changed since the 1950s:

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Published October 19, 2014

Peter Mendelsund on Fresh Air

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I think there are two primary jobs that a jacket has to do: It has to represent a text and it has to sell it. In a way, a book jacket … is sort of like a title that an author comes up with. It’s one thing that has to speak to a big aggregate thing, which is the book itself. And it has to be compelling in some way such that you’re interested enough to pick it up — and perhaps buy it. … It’s like a billboard or an advertisement or a movie trailer or a teaser. …

I think of a book jacket as being sort of like a visual reminder of the book, but … it’s also a souvenir of the reading experience. Reading takes place in this nebulous kind of realm, and in a way, the jacket is part of the thing that you bring back from that experience. It’s the thing that you hold on to.

Peter Mendelsund, book designer and author of What We See When We Read, interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air:

NPR Fresh Air Interview: Author and Designer Peter Mendelsund mp3

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Published September 23, 2014

Beasts!

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Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my! I’m kicking off a new series today on animal book covers. The first post is on ‘beasts’ — mostly ‘wild’ beasts, but one or two more domesticated (and dead) animals may have nosed their way in. Other posts series will look at birds, bugs, reptiles and amphibians, and quite possibly sea creatures and farm animals (unless someone pays me a large amount of money to stop before that). Thanks to all the designers, ADs, publicists and others who have been helping me with images and credits. If you notice that some information about a cover is missing, please let me know.

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American Spirit by Dan Kennedy; design by Gabrielle Bordwin (New Harvest / May 2013)

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Animals of My Own Kind by Harry Thurston; design by David Drummond (Vehicule Press / April 2010)

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Annabel by Kathleen Winter; design by Bill Douglas (Anansi / June 2010)

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Beasts! by Jacob Covey; design by Jacob Covey / Unflown (Fantagraphics / February 2007)

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The Bedside Book of Beasts by Graeme Gibson; design by Scott Richardson (Doubleday Canada / October 2009)

Bobcat by Rebecca Lee; design by Nathan Burton (Penguin Canada / August 2012)
Bobcat by Rebecca Lee; design by Nathan Burton (Penguin Canada / August 2012)

brothers-beasts
Brothers & Beasts edited Kate Bernheimer; design by Isaac Tobin; illustration by Lauren Nassef (Wayne State University Press / January 2008)

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Caribou by Charles Wright; design by Jeff Clark / Quemadura (FSG / March 2014)


Charm and Strange by Stephanie Kuehn; design by Sharon King-Chai (Electric Monkey / June 2013)

chronic city
Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem; design by Miriam Rosenbloom (Faber & Faber / December 2009)

Company-of-Liars
Company of Liars by Karen Maitland; design by gray318 (Penguin / January 2008)

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Doppler by Erlend Loe; design by Nicolas Cheetham (Anansi / October 2012)

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Eeeee Eee Eeee by Tao Lin; design by Kelly Blair (Melville House / April 2007)

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The Extinction Club by Jeffrey Moore; design by Michel Vrana (Hamish Hamilton Canada / April 2010)

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Feral by George Monbiot; design by Jim Stoddart (Penguin / May 2013)


The Good Suicides by Antonio Hill; design by Christopher Brand (Crown / June 2014)


Gottland: Mostly True Stories from Half of Czechoslovakia by Mariusz Szczygiel; design by Christopher King (Melville House / May 2014)

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Goya’s Dog by Damian Tarnopolsky; design by David Gee (Penguin Canada / August 2007)

Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway; illustration by Paul Rogers (Vintage / September 2007)
Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway; illustration by Paul Rogers (Vintage / September 2012)
Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway; illustration by Paul Rogers (Vintage / September 2012)

Hope A Tragedy
Hope A Tragedy by Shalom Auslander; design by John Gall (Riverhead Books / January 2012)

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The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle; design by Emily Mahon; illustration by SHOUT (Modern Library / October 2002)

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Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle; design by Coralie Bickford-Smith; illustration by Despotica (Penguin / March 2008)

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How I Came to Haunt My Parents by Natalee Caple; design by David Gee (ECW / May 2011)

hunger
Hunger by Lincoln Townley; design by Matt Johnson (Simon & Schuster / May 2014)

jaguars-eels
Jaguars and Electric Eels by Alexander Von Humboldt; design by David Pearson; illustration by Victoria Sawdon (Penguin / February 2007)

Knife Throwing Through Self-Hypnosis
Knife Throwing Through Self-Hypnosis by Robin Richardson; design by Natalie Olsen / Kisscut Design (ECW / September 2013)

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Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch; design by gray318 (Canongate / March 2011)

jungle-book
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling; design by Alice Stevenson (Penguin India / 2014)

leopard
The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa; illustration by Hans Tillman (Vintage / September 2007)

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Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith; design by Mark Ecob (Abacus / August 2003)

design & illustration by Mark Ecob
design & illustration by Mark Ecob
design & illustration by Mark Ecob

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Me and the Devil by Nick Tosches; design by Keith Hayes (Little Brown & Co / December 2012)

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Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi design by Helen Yentus with Jason Booher (Riverhead / September 2011)

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Morning in the Burned House by Margaret Atwood; design by Kelly Hill (McClelland & Stewart / September 2009)

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Natural Acts by David Quammen; design by John Fulbrook III (W. W. Norton / May 2009)

Dreams in Time of War by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o; design by Peter Mendelsund (Pantheon / March 2010)
In the House of the Interpreter by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o; design by Peter Mendelsund (Pantheon / November 2012)

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The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane; design by Charlotte Strick; illustration by Ariana Nehmad Ross (Faber & Faber / October 2013)

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Off Course by Michelle Huneven; design by Rodrigo Corral; photograph by Gregori Maiofis (FSG / March 2014)

orphan-master
The Orphan Masters Son by Adam Johnson; design by Lynn Buckley (Random House / January 2012)

panther
Panther by David Owen; design by gray318 (Constable and Robinson / May 2015)

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Pastoralia by George Saunders; design by Rodrigo Corral (Riverhead / June 2001)


The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson; design by Matt Dorfman (Riverhead / December 2011)

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Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow; design by Susan Dean; illustration Natasha Michaels (William Heinemann / August 2007)

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A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright; design by Bill Douglas (Anansi / October 2004)

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Station Eleven by Emily  St. John Mandel; design by Nathan Burton (Picador / September 2014)

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Stories II by T. C. Boyle; design by Greg Heinimann (Bloomsbury / October 2013)

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The Tattooed Soldier by Hector Tobar; design by Jim Tierney (Picador / October 2014)

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Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt; Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich (Dial Press / June 2012)

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This Book Will Save Your Life by A. M. Homes; design by Paul Buckley (Penguin / April 2007)

Tiger-in-Eden
Tigers in Eden by Chris Flynn; design by W.H. Chong (Text Publishing Co. / October 2013)

The Tiger's Wife-Tea Obreht
The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht; design by James Paul Jones; illustration Wuon Gean Ho (Phoenix / March 2011)

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Tooth and Claw by T. C. Boyle; design by Paul Buckley (Penguin / September 2005)


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

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The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards by Kristopher Jansma; design by Alison Forner (Penguin / March 2014)

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Wolves by Simon Ings; design and Illustration by Jeffrey Alan Love (Gollancz / January 2014)

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Published September 2, 2014

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

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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.

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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.

The two winners will be announced on Sunday, September 21 at 12:30, with a toast at Palazzo Re Enzo.
COPERTINA BAUMAN DEFINITIVO
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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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Published August 29, 2014

Vol 459 Series Design by David Drummond

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These stylish covers were designed by Canadian designer David Drummond for a series of new novels from Montreal-based publisher VLB éditeur. In the series, four different authors imagine the same plane journey on flight 459 from Paris. Planes on covers has spot UV:

Les Iles Canaries by Claudia Larochelle; design by David Drummond (VLB éditeur / 2014)
Elle Etait si Jolie by Pierre Szalowski; design by David Drummond (VLB éditeur / 2014)

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Published August 14, 2014

Book Cover Design is a Fine Art

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It used to be enough for a book to idly stand out in a bookstore. Nowadays, however, new books must jostle for attention with everything. Thousands of distractions are just a click away. Is it any wonder that book-cover design is more important than ever?

In today’s Globe and Mail, I talks about recent trends in book cover design and pick a few of my favourite covers from the year so far. If you live in Canada you can find a lovely-looking print version of the article in the Arts pages.

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Published August 8, 2014

Derek Birdsall on Hans ‘Zero’ Schleger

While looking for something else entirely, I recently stumbled across this video of British book designer Derek Birdsall discussing the work of influential graphic designer Hans ‘Zero’ Schleger:

 

Coincidently, Birdsall turned 80 early this month and Mike Dempsey reposted a link to his 2002 interview with the designer. If you’re interested in post-war British design, it’s essential reading:

Despite this astonishing attention to detail, Birdsall’s work is disarmingly simple. Like great screen actors, it is what is left out that makes the performance compelling. He is not a showy designer interested in trends. His passion lies in the details: the typeface, naturally and, with books, the feel of the paper; the quality of the binding; the cut of the font; the evenness of line endings; the perfect balance of image to space. 

These are the things that elevate his work to the ranks of typography. These and an incredibly inventive mind responsible for producing a consistently high standard of work for over 40 years: he designed the first Pirelli calendar in 1964… as well as book jackets for Penguin and Monty Python, and art-directed magazines including Town, Nova and The Independent’s colour magazine. 

Birdsall’s own view of his work is very pragmatic. ‘As designers we are here to please the client,’ he says. He doesn’t believe in forcing things down their throats. What he does do is weigh up all the possible questions and objections that a client might voice and have his answers ready.

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Published July 30, 2014

Vintage Shorts Designed by Joan Wong

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Vintage Books (US) recently announced Vintage Shorts, a series of stories, excerpts and other short pieces exclusively available as eBooks. The bold, geometric ‘covers’ were designed by the talented Joan Wong.

And, in case you were wondering, the typeface is Agenda, designed by Greg Thompson for Font Bureau. Apparently it was inspired by Edward Johnston’s typeface for the London Underground, so no wonder I like it!

Waiting for a Goal by Bill Buford
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