Hello, nice site :)

66b8b80999c3f9a6f414cba5d7d315d4

The New Yorker and slow design
Timeless or exasperating? I'll go with timeless myself.

Home

"It also has to engage their sense of self in some way - their sense of their identity as it relates to books, and characters that interest them, and plotlines, and writing styles... so the design can sit there and not only grab a reader but also reassure them that yes, this is what they want."

This makes a ton of sense to me. Thanks, Ingrid, for the professional insight. You've explained why the Penguin Classics redesign was so effective for me - those brick-like epics and Victorian novels wrapped black like monoliths. I'm easily swayed by the kind of iconic design that makes the book an object again.

As a designer, I know that it helps to give off a message to the readers that yes, this book is similar to that other book (similar, but not a copy cat). It also has to engage their sense of self in some way - their sense of their identity as it relates to books, and characters that interest them, and plotlines, and writing styles... so the design can sit there and not only grab a reader but also reassure them that yes, this is what they want.

I don't know if all readers understand editorial thrust though. Most don't even positively recognize different publishing houses - they just notice the books. But yes, the design can be construed in a similar way for an editor's line of books so that trust is built.

I hate it when designs just mimic bigger hits and don't necessarily respond to the book though. Like false advertising.

Edited by author 12-19-2005 04:54 PM
I find certain publishers' styles "brand" the book very effectively for the 1.5-second-come-hither. I recognize things like distinctive colors, or typeface, or proportional divisions, or banners. Usually, if I liked a book that used a design, I'll look at a new, similarly designed book. Nothing to do with representation or even an author's name or a title.
This makes me feel both "slutty" - do Canadian journalists call us slutty enough? - and like I still have some connection to the notion of supporting a line endorsed by an editor with a vision. I doubt latter is true; in fact, I know it's not because I've seen the cover design for Anne Carson's If Not, Winter aped all over the place. Perhaps some enterprising editor could take advantage of this, though?

Yes, nodding my head about the article. Nodding, smiling.

Funny - I've been told its a 3 second timeframe for catching one's eye (the article says 1.5 seconds). Does this mean we are slower to scan in Canada, perhaps less rushed, enjoy our moments in a book store more, prone to lingering...?

But a good cover is especially critical for a lesser-known author than it is for, say, Atwood, since she can sell by name and reputation alone, whereas a new or not-as-well-known author may need that extra boost to grab attention.

Now if we could only get the cover copy to be more concise so that readers could latch on to the idea of the book... more is not always better. Its just more.

Cover up

Books sell by their covers, now more than ever. Give the gift of snap decisions: buy based on a pretty cover today.

As we walk into any bookshop for an impulse purchase, we base our choice on the same superficial attractions as a Casanova walking into a singles bar. And all the new places where books are now sold — the internet, the bookshop’s three-for-two tables, the supermarket — are making us even more likely to judge a book by its cover.


Home

Groovy, baby, yeah!

More Esquire covers than you can shake a stoned Go-Go dancer at. (From Boing Boing)


Home

Revolutionary idea. The only good book designers I know read the manuscripts. The others, well, rely on luck and the visual knowhow of the editors... like flying blind, in my opinion.

Edited by author 12-08-2005 02:58 PM
Judge a book by its cover

Chip Kidd on book design. Guess what? He gets his inspiration from the manuscripts themselves. Amazing.

Home