This is pretty much why I don’t write anything I don’t have to.
Asher Perlman’s book of cartoons, Well, This is Me, is available now.
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Published July 16, 2024
Write What You Know
The Casual Optimist Posts
Published July 15, 2024
Modernism, Inc.
Opening in New York this week at IFC Center, Modernism, Inc. is a new documentary about architect Eliot Noyes, a pioneer of modern corporate design during America’s post-war economic boom.
Director Jason Cohn (also co-director of Eames: The Architect and the Painter) recently discussed Noyes and his legacy with Steven Heller for PRINT:
Eliot Noyes started out as a disciple of Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus, which was a specific flavor of Modernism that developed in Europe between the wars. There was a kind of idealism—a social reform aspect—to it. Modern design promised to improve people’s lives in tangible ways by making high-quality goods and housing affordable for everyone. Once Modernism became installed in America after WWII, however, it lost a lot of that idealism. It was adopted by multinational corporations like IBM and it became the preferred architectural style of the super-rich. I don’t think Eliot Noyes was consciously trying to make this happen, but he was probably as central to this evolution as anyone. I try to let viewers make up their own minds about whether Eliot Noyes made the world better or worse as a result of the work he did in corporate design, but I hope they at least think about what might have happened if Modernism maintained the more independent spirit that it had before if became “Modernism, Inc.”
Published June 28, 2024
Klaas Verplancke’s “Chilling”
Another lovely illustration by cartoonist Klaas Verplancke for the cover of the latest New Yorker. It has been an unseasonably hot June in Toronto!
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Published June 27, 2024
Book Covers of Note, June 2024
Hey everyone. I hope you keeping well. It’s another big post this month. There are lots of new covers, but also quite a few that I missed (or didn’t have the design credit for!) from earlier this year too. I expect that’ll keep happening over the next couple of posts as I try to catch up over the summer, so feel free to send me stuff I might have overlooked. Now is the time!
The Abyss by Fernando Vallejo; design by Janet Hansen (New Directions / June 2024)
Ask Me Again by Clare Sestanovich; design by Janet Hansen (Knopf / June 2024)
A Janet Hansen one-two to open proceedings…
Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh; design by John Fontana; painting by Tosin Olusegun Kalejaye (Doubleday / June 2024)
The cover of the UK edition published by Penguin earlier this year, designed by Richard Bravery (I think?), uses the same painting by Tosin Kalejaye but it’s interesting to see the differences in the approach side by side.
The Borrowed Hills by Scott Preston; design by Jaya Miceli (Scribner / June 2024)
Another example of the US and the UK cover sharing the same image but with differing approaches. I like the type and the retro poster vibe of the UK cover a lot. I don’t have the design credit though so please drop me a note if you know whose work it is and I’ll add it in!
Brat by Gabriel Smith; design by Stephanie Ross (Penguin Press / June 2024)
Cue the Sun by Emily Nussbaum; design by Michael Morris (Random House / June 2024)
An Excellent Host by Chelsea G. Summers; design by Jaya Nicely (Unnamed Press / April 2024)
I’m a bit late to this. An Excellent Host, a short story by Chelsea G. Summers author of the cult hit A Certain Hunger, was originally printed exclusively for Independent Bookstore Day back in April. Signed copies are still currently available from the publisher. Jaya Nicely also designed the cover of A Certain Hunger of course…
Fire Exit by Morgan Talty; design by Beth Steidle (Tin House / June 2024)
The Friday Afternoon Club by Griffin Dunne; design by Evan Gaffney; photograph by Camilla McGrath (Penguin Press / June 2024)
Nice swooshy type here, and that photo.
Girls by Kirsty Capes; design by Dan Jackson; art by Tracey Sylvester Harris (Orion / May 2024)
Gub by Scott McKendry; design by Anna Morrison (Little, Brown / February 2024)
In Tongues by Thomas Grattan; design by Alex Merto (MCD / May 2024)
The Mark by Fríða Ísberg; design by Robbie Porter (Faber & Faber / June 2024)
Ominous blobs are back!
MILF by Paloma Faith; design by Jack Smyth (Ebury / June 2024)
This reminded me of Darren Haggar’s cover for the W.W. Norton edition of Crime by Irvine Welsh from the distant days of 2009.
Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova; design by Tom Etherington (Cinder House / June 2024)
The cover of the US edition of Monstrilio, published by Zando in March last year, was designed by Alex Merto. I was a little late to it, but it was included in my September round-up.
Overstaying by Ariane Koch; design by Jonathan Pelham (Pushkin Press / April 2024)
A Perfect Day to Be Alone by Nanae Aoyama; design by Jack Smyth (Quercus / May 2024)
Please Stop Trying to Leave Me by Alana Saab; design by Mark Abrams; painting by Jennifer Allnut (Knopf / June 2024)
There are shades of Italian Renaissance painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo about this cover.
The Sons of El Rey by Alex Espinoza; design by David Litman (Simon & Schuster / June 2024)
Supplication by Nour Abi-Nakhoul; design by Luke Bird (Influx Press / June 2024)
I’m not much of a horror fan so my frame of reference is very dated, but this cover immediately made me thing of the 1998 Japanese movie Ringu (and the end of The Blair Witch Project).
The Canadian cover of Supplication designed by Emma Dolan for PRH Canada was featured in last month’s list.
(Thanks to Jack Smyth for the UK cover credit. Cheers Jack)
The Survivors of the Clotilda by Hannah Durkin; design by Mike McQuade (Amistad Press / January 2024)
Technology is Not the Problem by Timandra Harkness; design by Steve Leard (HQ / May 2024)
Eye, eye…
When Women Ran Fifth Avenue by Julie Satow; design by Emily Mahon (Doubleday / June 2024)
This makes a nice pair with the cover of The Upstairs Delicatessen by Dwight Garner designed by June Park and published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in October last year.
Worry by Alexandra Tanner; design by Alicia Tatone; painting by Shannon Cartier Lucy (Scribner / March 2024)
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Published June 21, 2024
Barry Blitt’s “Anything But That”
I recently came across this 2016 Barry Blitt cover for The New Yorker. I hadn’t seen it before. Obviously it’s about the US presidential election that year, but I’m not sure that much has changed.
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Published June 18, 2024
Book Release
Published June 7, 2024
Restless Spirit
Tom Gauld for The Guardian.
If I seem to be posting a lot about unread books and to-read piles, it is because I have a lot of unread books and a daunting to-read pile and I feel bad about it.
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Published June 4, 2024
Too Many Books?
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)
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Published May 15, 2024
Bluebeard by Tom Gauld
This, but for my personal art and design projects, and my actual proper job.
(Tom Gauld for The Guardian, obviously. Tom is currently selling some original drawings in his shop if you would like to own one of his masterpieces)
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Published May 14, 2024
New Stamps Celebrate Canadian Graphic Novelists
Canada Post is celebrating Canadian graphic novels with a set of stamps created by Chester Brown, Michel Rabagliati, Seth, and Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki.
While Canada Post has previously issued stamps featuring superheroes, it hasn’t specifically showcased the work of contemporary Canadian cartoonists before. These new stamps feature original drawings by each of the artists depicting their best known characters reading the books they’re in.
As a side note, I don’t know how well known Michel Rabagliati is outside of Canada (I’m actually not sure how well known he is in Anglo-Canada either come to that!), but his gentle semi-autobiographical graphic novels are all lovely. They’re beautiful drawn. Paul Moves Out, the first one I read, is a charming look at studying illustration and graphic design in Montreal the 1970s. It was published in English by Drawn & Quarterly back in the day, but it looks like it might be out of print, which would be a shame. Anyway, worth trying to find a copy if you can.
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Published April 26, 2024
Book Covers of Note April 2024
Hey, I hope you’re safe and well. I’m a little bit ahead of schedule because fall sales conference season is upon us, and I have to be in New York for work next week. I’m less ahead than I would’ve liked — PRINT has already beaten me to the punch! — but here we are, a couple of days earlier than usual, with another look at some new and recent book covers. April is National Poetry Month in the US so there are a few poetry covers in the mix, as well as a couple of covers from independent presses, an Australian cover, and all the usual suspects.
Bones Worth Breaking by David Martinez; design by Alex Merto (MCD / April 2024)
Charlie Hustle by Keith O’Brien; design by Eli Mock (Pantheon / March 2024)
I just like the type and the colour palette here.
Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford; design by Henry Petrides (Faber & Faber / April 2024)
The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek B. Miller; design by David Gee (Avid Reader Press / January 2024)
Divided Island by Daniela Tarazona; design by Jack Smyth (Deep Vellum / April 2024)
The Formula by Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg; design by Pete Garceau (Mariner Books / March 2024)
Two nonfiction sports books in one post! Does Formula One really count as a sport? Not for me, Clive. But the subtitle says it is, and a Canadian friend once told me that for something to qualify as a sport it has to endanger your life in some fundamental way, so I guess F1 qualifies under Quebec Rules for Teen Boys if nothing else.
Anyway, it might be fun to do a post of interesting sports books covers at some point if I can find the time (let me know if any great examples come to mind!).
Honey by Victor Lodata; design by Robin Bilardello (Harper / April 2023)
Kill For Me Kill For You by Steve Cavanagh; design by Laywan Kwan (Atria / March 2024)
I feel like this is a bit different for a psychological thriller? I like the type a lot.
Knife by Salman Rushdie; design by Arsh Raziuddin (Random House / April 2024)
Interestingly, there is an “eye” motif on the spine with the Random House logo in the centre. Look for it next time you’re in a bookstore.
Also, this cover isn’t the first to riff, consciously or otherwise, on the cut canvases of Italian artist Lucio Fontana. The cover of Ball by Tara Ison, designed by Kelly Winton, comes to mind. I’m sure there are other examples (David Gee’s unpublished cover for Lolita. Are the more?).
Madness by Antonia Hylton; design by Daniel Benneworth-Gray (Footnote Press / March 2024)
Memory Piece by Lisa Ko; design Grace Han (Riverhead / March 2024)
The Moon That Turns You Back by Hala Alyan; design by Vivian Lopez Rowe (Ecco / March 2024)
The Obscene Bird of Night by José Donoso; design by Joan Wong (New Directions / April 2024)
Prairie Edge by Conor Kerr; design Kate Sinclair (Strange Light / April 2024)
The Roadmap of Loss by Liam Murphy; design by Lisa White (Echo / January 2024)
I don’t post enough Australian cover designs generally, and I’m late to this one, but I like the grunginess of it.
Short War by Lily Meyer; design by Emily Mahon (Strange Object / April 2024)
Sociopath by Patric Gagne; design by Rodrigo Corral (Simon & Schuster / April 2024)
36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem by Nam Le; design by Janet Hansen (Knopf / March 2024)
It’s nice to have two big, blocky, black and white type-only covers this month.
Twelve Trees by Daniel Lewis; design by Alison Forner; illustration by Eric Nyquist (Avid Reader / March 2024)
This reminded me of Eric’s illustrations for the covers of Jeff Vandermeer’s Southern Reach trilogy designed by Charlotte Strick.
Weird Black Girls by Elwin Cotman; design by Michael Morris (Scribner / April 2024)
(The illustration also looks like something from Area X / the Southern Reach trilogy!)
While We Were Burning by Sara Koffi; design by Vi-An Nguyen (G.P. Putnam’s Sons / April 2024)
With My Back to the World by Victoria Chang; design by Thom Colligan (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / April 2024)
You Are Here edited by Ada Limón; design by Mary Austin Speaker; art by Enikő Katalin Eged (Milkweed / April 2024)
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