I picked up a picture book recently, so I want to share it here. I’ve missed visiting book shops and food halls this year just to see modern designs on full display (in their natural habitat… in competition with each other). The book I picked up is called The Song of the Tree, and it’s written and illustrated by Coralie Bickford-Smith.
I’ve seen Coralie Bickford-Smith’s designs at work on cloth-bound reprints of classic books in different stores before, but I was never interested in the gift-market classic literature reissues myself (I don’t seem to have a lot of family or friends who read physical books).
Cloth-bound children’s book by Coralie Bickford-Smith
I’ll share a few of the photographs of the book I took. Bear in mind that these are taken in natural winter light, and I feel in person, the colours are much more vibrant and deep.
The deceptively simple shapes that make up patterns, plants, and animals give the impression of Lino or wood-block printing. There’s a great balance of detail and negative space.
The use of text makes reading the story engaging. Some pages, you have to tilt the book to read.
On most pages you’re rewarded for looking closely at the illustration – you’ll see delicate little animals hidden about the foliage.
Anyone who appreciates storytelling though words and pictures – child or adult – can enjoy this book; it’s a decent length, about 50 pages long.
This image shows Coralie Bickford-Smith’s book illustration development
Some of the development work that goes into creation of Bickford-Smith’s books is recorded on her own website. In the above image you can see great understanding of editorial layout being put to use in a picture book’s layout.
I have other books on the shelf that I want to photograph and share here for those who may be interested. I’m also eyeing some new design-related publications to add to my small collection of creative books. I hope to share more soon.
When next you’re able to visit a brick and mortar book store (safely!) I’d recommend checking out the children’s section if it’s not somewhere you usually check out – you may even find some unexpected stimulation for your creations by flicking though some choice books.
On the commute from home to campus, and then back again, I’ve had time to read. I had missed reading regularly! The cover of the novella I’m presently reading (a UK Penguin edition (and translation) of Bohumil Hrabal’s Closely Watched Trains) is composed of a photomontage. I’ve been thinking about what I’ll read next, and how many books will catch my eye for their cover.
Chip Kidd created the iconic Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton silhouette for the 1990 science fiction novel Jurassic Park – the same dinosaur’s silhouette was used to create the park’s logo used Steven Spielberg’s film adaption. The inspiration for the skeleton silhouette came from a visit to a New York museum, and a non-fiction dinosaur book purchased while there.
Chip Kidd’s cover for Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel, Jurassic Park
I have never looked for in-depth information on graphic designers who work with publishers and authors in the past. It’s something worth looking into. With a quick search however, I did find an insightful video published by Random House; with commentary by their own book cover designers.
In this short video, The Art of Cover Design, a small number of Random House book cover designers’ insights; Robbin Schiff, Chip Kidd, Christopher Brand, and Peter Mendelsund tell us about making book covers they feel will have the most impact and most importantly, “last”.
“You never really want to call out a character in full, because a very important part of reading is being able to imagine the characters yourself.” – Peter Mendelsund, The Art of Cover Design
In referring to his cover jacket for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Mendelsund remarks “Can you get away with a day glow cover, on a book like this?” and it’s taking such risks that arguably make the first edition book cover stand out.
Peter Mendelsund has created many designs for books whose authors are no longer around to discuss choices with. I imagine it is both freeing and daunting – if one doesn’t limit one’s own routes and alternatives to the endless possibilities of a design.
I’ve been thinking to myself, it would be nice to create some art for the covers of books that I am fond of. Or maybe books that I have been newly introduced to… It would be worth fiddling with my schedule to find time to create some book cover artworks, even rough drafts, and share them online.
Are there books that you feel you’d like to design a cover for…?
Even now, with e-mails and text, I like keeping in contact with dear friends through the post. I received a small envelope in the post from a friend, which included a letter, some trading cards, and a postcard of a Pelican book cover. The postcard is of Creativity in Industry by P. R. Whitfield, with the cover image by David Pelham. I really appreciate the visual pun of the pencils and their led scribbles representing a busy factory’s smokestacks and exhaust.
A postcard that I received from a friend, and a letter that I am going to write!
I thought to look at other, older Pelican book covers, and found some that struck me as visually distinct or clever. I thought to share some of them here. I have sourced these book cover scans fromother websites (which you could check out, if interested to see vintage book covers other than Pelican’s).
Another visual pun where the stylised tree also stands in for the literal branching of species’ development.
Cover image by Germano Facetti
Deceptively simple, but clever. The amount of significance this image holds feels as if it is up to the viewer’s interpretation, much as a pice of fine art.
Cover image by Bruce Robertson
The juxtaposition of a skeletal arm on a cover with the words “life” printed above reinforces the knowledge of the death brought along with radiation.
These designs have to perform well enough for potential readers to opt to buy these books. I think these covers say something interesting, while holding back enough information to tease the observer’s curiosity.
I feel that as a student of design, it’s important to be taking note of both contemporary work and design from past decades, and to try and gauge what makes a piece successful (or even why a piece might fall flat).
Noma Bar’s use of negative space and visual puns has been of interest since I first saw his work inside bookstores, on British editions of Haruki Murakami’s novels. Noma Bar’s covers for Vintage’s line are usually punny nods to the title rather than statements on the contents of the books. Someone can just glance at a cover and understand the design of most of them (yeah, …others need a little knowledge of the contents to appreciate).
Vintage’s UK edition of “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle”
Here, the illustation for “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” is easy to read and enjoy as long as the viewer’s aware of the title; it becomes obvious that the bird doubles as wind-up key. Without knowledge of the title, the illustration might only be seen as a heavily stylised bird, and the holes in the bird’s wings might be misread as spots of colour. The visual pun here relies on the title to work. There are a number of Murakami’s books I’d like to discuss, but I think I’ll save looking at Bar’s book cover illustrations in detail for another day.
You may have seen Bar’s work in issues of The Observer, The Economist, and Wallpaper* , to name a few. He’s made artworks in response to issues ranging from modern warfare, to social issues to current events. These artworks are readable and understandable as shape and colour alone. The visual puns instead rely on our prior knowledge of the subject matter, and our own willingness to get involved in the artwork as a viewer.
Charity auction artwork produced for WWF, 2015
Here, I think it’s important to note that the more thought the viewer puts into an artwork, the more they can potentially get out of it. If we remain passive to Bar’s illustrations, we can’t enjoy them to their fullest; again, we may even take them for striped-down or thoroughly stylised pictures, instead of clever, considered statements. Bar’s works don’t even ask for very much input. There’s only a small gap of knowledge the viewer is asked to fill in to reach a realisation and full enjoyment of the work.
Now, if the gap of knowledge the viewer needs to understand a work to it’s fullest is too big, then the viewer can become frustrated with the image, and may only take the picture for face value. The audience of a work may not even want any involvement with it!
“Pointed Sense” 2011
Conversely, if all of the information is presented in a clear-cut fashion, it leaves no need for viewer involvement. If the design choices of an illustration in a magazine, a campaign poster, a company logo, etc. are totally passive they won’t stand a chance to cement themselves in our minds. This viewer involvement can be applied to other forms of media such as television commercials.
Taking all of this into concederation, in order to move forward in visual communication, I need to remember the involvement of my audience. I need to understand my audience. I think this will be both a challenging and fun aspect of graphic design! I can only look forward to much experimentation and personal growth as a creator. I hope at times, when appropriate, I can make others laugh, simply by using colour and shape too.
Do you have any memorable imagery that you really felt a part of, and why so? Are there any artworks you remember because you feel that they asked too much of you? If so, why do you think that?
I love to read, and I also love to imagine how I might design a book’s cover once done reading it. So, what about those creatives out there who actually design the covers for the books we read?
Do these look familiar? These covers are Peter Mendelsund’s work!
I hope to look at numerous graphic designers who have worked with book publishers, and I will start with Peter Mendelsund. You will have seen Mendelsund’s work wether you’re aware of it or not. He has crafted covers for many writers of a range of genre, and with a wide range of target demographic to boot, but all of the authors’ works that I have seen he has created covers for, are all either the break-out writers of contemporary fiction we see in the charts, or the long-dead, wold-famous writers who’s works we’re generally encouraged to read throughout our lives. More or less, Mendelsund rebrands the already popular books.
We can say that Mendelsund doesn’t always need to imbue his covers with the power to sell the books – they can sell themselves, regardless. But does he still give it his all to market the books though their covers? Let’s take a look at a small handful to get a feel.
Franz Kafka’s “The Trial”
Stripped down, “The Trial” is a tale of a man who is arrested and prosecuted for crimes that are neither revealed to the protagonist nor the reader. You can interpret the work as a critique on bureaucracy and civil rights, if you want. I like this cover because the complementary colours (red and blue) really make the irises pop. The rows of eyes give off an uneasy feeling – great, because Kafka’s works are full of unease for the protagonist as well as the devoted reader. Unsurprisingly, all of the books Mendelsund created for this line include the eye motif. I think it’s clever, and I think it works.
Osamu Tezuka’s “Black Jack”, vol. 3
I feel that Tezuka deserves an entry on his own, or maybe when discussing sequential art. In any case, this famous comic artist has made a plethora of works both kids and adults can enjoy. “Blackjack” is a medical drama aimed at young adults. Note that Tezuka himself had studied medicine in order to become a medical doctor himself before changing careers; this gives his art a very authentic feeling, even if the fantastic medical procedures covered would not be feasible at all in real life. Mendelsund made a series of covers for Vertical’s western release of Black Jack. I feel that the main point of interest is in the centre of each cover. The jackets are of bright, flat colours, and the diamonds cut into the centre of each book’s cover reveal underneath a heavily-detailed, monochrome drawing of Tezuka’s, sometimes being a medical illustration. I like that tactile reinforcement of the books’ surgical element.
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Notes from a Dead House”
This book is a semi-autobiographical take on Dostoevsky’s experiences as a prisoner in one of Siberia’s labour camps. The protagonist, a nobleman turned convict, is sentenced to ten years labour for the murder of his wife. The bones are a visual cue for death but with their vertical positioning, double as jail bars, and the bleak colouring denote the tone of the book. This cover says what it needs.
Let’s look at a couple of books with visual puns! The covers really speak for themselves.
Gaku Yakumaru’s “A Cop’s Eyes”
Yakumaru presents us with a series of short stories about a police detective. The reader is treated to the views of criminals to create an image of the protagonist. If you gave but only a passing glance to the cover, you may mistake the handcuffs for eyeglasses; that is the strength of the visual pun. I do like that the majority of the text here is in a gentle, soft script, leading to an emphasis of the book’s title with its bold, sans serif font.
Steven Amsterdam’s “Things We Didn’t See Coming”
“Things We Didn’t See Coming” is a post-apocalyptic novel full of disaster beyond the narrator’s control. Mendelsund plays with alignment to obscure our vision, strengthening the title’s message. The text is still legible, but we must surrender more of our time to the cover, and look just a little closer, in order to read it, lest we don’t see it. I don’t often look at book covers that are all text and think they’re great, but I can really appreciate the amount of consideration that must have gone into this cover design. To sell the story with text alone shows confidence.
I think with even the few book covers looked at, it’s obvious that Mendelsund does indeed want to show the onlooker and potential reader what the book contains and feels like. I think these are sincere covers showing Mendelsund’s understanding and appreciation on these author’s works. They display a designer’s versatility. At a glance these designs might seem ‘simple’, but they’re witty and aren’t dragged down by any unnecessary information.
If you made it to the end, thank you for reading! Do you think Peter Mendelsund’s book covers work? How do you feel about them? Love ’em? Hate ’em? Total indifference?
If you spotted any omissions, let me know! I’m writing to push myself to improve my written analysis of design.
DESIGN WORKS 