Tag: emma dolan

Book Covers of Note, March 2025

Published March 27, 2025

Book Covers of Note, March 2025

Well, I don’t know about you, but I certainly didn’t miss the ceaseless chaos and constant anxiety. It is exhausting.

Anyway… I hope you’re keeping safe and well despite it all. I don’t know where March has gone, but this month’s post is another bumper edition with lots of great covers. I’m happy to have a bit more nonfiction in the mix, and there are lots of covers from indie publishers and even a university press along side the usual suspects. There are also a couple of Canadians if you’re keeping score.

Disposable by Sarah Jones; design by Keith Hayes; photograph by Susan Goldstein (Avid Reader / February 2025)

Goth by Lol Tolhurst; design by Timothy O’Donnell (Da Capo / February 2025)

This is the cover for US paperback and it feels like it should be printed with that blackest black stuff from MIT.

Update: here’s a photo from Timothy’s Instagram of the sprayed edges:

The hardcover, also designed by Timothy was featured way back in September 2023 (I was convinced it was from last year!).

How To Change History by Robin Hemley; design Ashley Muehlbauer (University of Nebraska Press / March 2025)

Integrated by Noliwe Rooks; design by Adam Maida (Pantheon / March 2025)

The Last Bell by Donald McRae; design by Craig Fraser; art by Amanda Kelley (Simon & Schuster / March 2025)

Lion by Sonya Walger; design by Katy Homans (NYRB Books / February 2025)

Luminous by Sylvia Park; design by Alex Merto (Simon & Schuster / March 2025)

Motherdom by Alex Bollen; design by Jenny Volvovski (Verso / March 2025)

I posted Jenny’s black and white cover designs for the Latvian Translator Triptych published by Open Letter earlier this month if you missed them.

Nobody Asked For This by Georgia Toews; design by Emma Dolan; art by Ginna Nebrig (Doubleday Canada / March 2025)

On Giving Up by Adam Phillips; design by Alex Merto (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / March 2024)

Yes, this is from March 2024, so I am precisely a year late posting it. Either I didn’t see it last year or I couldn’t find the credit at the time. Anyway, Alex posted or re-posted this cover relatively recently and it spoke to me.

I also thought it went quite well with this cover…

On the Clock by Claire Baglin; design by Jack Smyth (Daunt Books / March 2025)

If you haven’t listened to Jack in conversation with Steve Leard on the Cover Meeting podcast yet, you should remedy that.

The cover of the US edition of On the Clock by Claire Baglin, published by New Directions and also out this month, was designed by Erik Carter.

The Passenger Seat by Vijay Khurana; design by Zoe Norvell (Biblioasis / March 2025)

Passing Through a Prairie Country by Dennis E. Staples; design by Nicole Caputo (Counterpoint / March 2025)

Potomac Fever by Charlotte Taylor Fryar; design by Tree Abraham (Bellevue Literary Press / March 2025)

Rain of Ruin by Richard Overy; design by David Gee (W.W. Norton / March 2025)

Rehearsals for Dying by Ariel Gore; design by Sarah Schulte (Amethyst Editions / March 2025)

A Room Above a Shop by Anthony Shapland; design by Tom Etherington (Granta / March 2025)

I compared Tom’s covers for Amitava Kumar to Peter Blake last month. This one is giving me Elsworth Kelly vibes!

Stag Dance by Torrey Peters; design by Rachel Ake (Random House / March 2025)

Rachel Ake also designed the cover of Torrey Peters’ novel Detransition Baby, which was one of my notable covers of 2021.

There Is No Place For Us by Brian Goldstone; design by Anna Kochman (Crown / March 2025)

Tongues by Anders Nilsen; design by Anders Nilsen (Pantheon / March 2025)

I don’t often post the covers of graphic novels, but I like this one a lot.

Two Truths and a Lie by Cory O’Brien; design by Tyler Comrie (Pantheon / March 2025)

This makes me think of David Pelham’s airbrushed sci-fi covers for Penguin.

Ultramarine by Mariette Navarro; design by Daniel Benneworth Gray (Deep Vellum / March 2025)

The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica; design by Emma Ewbank (Pushkin Press / March 2025)

The slightly less bonkers, but also fun cover of the US edition (published by Scribner this month) was designed by Math Monahan. I’m also quite partial to the definitely bonkers Polish(?) cover designed by Tomasz Majewski.

Voices of the Fallen Heroes by Yukio Mishima; design by John Gall (Vintage / January 2025)

Comments closed

Notable Book Covers of 2024

Published December 19, 2024

Notable Book Covers of 2024

It is the time of year for lists and I should’ve been done weeks ago, but I am late and already well behind the pack. Apologies for that.

I admire Matt Dorfman‘s ability to whittle his list down to a dozen covers for the New York Times. I imagine it takes him a lot less time for one thing, but I’m sure Matt still agonizes over every cover. It requires a level of discipline and restraint that I do not possess to keep it that tight year after year.

I am not alone in that latter respect. LitHub’s list, chosen by designers, is 167 covers this year. 28 covers more than last year’s already long list, 64 more than 2022, and 66 more than 2021.

In 2020, their list was relatively lean 89.

PRINT’s list of best book covers of 2024, compiled by editor-at-large Zachary Petit, is also long. It’s a 100 covers. Last year it was 50.

I’m not trying to throw stones here. We are all seeing more covers than we used to. There are more books for one thing. But they’re not just something we just experience in print in anymore. You don’t have to go into a bookstore or read the newspaper or magazine to see them. They’ve become something we see and share all the time online. Designers are promoting their own work and (slowly) getting more credit for it (although there is a lot more to be done in that area. Publishers — credit your designers!). My monthly round-ups are now one of several you can choose from.

And it is not like my list is short. This year it features work by 48 designers — more than half of them women — and 86 covers (plus a couple of supplementary images).

The consensus seems to be that it was a decent year for covers, and it’s hard to argue with other people’s selections even if I don’t love them all.

It is telling though that 100 of LitHub’s selections were individual picks. There are covers on my list that are not on the anyone else’s despite their length. So while I think we agree there were lots of good covers, I’m less certain we entirely agree on which ones were actually the outstanding ones.

A recent article Spine argued that there is a battle between minimalism and maximalism going on (you can find Spine’s end of year list here by the way). I think that could be true. Different approaches work for different audiences. But I also think it’s messier than that. I get the sense that publishers are less sure of what they want and what sells (certain genres notwithstanding).

It has been a rough year for a lot of publishers, so there is undoubtedly a lot of uncertainty, and no small amount of anxiety. I could go on about why that it is (and the publishing’s self-inflicted wounds) but, in short, what I think we’re also seeing with book covers is more meddling and less direction.

Anyway, I don’t want to end this on a bleak note. This year was shit enough. Despite it all, there genuinely were a lot of good covers in 2024, and some that I did think we’re outstanding. A couple of them made me laugh, which was no small thing. It was a strong year for several individual designers in particular and, despite the pressures, many produced work that was recognizably theirs. I thought there were more interesting covers coming out of the UK and Ireland (that mercifully wasn’t just about the inks or the finishes!), and there were some fun Canadian covers too.

Thanks, as always, for reading, and I hope you’re all keeping safe and well. Happy Holidays!

Alphabetical Diaries by Sheila Heti; design by Na Kim (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / February 2024)

Anyone’s Ghost by August Thompson; design by Keith Hayes (Penguin Press / July 2024)

The Abyss by Fernando Vallejo; design by Janet Hansen (New Directions / June 2024)

Also designed by Janet Hansen:

*One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman* by Abi Maxwell; design by Janet Hansen (Knopf / September 2024)

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino; design by Thom Colligan (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / January 2024)

Birding by Rose Ruane; design by Charlotte Stroomer; photograph by Kelsey McClellan (Little, Brown / May 2024)

Butter by Asako Yuzuki; design by Emma Pidsley (HarperCollins / February 2024)

Challenger by Adam Higginbotham; design by Pete Garceau (Avid Reader Press / May 2024)

Cold by David Hayden Taylor; design by Kelly Hill (McClelland & Stewart / January 2024)

Crisis Actor by Declan Ryan; design by Stephanie Cui (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / February 2024)

Dear Dickhead by Virginie Despentes; design by Luke Bird (Quercus / September 2024)

Also designed by Luke Bird (and I could’ve several included more!):

*Free Therapy* by Rebecca Ivory; design by Luke Bird (Vintage / March 2024)

Defectors by Paola Ramos; design Chantal Jahchan (Pantheon / September 2024)

The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk; design by Lauren Peters-Collaer (Riverhead / September 2024)

Also designed by Lauren Peters-Collaer:

*Colored Television* by Danzy Senna; design by Lauren Peters-Collaer (Riverhead / September 2024)

Everything and Nothing At All by Jenny Heijun Wills; design by Terri Nimmo (Knopf Canada / August 2024)

Fog & Car by Eugene Lim; design by Michael Salu (Coffee House Press / July 2024)

It’s the spine and back cover that really make this for me.

Fruit of the Dead by Rachel Lyon; design by Math Monahan (Scribner / March 2024)

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon; design by Gregg Kulick (Henry Holt / March 2024)

Also designed by Gregg Kulick:

*An Earthquake is a Shaking of the Surface of the Earth* by Anna Moschovakis; design by Gregg Kulick (Soft Skull / November 2024)

Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly; design by Clay Smith (Avid Reader Press / February 2024)

Honey by Victor Lodata; design by Robin Bilardello (Harper / April 2023)

In Tongues by Thomas Grattan; design by Alex Merto (MCD / May 2024)

Also designed by Alex Merto:

*Dear Dickhead* by Despentes; design by Alex Merto (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / September 2024)

Ixelles by Johannes Anyuru; design by Jonathan Pelham (Two Lines Press / October 2024)

Kittentits by Holly Wilson; design by Eli Mock (Zando / May 2024)

Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology by Rigoberto González; by design by Isabel Urbina Peña (Library of Amerca / September 2024)

Also designed by Isabel Urbina Peña:

*Nearly All Men in Lagos are Mad* by Damilare Kuku; design by HarperVia / March 2024)

Liars by Sarah Manguso; design by Cassie Gonzalez (Hogarth Press / July 2024)

Little Rot by Akwaeje Emezi; design by Kishan Rajani (Faber & Faber / July 2024)

Also designed by Kishan Rajani :

*The Buddha of Suburbia* by Hanif Kureishi; design by Kishan Rajani (Faber / July
2024)

Love Junkie by Robert Plunket; design by Oliver Munday (New Directions / May 2024)

Also designed by Oliver Munday:

*Holy Winter 20/21* by Maria Stepanova; design by Oliver Munday (New Directions / October 2024)

Madness by Antonia Hylton; design by Daniel Benneworth-Gray (Footnote Press / March 2024)

Mammoth by Eva Baltasar; design by Anna Morrison (And Other Stories / August 2025)

MILF by Paloma Faith; design by Jack Smyth (Ebury / June 2024)

Also designed by Jack Smith:

*Lobster* by Hollie McNish; design by Jack Smyth (Little, Brown / March 2024)

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley; design by Alison Forner; typography by Andrew Footit (Avid Reader Press / May 2024)

Mojave Ghost by Forrest Gander; design by Giacomo Girardi / Rodrigo Corral; lettering by Adriana Tonello (New Directions / October 2024)

Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova; design by Tom Etherington (Cinder House / June 2024)

Mystery Lights by Lena Valencia; design by Beth Steidle (Tin House / August 2024)

Also designed by Beth Steidle:

*The Skunks* by FIona Warnick; design by Beth Steidle (Tin House / May 2024)

Necrology by Meg Ripley; design by Luísa Dias (Creature Publishing / September 2024)

Also designed by Luísa Dias:

*Bear Season* by Gemma FaircloughLuísa Dias (Wild Hunt Books / March 2024)

Nicked by M. T. Anderson; design by Zak Tebbal (Pantheon / July 2024)

The Obscene Bird of Night by José Donoso; design by Joan Wong (New Directions / April 2024)

The Observable Universe by Heather McCalden; design by Arsh Raziuddin and Gaby Pesqueira Ortiz (Hogarth / March 2024)

Also designed by Also designed by Arsh Raziuddin:

*How to Make Herself Agreeable to Everyone* by Cameron Russell; design by Arsh Raziuddin (Random House / March 2024)

Piglet by Lottie Hazell; design by Jenni Surasky; art by Noah Verrier (Henry Holt / February 2024)

A Reason To See You Again by Jami Attenberg; design by Allison Saltzman (Ecco / September 2024)

Sociopath by Patric Gagne; design by Rodrigo Corral (Simon & Schuster / April 2024)

The Sons of El Rey by Alex Espinoza; design by David Litman (Simon & Schuster / June 2024)

Supplication by Nour Abi-Nakhoul; design by Emma Dolan (Strange Light / May 2024)

There’s Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib; design by Tyler Comrie; photograph by Matt Eich (Random House / March 2024)

Also designed by Tyler Comrie:

*Plastic* by Scott Guild; design by Tyler Comrie (Pantheon / February 2024)

Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk; design by Kaitlin Kall (Dutton / March 2024)

The Understory by Saneh Sangsuk; design by Emily Mahon (Deep Vellum / March 2024)

Also designed by Emily Mahon:

*A Thousand Thoughts in Flight* by Maria Gabriela Llansol; design by Emily Mahon (Deep Vellum / July 2024)

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange; design by Linda Huang (Knopf / February 2024)

Also designed by Linda Huang:

*Martyr!* by Kaveh Akbar; design by Linda Huang (Knopf /January 2024)

Wandering Stars, by Tommy Orange; design by Suzanne Dean (Vintage / March 2024)

Also designed by Suzanne Dean:

*Dogs and Monsters* by Mark Haddon; design by Suzanne Dean; illustration by Neue Gestaltung (Vintage / August 2024)

I also have to give a special shout out to the cover for Paper Boat by Margaret Atwood (Chatto & Windus / October 2024). Suzanne commissioned paper art by Nathan Ward to design a template for a paper boat that could be cut out from the dust jacket and stuck together.

You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue; design Kris Potter; illustration by Rodolfo Baquier (Vintage / January 2024)

You Glow in the Dark by Liliana Colanzi; design by Jamie Keenan (New Directions / February 2024)

Also designed by Jamie Keenan:

*Between This World and the Next* by Praveen Herat; design by Jamie Keenan; illustration by Sukutangan (Restless Books / June 2024)

Comments closed

Book Covers of Note, May 2024

Published May 28, 2024

Book Covers of Note, May 2024

I hope you’re keeping safe and well. Between work trips and sales conference it’s been a few weeks for me, and there are a lot of covers this month, so I am going to stop prattling and let you get straight to the post…

Another Word for Love by Carvell Wallace; design by Rodrigo Corral (MCD / May 2024)

Birding by Rose Ruane; design by Charlotte Stroomer; photograph by Kelsey McClellan (Little, Brown / May 2024)

I feel like there was another ice cream book cover recently and that somehow Ben Denzer has manifested this.

Blue Ruin by Hari Kunzru; design by John Gall; painting by Chad Wys (Knopf / May 2024)

John Gall also designed the cover of Hari Kunzru’s previous novel Red Pill.

Challenger by Adam Higginbotham; design by Pete Garceau (Avid Reader Press / May 2024)

Coexistence by Billy-Ray Belcourt; design by Kelly Hill (Hamish Hamilton / May 2024)

Dead Animals by Phoebe Stuckes; design by Will Speed (Hodder & Stoughton / April 2024)

Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna; design by Jo Thomson (HarperCollins / May 2024)

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon; design by Gregg Kulick (Henry Holt / March 2024)

I was trying to think what this cover reminded me of, and then I remembered this.

The Great State of West Florida by Kent Wascom; design by Jeff Miller / Faceout Studio (Grove / May 2024)

Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck; design by John Gall (New Directions / May 2024)

This is the cover of the newly released US paperback. John Gall also designed the cover for the hardback, published by New Directions last year. Author Jenny Erpenbeck and translator Michael Hofmann recently won the 2024 International Booker Prize with Kairos.

Kilworthy Tanner by Jean Marc Ah-Sen; design by David Drummond (Esplanade Books / May 2024)

This composition brings to mind David Pelham’s covers for J. G. Ballard. (On a semi-related note, air-brushed covers are probably overdue a revival. Or is it a dying art now?)

Kittentits by Holly Wilson; design by Eli Mock (Zando / May 2024)

Like Love by Maggie Nelson; design by Suzanne Dean (Vintage / May 2024)

Suzanne Dean also designed the cover of Bluets by Maggie Nelson.

Loneliness & Company by Charlee Dyroff; design by Mia Kwon (Bloomsbury / May 2024)

Love Junkie by Robert Plunket; design by Oliver Munday (New Directions / May 2024)

Olive Munday bringing his A game.

Monsters, Martyrs, and Marionettes by Adrienne Gruber; design by Tree Abraham (Book*hug / May 2024)

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley; design by Alison Forner; typography by Andrew Footit (Avid Reader Press / May 2024)

The Novices of Lerna by Ángel Bonomini; design by Sarah Schulte (Transit Books / May 2024)

Perfume & Pain by Anna Dorn; design by Math Monahan (Simon & Schuster / May 2024)

Just so much pink this month!

The Red Grove by Tessa Fontaine; design by Sara Wood (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / May 2024)

The Skunks by FIona Warnick; design by Beth Steidle (Tin House / May 2024)

Supplication by Nour Abi-Nakhoul; design by Emma Dolan (Strange Light / May 2024)

Can anyone tell me who designed the cover of the UK edition of Supplication for Influx Press? I’d love to include it in next month’s round-up when it’s published.

The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller; design by Andie Reid (Quirk Books / May 2024)

Comments closed

Published December 14, 2021

Notable Book Covers of 2021

Earlier this year, a Canadian magazine asked me what the latest trends in book cover design were. I don’t think I had a very satisfactory answer. 2021 felt very much like a continuation of 2020, which itself felt like a year on hold.

The trends that came to mind were not exactly new. In no particular order: big faces (big sunglasses!); cropped faces; hands; mouths; postmodern typefaces;¹ big skies; rainbows; gradients; the colour orange; psychedelia; collage; contemporary painting.

A lot was made of “blob” covers this year. I’m not sure that anything has really changed since Vulture published this article about “blocky” covers in 2019. They seemed like much the same thing.

Design is about the constraints and, as it turns out, the constraints around designing commercial literary fiction covers that have to work just as well online as in bookstores can lead to similar design solutions — large, legible type, and bright, abstract backgrounds. ² The surprising thing is not that a few covers look the same when you squint; it’s that more of them don’t.

There were a lot of good covers (that didn’t look alike) in 2021. LitHub posted 101 of them. Still, it didn’t exactly feel like a vintage year.

Do I say that every December? Possibly.

A few years ago I worried that covers were moving in a more conservative direction, particularly at the big publishers. I’m not sure this has come to pass, at least not in the US. There are plenty of covers from the big, prestigious American literary imprints in this year’s list, as there were last year, and every year before that.

There are fewer covers from the UK in this year’s list than in previous years though, and I feel less confident about the situation there. From a distance, things seem a little sedate. I may be mistaken. It’s quite possible I haven’t see enough covers — or perhaps enough of the right ones — from British publishers to get a good sense of the overall picture.³

It would not be a surprise, however, if publishers were feeling a little risk-averse at the moment. We are two years into a global pandemic, experiencing a major supply chain issues, and living through a seemingly endless series of sociopolitical crises.

Nor would it be a surprise if designers were personally feeling the effects too — I’m not sure we are talking about this enough, and I’m not sure I know how to.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the blog in 2021. It means a lot. Here are this year’s book covers of note…

After the Sun by Jonas Eika; design by Lauren Peters-Collaer; art by Dorian Legret (Riverhead / August 2021)

Amoralman by Derek Delgaudio; design by John Gall (Knopf / March 2021)

Also designed by John Gall:

*Klara and the Sun* by Kazuo Ishiguro; design John Gall (Knopf / March 2021)

Animal by Lisa Taddeo; design by Greg Heinimann (Bloomsbury / June 2021)

Greg Heinimann talked to Creative Review about his work in April.

Are You Enjoying? by Mira Sethi; design by Janet Hansen (Knopf / April 2021)

*Antonio* by Beatriz Bracher; design by Janet Hansen (New Directions / March 2021)

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint; design by Joanne O’Neill (Flatiron Books / May 2021)

Also designed by Joanne O’Neill:

*Cultish* by Amanda Montell; design by Joanne O’Neill (Harper Wave / June 2021)

he Art of Wearing a Trench Coat by Sergi Pàmies; design by Arsh Raziuddin and Oliver Munday (Other Press / March 2021)

The Atmospherians by Alex McElroy; design by Laywan Kwan (Atria / May 2021)

Black Village by Lutz Bassmann; design by Anne Jordan (Open Letter / December 2021)

A Calling for Charlie Barnes by Joshua Ferris; design by Gregg Kulick (Little Brown and Company / September 2021)

Come On Up by Jordi Nopca; design by Roman Muradov (Bellevue Literary Press / February 2021)

Consent by Vanessa Springora; design by Stephen Brayda; art by Rozenn Le Gall (Harpervia / February 2021)

Stephen Brayda talked about his design for Consent with Spine Magazine.

Also designed by Stephen Brayda:

*Their Eyes Were Watching God* by Zara Neale Hurston; design by Stephen Brayda; art by Patrick Dougher (Amistad Press / January 2021)

The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen; design by Na Kim (FSG / January 2021)

Na Kim talked to PRINT about her career and the designs for the Ditlevsen series in February. If, like me, you were wondering about typeface on the covers, it’s Prophet from Dinamo apparently.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner; design by Na Kim (Knopf / April 2021)

Also designed by Na Kim:

*Pure Flame* by Michelle Orange; design by Na Kim (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / June 2021)

Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson; design by Jaya Miceli; art by Jeremy Miranda (Scribner / August 2021)

Dead Souls by Sam Riviere; design by Jamie Keenan; paper engineering and photography by Gina Rudd (Weidenfeld & Nicholson / May 2021)

Also designed by Mr. Keenan:

*Night Train* by A.L. Snijders; design by Jamie Keenan (New Directions / October 2021)

The Delivery by Peter Mendelsund; design by Alex Merto (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / February 2021)

Also designed by Alex Merto:

*Recent East* by Thomas Grattan; design by Alex Merto (MCD / March 2021)

Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters; design by Rachel Ake Keuch (One World / January 2021)

Dog Flowers by Danielle Geller; design by Anna Kochman; illustration by Mike McQuade (One World / January 2021)

Double Trio by Nathaniel Mackey; design by Rodrigo Corral and Boyang Xia (New Directions / April 2021)

Falling by T. J. Newman; design by David Litman (Simon & Schuster / July 2021)

Also designed by David Litman:

*The Final Girl Support Group* by Grady Hendrix design by David Litman (Berkley Books / July 2021)

Fight Night by Mirian Toews; design by Patti Ratchford; illustration by Christina Zimpel (Bloomsbury / October 2021)

Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor; design by Luke Bird (Daunt Books / June 2021)

Also designed by Luke Bird:

*The Dangers of Smoking in Bed* by Mariana Enriquez; design by Luke Bird ; illustration by Pablo Gerardo Camacho (Granta / April 2021)

Foucault in Warsaw by; design Daniel Benneworth-Gray (Open Letter / June 2021)

God of Mercy by Okezie Nwọka; design Sara Wood (Astra House / November 2021)

Sara Wood talked about her design for God of Mercy with Spine Magazine.

I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness by Claire Vaye Watkins; design by Rachel Willey (Riverhead / October 2021)

July by Kathleen Ossip; design by Alban Fischer (Sarabande Books / June 2021)

Like Me by Hayley Phelan; design Emma Dolan (Doubleday Canada / July 2021)

Living in Data by Jer Thorp; design by Rodrigo Corral; art by Andrew Kuo (MCD / May 2021)

The Making of Incarnation by Tom McCarthy; design by Peter Mendelsund (Knopf / November 2021)

Matrix by Lauren Groff; design by Grace Han (Riverhead / September 2021)

Mona by Pola Oloixarac; design by Thomas Colligan (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / March 2021)

Mother for Dinner by Shalom Auslander; design by Jack Smyth (Picador / February 2021)

Jack Smyth talked to Totally Dublin about his work earlier this year.

Also designed by Jack Smyth:

*Pure Gold* by John Patrick McHugh; design by Jack Smyth (New Island Books / February 2021)

Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden; design by Gill Heeley (Canongate / January 2021)

Nectarine by Chad Campbell; design by David Drummond (Signal Editions / May 2021)

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder; design by Emily Mahon (Doubleday / July 2021)

No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood; design Lauren Peters-Collaer (Riverhead Books / February 2021)

Also designed by Lauren Peters-Collaer:

*After the Sun* by Jonas Eika; design by Lauren Peters-Collaer; art by Dorian Legret (Riverhead / August 2021)

O by Steven Carroll; design by Gray318 (HarperCollins Australia / February 2021)

Also designed by Gray318:

*Beautiful World, Where Are You?* by Sally Rooney; design by Gray318 (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / September 2021)

If you’re wondering about the Super-Seventies Sally Rooney typeface, it is Ronda designed by Herb Lubalin and Tom Carnese (I only know because I asked).

Once More With Feeling by Sophie McCreesh; design by Jennifer Griffiths (Anchor Canada / August 2021)

On Time and Water by Andri Snær Magnason; design Zoe Norvell (Open Letter / March 2021)

Outlawed by Anna North; design by Rachel Willey (Bloomsbury / January 2021)

Paradise by Lizzie Johnson; design by Elena Giavaldi (Crown / August 2021)

La Part des Chiens by Marcus Malte; design by David Pearson (Editions Zulma / April 2021)

Also designed by David Pearson:

*Anarchism and the Black Revolution* by Lorenzo Kom’Boa Ervin; design by David Pearson (Pluto Press / October 2021)

The Plague by Albert Camus; design by Sunra Thompson (Knopf / November 2021)

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz; design by Anne Twomey (Celadon Books / May 2021)

Rabbit Island by Elvira Navarro; design by Gabriele Wilson (Two Lines Press / February 2021)

Gabriele Wilson talked about her cover design for Rabbit Island with Spine Magazine.

Gabriele Wilson is doing some lovely work for Two Lines Press:

*Nancy* by Bruno Lloret; design by Gabriele Wilson (Two Lines Press / April 2021)

Red Island House by Andrea Lee; design by Tristan Offit (Scribner / March 2021)

The Removed by Brandon Hobson; design by Elizabeth Yaffe (Ecco / February 2021)

The Shimmering State by Meredith Westgate; design Chelsea McGuckin (Atria / August 2021)

A Shock by Keith Ridgway; design by Nathan Burton (Picador / June 2021)

Summerwater by Sarah Moss; design by June Park (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / January 2021)

Virtue by Hermione Hoby; design by Ben Denzer (Riverhead / July 2021)

This Weightless World by Adam Soto; design by Tyler Comrie (Astra House / November 2021)

Also designed by Tyler Comrie:

*The China Room* by Sunjeev Sahota; design by Tyler Comrie (Viking / July 2021)

Thank you to everyone who has supported the blog in 2021. It means a lot.

I am not convinced that the term “postmodern” quite captures what I mean here (and/or worse, implies something different in the context of typography), but it’s the best I’ve got. I’m not talking about the kind of experimental typography you might associate with the likes of Wim Crouwel or Emigre, or the aesthetic of someone like David Carson. What I am trying to get at is idiosyncratic type that purposely exaggerates or plays with letterforms, and doesn’t conform to function-first modernism. To my mind, this would include some typefaces from the 1960s and 70s, as well as some more contemporary type. In a sense what I am describing is display faces — and I think the eclectic, innovative use of type in Victorian advertising might be an inspiration to designers here — but I don’t think it is just about size. ↩
an alternative solution is what Australian designer John Durham, AKA Design by Committee, memorably referred to as the “lost dog poster school of cover design”. ↩
I don’t want to jinx it, but are Canadian covers getting more adventurous? ↩