Top Five: Book Covers
I've been thinking a lot about book design lately, hence this Top Five Favorite Book Covers post. I also decided to limit my selections to only books from my own collection, otherwise the pool is much too vast to chose from in a timely matter.
(all book covers are shown below)
1. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, Jacket art by Carson Ellis. There are several things I love about this cover, but above all I love that it instantly established itself as a book I must read, and a book I knew I would love. Yes, that's Judging A Book By Its Cover at its most primal. But I admit it. I was hooked. Next, and most likely the reality behind reason 1, is that the art style channels my favorite artist, Edward Gorey. The art reveals so much about what to expect from the book - that it's fun, quirky, mischievous, charming, adventurous and mysterious. And it reveals details about the characters that we find out in the book. I frequently turned back while reading to gaze at the cover.
2. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, Jacket design by Paul Buckley. I love the contrast between the bright red and black squares with modern design, and the tan band that's much more classic. I suppose if you wanted to dig deep you could say the traditional design of the tan band represents Blue's upbringing and father, a little stuffy and classic, and the other, colorful boxes represent her new school friends and Hannah. I like the "Ex Libris" bookplate for the author's name. Overall it's a great package that really pops off the shelf and makes you want to pick it up and read.
Side note: However much I like the US cover, I felt jipped when I saw the beauty of Christopher Silas's Penguin UK
edition of the book. That is the style of art that I go nuts for. (Shown to the right)
3. Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, Jacket design by Anne Chalmers. This cover starts the book with a bang, and I love it. It's very bold, just like the story. It's also very unusual, just like the story. It does a great job of conveying the craziness and shenanigans that are going to occur inside. On the cover of the paperback, the barcode is actual right on the front, stuck in crooked between the words. I love that.
4. The Paris Review Interviews, Vol. 1, Jacket design by Henry Sene Yee. Mainly I just love the beauty of the quotation marks, with the text inside. Everything is perfectly balanced, and the color choices are excellent. A great piece of graphic design. The design would work well on a poster too.
5. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers, Jacket painting by Komar & Melamid. This book, as with each of the others on this list, immediately told me that I needed to buy this book, that this book was for someone like me. Simple and gorgeous typography set on a beautiful painting. Just like the title, the complete cover is almost mockingly self important, it goes just far enough to look suspiciously attractive, while secretly not taking itself seriously. That's the joke. And it's brilliant.
(all book covers are shown below)
1. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, Jacket art by Carson Ellis. There are several things I love about this cover, but above all I love that it instantly established itself as a book I must read, and a book I knew I would love. Yes, that's Judging A Book By Its Cover at its most primal. But I admit it. I was hooked. Next, and most likely the reality behind reason 1, is that the art style channels my favorite artist, Edward Gorey. The art reveals so much about what to expect from the book - that it's fun, quirky, mischievous, charming, adventurous and mysterious. And it reveals details about the characters that we find out in the book. I frequently turned back while reading to gaze at the cover.
2. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, Jacket design by Paul Buckley. I love the contrast between the bright red and black squares with modern design, and the tan band that's much more classic. I suppose if you wanted to dig deep you could say the traditional design of the tan band represents Blue's upbringing and father, a little stuffy and classic, and the other, colorful boxes represent her new school friends and Hannah. I like the "Ex Libris" bookplate for the author's name. Overall it's a great package that really pops off the shelf and makes you want to pick it up and read.
Side note: However much I like the US cover, I felt jipped when I saw the beauty of Christopher Silas's Penguin UK
3. Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, Jacket design by Anne Chalmers. This cover starts the book with a bang, and I love it. It's very bold, just like the story. It's also very unusual, just like the story. It does a great job of conveying the craziness and shenanigans that are going to occur inside. On the cover of the paperback, the barcode is actual right on the front, stuck in crooked between the words. I love that.
4. The Paris Review Interviews, Vol. 1, Jacket design by Henry Sene Yee. Mainly I just love the beauty of the quotation marks, with the text inside. Everything is perfectly balanced, and the color choices are excellent. A great piece of graphic design. The design would work well on a poster too.
5. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers, Jacket painting by Komar & Melamid. This book, as with each of the others on this list, immediately told me that I needed to buy this book, that this book was for someone like me. Simple and gorgeous typography set on a beautiful painting. Just like the title, the complete cover is almost mockingly self important, it goes just far enough to look suspiciously attractive, while secretly not taking itself seriously. That's the joke. And it's brilliant.
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