1

Is Less More?

The importance of typography and colour in cover design Notes from the editor:

The title of this portfolio is inspired by the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe‟s motto „less is more‟ in describing minimalism in design and architecture. The cover design on the paperback edition is my own creation, inspired by modern minimalist designs. The typeface is Candara, which is lively but not too intrusive. The differentiation in point size for the title is intended to reflect the meaning of the title. The bold yellow is often used in „cutting edge‟ and Avant Garde designs and is one of the most eye-catching colours. It was not possible to reproduce images of the book covers pictured in this brochure in high resolution. All rights reserved. No part of this edition may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the author: Fiorella Dell‟Olio fd237@cam.ac.uk

2

“Every successful cover should create intrigue and excitement for what lies ahead”. – Scott Bendell at La Boca

“Book covers are strange. As a designer you’re asked to get across everything about the book without actually showing anything at all (because that’s the

reader’s job) and as a result, less is generally moreˮ. – Jamie Keenan at keenandesign.com

Introduction A good cover design is a work of art and, as in other forms of visual art, there is never a perfect recipe for what will be successful and catch the viewer‟s eye; what is attractive for some people can be repulsive for others and vice versa. There are nevertheless strategies for choosing the right cover design. Balance and coherence between colours and typography are important aspects of the design. Typographic choices are crucial. The main purpose of the typeface is to convey something of the character and/or purpose of the book. The typeface is therefore an important means of communication that needs to reflect the content in some way. Legibility is a function of typeface design. It is an informal measure of how easy it is to distinguish one letter from another in a particular typeface. Sacrificing legibility for a „sexy‟ typeface can turn out to be a big mistake because of the lack of clarity in the title. This portfolio will give examples of the most common typefaces used in cover design. Colour and tone can also be crucial. Colours can have strong psychological effect as well as historical and cultural significance. They can influence consumers and their feelings in relation to a product. The colours that a graphic designer chooses speak louder than we can possibly imagine; colour is for the eye what odour is for the nose in terms of the way that it affects our disposition. This portfolio will explore how colour and typography contribute to effective cover design across a range of approaches from minimalism to the extreme opposite. It will conclude with a section on my personal understanding of bad covers. Whether less is more or less is actually less ultimately remains for the reader to decide.

3

Understanding the Use of Typefaces in Cover Design

This section describes a selected sample of typefaces used in cover design. I have chosen 12 commonly used typefaces: six serif and six sans serif. The sample is broadly representative. Generally speaking the typefaces normally used for cover designs are also well-suited for use in headlines, newspapers and film posters. They need to offer clean lines for great legibility and to adapt well to the kind of product on sale. The information for this section comes mainly from online sources: The Book Archive, Myfonts and The Elements of Typographic Style (see bibliography for full references).

4

The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst: Hartley & Marks, 2013 Minion is one of the most complete serif families available. It creates what might be the most powerful and elegant endorsement of any book face. I find it very stylish. If Robert Bringhurst approves it for his book cover, it must be the right one!

5

These Granite Islands by Sarah Stonich: Back Bay Books

2002; design: John Fulbrook III

Electra is a very light-weight serif font. In this example, it perfectly suits the image on the cover because its lightness contributes to the sense that the words are floating on the water.

6

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera: Harper Collins, 2002; design: Roberto De Vicq De Cumptich Garamond Premier is one of the most popular serif types and is often used for book interior layouts. I like this one so much that I have chosen it for this portfolio. In my view, it combines elegance and old charm more convincingly than Times New Roman.

7

Charlotte Brontë by Jane Eyre: Vintage, 2009; design: Megan

Wilson; photography: Katherine Wolkoff Baskerville is a highly readable typeface compared to other serif fonts because it increases the contrast between thick and thin strokes to give a sharper serif look. In my view, it denotes structure and classical aesthetics but is not always ideal for a text face. I think it is perfect for a memoir, business book, or historical romance such as this one.

8

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: Penguin, 2006; design: Kelly Blair and Roseanna Serra Trajan is a classic serif font appropriate for histories, serious novels and historical fiction, and it is often used for film posters. I think its fine lines match very well with the crystal chandelier in the background.

9

St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell: Vintage, 2007; design: John Gall Bembo uses fine and well-proportioned letter-forms with functional serifs. Because it lacks peculiarities, this typeface is suitable for books of short stories and classic novels. I also think that it matches this cover design very well.

10

Last Magazine by David Renard: Universe, 2006; design:

Frost Design ITC Avant Garde Gothic is a full-fledged geometrical sans serif typeface. It is a font family based on the logo font used in the magazine Avant Garde. The letter-forms constructed of circles and clean lines are highly effective for headlines and short texts. The condensed typeface creates a great effect for the cover of this book and fits well the visual effect of thin strips making up the entire cover as if it has been run through a paper-shredder.

11

1984 by George Orwell: Penguin, 2008; design: Shepard Fairey Compacta is a narrow, sans serif stencilled typeface of the 1920s. It is not meant for longer texts but I think it is impressive in headlines and titles such as this one. This typeface is well-suited type for the design of Shepard Fairey, who is well-known from the 2008 U.S. presidential election for the „Hope‟ poster that he designed for the Obama campaign.

12

The Disappointment Artist by Jonathan Lethem: Doubleday, 2005; design: Marc Cozza; photography: Alan Abramowitz Helvetica is an all-purpose typeface that can deliver practically any message clearly and efficiently. The condensed and compressed Helvetica designs are excellent for display applications such as newspaper or newsletter headlines and advertising. The imposing cover for this book indeed recalls an advertising design.

13

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote: Vintage, 1993; design: Megan Wilson; photography: Horst P. Horst Futura is a popular typographic choice for book covers. It expresses strength, elegance and conceptual clarity. Its long ascenders and descenders benefit from generous character spacing. It appropriately highlights the brand name of the author while the title is differentiated with a hand-lettered type.

14

The Economics of Innocent Fraud by John Kenneth

Galbraith: Penguin Books, 2005; design: Alan Albridge Gill Sans is classified as a humanist sans serif. With distinct roots in pen-written letters, it is very legible as a typeface for both covers and text. Here, the condensed bold variety is used to excellent effect to highlight the name of the well-known author and create differentiation with the title.

15

Spade and Archer by Joe Gores: Knopf, 2009; design:

Jason Booher Franklin Gothic is one of the most popular sans serif types ever produced. It is a standard choice for use in newspapers and advertising with medium weights and high legibility. It is highly efficient for typographic covers such as this one in creating the 3-D and shading effect. Super typographic choice!

16

Minimalist Covers Minimalist cover designs are not explicit about the content of the book but usually contain one or two salient elements that allude to the content. Minimalism aims to eliminate the unnecessary and retain only the essential. The reader sometimes needs to know details about the book to understand the cover, as in the case of the Penguin edition of A Clockwork Orange below. Minimalist designs have a simple layout that is highly effective in capturing the eye. They make minimal use of fonts, images and graphics and usually employ not more than two or three colour variations.

17

The Music of Chance by Paul Auster: Faber &

Faber, 2006; design: Yorgos Mrinoglou The strong contrast of black and red on the white background is eye-catching and effective in evoking the shape of playing cards, which allude to a significant element of the content. The same sans serif typeface and point size for the title and author‟s name add austerity and consistency to the cover.

18

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess: Penguin Modern Classics, 2000 This is a startlingly subdued cover for a very un-subdued book. I love its simplicity, symmetry and monochromatic neatness. If you know something about the story, it is difficult to forget that the main character Alex liked milk spiked with various stimulants (milk plus). The pale grey-blue background works well with the simplicity of the photo-based image. Differentiation in font and colour for the title gives emphasis to the brand title.

19

Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy by Eric G. Wilson: Sarah Crichton Books, 2009; design: Jennifer Carrow Differentiation between typefaces and size distinguishes the title in bold New Gothic and the author‟s name in Bodoni. The minimalist design of an inverted recumbent crescent evokes a sad face. The dark yellow background creates a vibrant appearance making it easy to visualise what is not graphically there: a face.

20

Fifty poems selected by the author by Manuel Bandeira: Cosac Naify, 2007 The effective and tactile cover is made of horizontal bands in relief that complement the overall design and create both visual interest and structure. The variations of dark blue give a sense of „thoughtfulness‟. The floating objects are numbers from one to fifty that each represents one of the poems in the volume. The background and floating numbers are suggestive of the sky and stars and thus allude to one of the author‟s most famous poems, „Morning Star‟. The white colour of the author‟s name in a larger font creates a sharp contrast against the midnight blue of the bottom-most band.

21

.

Wet Apples, White Blood by Naomi Guttman: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2007; design: David Drummond A vivid example of how minimalism can be highly suggestive. The small point size of the Baskerville typeface in white gives a consistent stylistic resonance to the design. I think that the „confusion‟ created by the image in contrast with the title is very intriguing.

22

Press Here by Hervé Tullet: Chronicle Books, 2011; design: Hervé Tullet

A minimal and effective design for the cover of a book in which each page instructs the reader to press the dot and embark on a wonderful journey. The title, handwritten in upper case, evokes a „post it note‟ left on a door. The author‟s signature below is stylistically consistent with the title. The differentiation in the use of colour works very well. The yellow dot is definitely eye-catching.

23

Black and White Covers

Black and white are polar opposites that can be very powerful and evocative when they are put together. The combination creates endless opportunities for the eye that other colour schemes do not generate. Black is usually seen as a symbol of authority and power, while white is a sign of purity, brightness and natural innocence. The two colours are sometimes stereotyped as two opposing forces in nature, one good (white) and the other bad (black). The real advantage of these two shades is the way that they can bond together in a contrasting design. The stark dichotomy establishes a dynamic in the design that is impossible for the viewer to ignore. It is clean and often used in minimalist covers but it is possible to find more complex variations.

24

1984 by George Orwell: Adronauts, 2013 A clever cover among the many front cover designs for this book. It is striking that just a few numbers and signs are needed to express one of the main themes of the book: „someone is watching you‟. I really feel those eyes!

25

Look who is back by Timur Vermes: MacLehose Press, 2014 The top half of the front cover may already express clearly enough what the book is about but the title clinches it. This is a striking example of how contrast can be used to create an image with a minimalist design. The position and the differentiation of the point size for the sans serif title symbolise the moustache and mouth to create a remarkable visual effect.

26

The Stranger by Albert Camus: Barnes & Noble, 1989; design: Helen Yentus This cover is one of a series dedicated to the works of Camus. This is in my view the most effective. The black and white contrast is eye-catching. The white core with the thin white shafts radiating out through the darkness encapsulates the idea of condemnation and expulsion, a central subject of the book. Any addition of another colour would diminish the effect. There is an appreciable differentiation of the typefaces: serif ITC Century for the title and sans serif Akzidenz Grotesk in upper-case letters for the author. Though very different, they are compatible and stylistically consistent with the overall design.

27

Eon by Greg Bear: Orion, 2009; design: Sanda Zahirovic

The contrast between the conical image and the black background plays very well as a vortex in the void. It creates a perfect visual effect for a Sci-Fi book. The use of two different sans serif typefaces, DIN 1451 for the title and Andale Mono for the author‟s name, is both original and effective. Both typefaces have the sort of technological character normally associated with airport terminals or roadway signs.

28

In the Woods by Tana French: Penguin Books, reprinted edition, 2008; design: Jennifer Wang This is probably the least minimalist of the chosen cover designs mainly because of the striking visual effect of the title emerging out of tree branches to dominate the cover in the sans serif typeface FF Hydra in bold capitals. This typeface is very appropriate to the design because it appears to provide great support for ligatures. Because this is a reprinted edition, the title needed much more emphasis than the author‟s name. In general, I love the suspension effects of the letters on the branches.

29

The Last Modernist: Samuel Beckett by Anthony Cronin: Harper, 2007; design: Chip Kidd Here is an outstanding visual effect. The positioning of the first part of the title is not casual but is intended to represent a stage. Looking at the picture of Beckett on the black background, he seems to be standing upon the first part of the title below. It provides an interesting example of differentiation through the use of the sans serif typeface Futura. Only the surname is in an easily legible large point size while the rest is just barely legible. Just what is needed!

30

Front Covers without Typography This section focuses on covers without typography, which means that they carry no title, no author‟s name, no subheadings, no quotes and no praises. In most cases, these things appear only on the spine. In the selected covers, there is only one example that shows the author‟s name. This is not an easy choice for a publisher because the title, author‟s name and praise are obviously important for marketing and selling. Not having anything on the front cover can nevertheless generate curiosity, and some of the examples below show how the design and the right use of colour can sometimes speak louder than written words.

31

One Red Paperclip: or How an Ordinary Man Achieved his Dream with the Help of a Simple Office Supply by Kyle MacDonald: Three Rivers Press, 2007; design: Kyle Kolker Who wouldn‟t want to pick up this book and see what it‟s about? An example of extreme minimalism: the title and the publisher‟s logo appear only on the spine. The object, a paper clip, is a central subject in the book and its positioning in the middle of the cover represents that. The colour red usually evokes emotion and power; here, it also contrasts well with the white background.

32

The Separation by Christopher Priest: Gollancz/Orion Publishing Group, 1999; design: Emma Wallace The precise distance between the military aircraft creates a perfect visual image not only of „separation‟ but also of symmetry. This reflects the book‟s story about the separation of twin brothers during WWII. The sophisticated use of colour also perfectly mirrors the murky circumstances that unfold as the story progresses.

33

Microserfs: a Novel by Douglas Coupand: Harper Perennial, 2008; design: Milan Bozic The use of pixel-based characters is original and works very well for this book about programmers who are searching for a life away from that of Silicon Valley and its legions of faceless, like-minded programming drones. The geometrical shape of the design evokes a box and a rigidly formatted style of life.

34

How to Speak at Special Events by David Cook: Christian

Focus, 2007; design: Alister MacInnes This cover also uses pixel-based characters, including the same one of the above design, and bright colours. The light blue background is not casual; it represents calm. Blue usually suggests both safety and success.

The audience consists of members that may be in any audience where you would speak publicly such as weddings, business meetings, funerals, etc. The underwear of the main character is meant to symbolise how speakers often feel inside when facing the public. Isn‟t that true?

35

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli: Knopf Books for Young Readers,

2000; design: Jerry Spinelli

Since the book is about non-conformity, the decision not to use the title on the cover suits it very well. The combination of blue, green and yellow is meant to inspire a sense of serenity. The drawing in stick figures is like one made by a pre-schooler: it is actually by the author. The author‟s name is in a very small upper case font style and in a colour that mingles well with the graphic.

36

The Importance of Colour: New Series of Vintage Children’s Classic

Colour plays an essential role in children‟s books, which need to be vibrant to attract attention and inspire interest. The new Vintage Children‟s Classics for 2012 with bright, beautiful covers are excellent examples. The careful adaptation of colours to the theme of the book is striking and attracts the attention of children and parents alike. Vintage clearly thought through the cover designs for the books of this series with parents in mind because the volumes can sit together beautifully on the family book-shelf. The same sans serif Futura typeface is used throughout the series for the authors‟ names as a way of distinguishing this particular series, but the colour varies in each case to match the rest of the design. The typefaces for the titles, by contrast, are custom-tailored to the story of the book. Interestingly, Vintage has commissioned different designers and illustrators for each book.

Complementary Colours Red and Green Blue and Orange Yellow and Purple

Analogous Colours Yellow, Orange and Red Red Purple and Blue Blue Green and Yellow

Complementary colours (those found opposite one another on the colour wheel) create energy and punch, while analogous colours (those next to one another on the colour wheel) provide tranquillity and harmony. (http://www.coverdesignstudio.com/best-colors-book-covers/)

37

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling: Vintage Classics, 2012; design: Stephen Parker; illustration: Gianni De Conno This is a very engaging cover illustration in which the faces of the animals and child peering out from the jungle foliage give it a hypnotic feel. The child‟s expression in particular also provides a sense of intrigue. The juggling hand-written typeface in yellow fits very well with the design. The vivacity of the colours is captivating.

38

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: Vintage Classics, 2012; design: James Jones; illustration: Chris Wormell The Wood typeface for the title against the tree, the shining coats of the horses against the pastel background, and the sense of movement combine to create an image perfectly suited for the story of Black Beauty. The shading on the grass beneath the horse produces a striking effect.

39

Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting: Vintage Classics, 2012; design: Matt Broughton; illustration: Jonathan Burton This cover appropriately captures the eccentricity and humour of the Doctor. The details, features and glyphs of the Victorian age add more sophistication. The Saint Agnes typeface, a hand-written font with a Roman feel, matches the overall design very well.

40

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon: Vintage Classics, 2012; design: Kris Potter; illustration: Paul Blow

A captivating typographic and colourful cover with an elevated view, illustrating the scene in which the main character finds his neighbour‟s murdered dog. It is interesting the way that the title in a 3-D shaded typeface is incorporated into the scene, as if the letters are standing in the grass. The well-thought use of colour provides a creepy night-time atmosphere that perfectly matches the story of the book.

41

Typeface Helvetica

Heidi, by Johanna Spyri: Vintage Classics, 2012; design: Julia

Connolly; illustration: Asako Masunouchi This charming and nostalgic approach to cover design for the story of Heidi shows an idyllic landscape reminiscent of old Swiss travel posters. It gives a general feel of naïveté that is perfect for this book. The unaligned Helvetica typeface matches the undulating background of the high mountains. It really takes me back to the television series that I used to love when I was a child.

42

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne: Vintage Classics,

2012; design: Suzanne Dean; illustration: Mick Wiggins

This cover evokes the austerity of the period and portrays a difficult subject with great sensitivity as well as an entirely appropriate sense of space and colour in a bright, creamy-beige. The Organon typeface is painted in blue and black stripes to create a suggestive visual effect.

43

When Front Covers Resemble an Era: the Case of Art Deco

Book covers tend to reflect the period in which the story is based. For books set in the inter-war period (1919-1939) cover designs often take their inspiration from Art Deco, a decorative style that is essentially an extension of the French Art Nouveau. The style emphasises surface embellishment, drawing on the colours and styles of some of the early modern art movements, from Impressionism through Cubism.

During the 1920s, vivid colour was often used. A dominant feature of the style is a combination of smooth curves and angles. In the 1930s, the colour palette became more subdued with white, black, and metallic surfaces combined with softer hues. In this section, there are four different examples of Art Deco covers for the Great Gatsby with different use of typefaces. Over the last 88 years, there have been hundreds of front covers for this memorable piece of American literature. This is therefore a small sample. Typefaces for this style tend to have high geometry and characters slightly condensed. Some Art Deco typefaces can be minimal and easy-to-read without any fuss. Art Deco typestyles range from uncomplicated, mono-stroke designs such as MPI Deco, ITC Anna and Coquette to more intricate, decorative typestyles such as Beverly Hills, Chic, Broadway Engraved, Gallia and ITC Mona Lisa. The more ornate Deco designs feature double, triple or multi-lineal stroke details.

44

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Charles Scribner‟s Sons, 1925; design: Francis Cugat

With this iconic work, Spanish artist Francis Cugat created one of the most recognisable book covers in the history of American literature. This haunting image is evocative of sorrow and excess. The contrast of colours creates energy and punch. The letters on that jacket are not typeset but drawn, as was usual at that time. I like the element of differentiation between the definite article and the rest of the title in upper case. This old cover version evidently outsold the new film tie-in edition (see below). No doubt!

45

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; design: Aled Lewis

This is certainly my favourite, though unfortunately this cover is no longer commercially available and it has not been possible to retrieve information about the publisher or year of publication. It features clever use of typography: the MPI Deco typeface is mono-stroke and clean with the last letter Y used as a champagne or martini glass to symbolise the lifestyle of wealthy people in the „roaring twenties‟: fame, parties, materialism and excess. The remarkable design cuts the image out of a deep yellow background to create the idea of a comfortable armchair. The black and white contrast of the figure represents the shady part of the story. Terrific!

46

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Penguin Classics

hardback, 2010; design: Coralie Bickford-Smith This is a much more sober example of cover design for this book. The beautiful use of golden art deco patterning gives a metallic feel that is typical of the art style. This is also a more expensive production that can suit collection purposes. It relates entirely to the artistic sensibilities of the period rather than to the story of the book.

47

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Picador, 2013

The new film tie-in edition combines Art Deco glitter and an ornate typeface with multi-lineal details. This cover presents a stark choice for readers as well as retailers who try to gauge the tastes of their customers. In this case, I am afraid I would not be one of them!

48

The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman: Sceptre 2012;

design: La Boca Though this cover has nothing to do with the Great Gatsby, it is an example of a recent Art Deco inspired design for a book with a story based in the first half of the 20th century. The colours are vivid and the tactile effect is striking. The typeface has high geometrical features typical of this style. Just love it!

49

Typographic Covers The opposite of minimalist cover designs are typographic cover designs. The judicious use of typography can encourage readers to reach for the shelves, but heavy typography can compromise readability and risk frustrating or confusing the reader. This can also happen in the case of heavy typographic covers where little consideration is given to kerning – the positioning and spacing of the actual letters within a word – and leading – the positioning and spacing of the lines in a paragraph. Legibility, often dictated by the different degrees of adjustment between characters and consistency in leading, lends structure and cohesiveness across the text elements. As shown below, it is not always easy to maintain this level of consistency, especially in the case of hand-lettered and hand-crafted types.

50

The way through doors by Jesse Ball, Vintage, 2009; design: Helen Yentus and Jason Booher This is a rather unusual kind of typographic cover. The design gives a remarkable illusion of layered paper and uses the slab serif typeface PMN Caecilia to create clean lines and an almost clinical feel to reflect the story. The different shades of colour from beige to white intensify the layered and tactile effect. It really gives a sense of going through doors that all lead into one room. Great cover!

51

The Godfather by Mario Puzo: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969; design: S. Neil Fujita

An iconic film tie-in cover design for this classic bestseller. I love the heavy, gothic-looking typeface for the title created by American graphic designer S. Neil Fujita. The design was also used in the opening credits of Francis Ford Coppola's film trilogy and remains iconic to this day. It is highly dramatic and perfectly suits the overall cover design and story. The contrast of white and red on the black background provides an appropriately severe effect.

52

For the Union Dead by Robert Lowell: Faber Classics, 1965; design: Berthold Wolpe

The designer of this cover, Berthold Wolpe, also created the glyphic, serif typeface Albertus used in this highly typographic cover. This cover stands out from the typically illustrated covers of the 1960s. The red frame around the title works well in differentiating it from the author‟s name. The kerning and leading are precise. This is a very good example of a typographic cover.

53

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach: Fourth Estate, 2012; design: Dana Tamachi Graphic designer Dama Tamachi used her custom chalk lettering style for the cover of the UK version of Harbach's novel. I like the clever use of the chair, which adds a realistic touch while creating a 3D element in the cover that also echoes the 3D effect of the title.

54

All the Birds Singing by Evie Wylde: Jonathan Cape, 2013; design: Darren Wall

This is a good example of an illustrative cover with strong typography characterised by idiosyncratic hand lettering. The colour schemes contrast rather than match, with the animals and flowers depicted in subtle variations of brown to allow a wider and more powerful spread of the typography. The lack of a publisher‟s logo and/or cover quotes and praise adds a rather tasteful touch.

55

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy: Picador, 2010; design: David Pearson Designer David Pearson has designed covers for nearly all of Cormac McCarthy's novels, including No Country for Old Men and The Road. This cover uses the same typeface for everything but alternates font sizes and colours in a wood-grain textured white and light brown for differentiation. The design gives a bold, hand-crafted feel by using an old style slab serif typeface, imitating the raw look of letterpress printing. It could be difficult to read but has character. Not one of my favourites!

56

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safron Foer: Harper Perennial, 2003; design: John Gray John Gray is among the most popular book cover designers. He has used his hand-drawn typeface for the covers of Safran Foer's first two books. This cover is „loud‟ while the tight fit of the words creates an energetic and fluid design, almost as if the letters and words are crashing into each other. I like the much smaller praise that floats within the title. The black and white contrast is highly effective. The positioning of the ISBN bar-code within the author‟s name is nevertheless unconventional and ultimately unfortunate. I would have avoided that!

57

Not my Cup of Cover

This section presents some covers that, in my view, are not attractive; I shall try to explain the reasons why. In general, I tend to dislike front covers that use images of models or actors on them. This is mainly because the beauty of reading is to enhance one‟s own imagination and for readers to create or re-create the characters and scenes in their own way. It is like watching a film adaptation of a book before reading the book; forever after, it becomes difficult if not impossible to dissociate the face of the actors from the characters in the book. There are also other features that I would probably want to avoid in a front cover, as I explain below. This is obviously a subjective view; others might think differently.

58

Experience by Martin Amis: Vintage, 2001; design: John Gall

The main problem with this cover is the grey box in the middle because it disrupts an otherwise highly expressive picture. Although the serif Bodoni font is well-suited for a memoir of this kind, I don‟t particularly like the differentiation between the author‟s forename and surname in different point sizes with the surname in bold. The italicised title and the sub-title in all upper-case letters introduce further unnecessary differentiation.

59

Killing the Buddha: A Heretic's Bible by Peter Manseau and Jeff Sharlet: Free Press, 2004; design: Paul Sahre; photography: Jason Fulford This is another example of a front cover without typography. It is difficult to understand how this design is evocative of the title or why it was runner-up for top book cover design in 2004. It is merely an image of clouds with the big red X in the middle. To me, it is rather confusing and certainly not of my cup of tea!

60

U.S.!: Songs and Stories by Chris Bachelder: Bloomsbury USA, 2006 It seems that even book covers can have chicken pox! I‟m not sure about the meaning of the white dots all over the cover, but it is irritating for the eyes. The image of the young man staring into the distance is also cut off at the top. The san serif Futura typeface for the title fits fine but it would have been better with the name of the author in upper case letters to give it more authority and with less kerning between letters. The full title of this book does not appear on the cover, which I think it is unfortunate because it might have given the reader a clearer idea of what the book is about.

61

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro: Vintage, 2006; design:

Jamie Keenan I read this book with another cover and had in my mind a different image of the young girl. The intense expression of the girl‟s eyes in this design is nevertheless rather catching. What does not work for me is the strong weight of the undifferentiated Carplates Bold typeface for the title and author‟s name superimposed on the image, which does not work well in my view.

62

The Dead Fish Museum by Charles D‟Ambrosio: Vintage,

2007; design: Rodrigo Corral; photographer: Fredrik Marsh This is an unconventional and rather depressing cover design with the image and title rotated 90 degrees to the right, which makes it more difficult to comprehend. The serif typeface (Filosofia) used for the author‟s name complements the Gill Sans typeface of the title very well, but the title should have been given a slightly larger point size. The sub-title and praise are difficult to read.

63

Less than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis: Vintage, 1998; design: High Design NYC; photography: Chris Hiller I am not convinced about the visual effect of this aerial view. It is also not a great idea to have the title in white so difficult to read against a foggy or hazy background. The typeface, Helvetica, is one of the most popular san serifs in the world. With its condensed and extended forms and extreme weights, it gives great emphasis to the author of the book though in my view the kerning is too wide. It is even conceivable that readers who are not familiar with the unusual name of the author might think that the author‟s name is the title.

64 References:

Bringhurst R. (2013), The Elements of Typographic Style, Point Roberts, WA: Hartley & Marks Bullock A. (2012), Book Production, Abingdon: Routledge Davies, G., and Balkwill, R. (2011), The Professionals' Guide to Publishing: A Practical Introduction to Working in the Publishing Industry, London: Kogan Page Hill, W. (2010), The Complete Typographer: A Foundation Course for Graphic Designers Working with Type, London: Thames & Hudson Lupton E. (2010), Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, and Students, 2nd ed., Princeton: Princeton Architectural Press

Websites: http://bookcoverarchive.com http://www.myfonts.com http://fontsinuse.com http://www.pinterest.com http://www.nytimes.com https://www.coverdesignstudio.com http://www.creativebloq.com http://www.vintage-books.co.uk http://www.smashingmagazine.com http://www.1stwebdesigner.com