Comments on: Judging books by their covers

Question: Judging books by their covers

TurkeyMustard — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 06:40:35 -0800

What are your favorite book jacket or cover designs? What do you look for when you judge a book by its cover? I'm doing a design favor for a friend and need some inspiration. It's a word-heavy, non-fiction book targeted at the more brainy types. Any classic, timeless cover that makes you caress its spine every time you see the volume?

By: grumblebee

grumblebee — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 06:57:01 -0800

The Great Gatsby

By: adrober

adrober — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 06:58:46 -0800

I love John Lahr's (theater critic for The New Yorker) covers. Specifically, the covers for "Prick Up Your Ears" and "Show and Tell." If I ever write a book, I want his cover designer to design mine.

By: bonaldi

bonaldi — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 07:06:22 -0800

I love:

Q

This Iain Banks cover although the real one has a white border of around an inch on it. Much prettier.

I also quite like the Everyman's series of covers, but they're a bit plain.

When I'm choosing a book by its cover I like a strong image or no image at all, a very small amount of words -- I hate six quotes, three subheads and a banner -- and appropriate use of italics.

This means I hate most US covers. I struggle to make it out of a UK bookshop with my wallet intact, but I can happily browse for hours in a Borders in the US without building up a big pile of "must buys".

Oh, you asked for non-fiction. Well, unsurprisingly, I like this and this.

-- His post was wonderful, really stunning -- New York Times
-- He made up all the quotes -- The Herald
-- Sgt Serenity is a Tim -- A hun.

By: staggernation

staggernation — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 07:12:31 -0800

The weblog Mastication is normal has run a few sets of thought-provoking and very entertaining reviews of the covers of current books: 1, 2, 3.

Looks like he's shutting the site down soon, though, so read 'em while you can...

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 07:48:01 -0800

Anything by Chip Kidd. A good sign that his books stand out? They become iconic (see his Jurrasic Park cover).

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 08:22:11 -0800

cker's Collected Works (great poetry, too, if you like modern American poetry).

The Catastrophist.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 08:29:09 -0800

Oh, and a couple of beautiful reference books:

The Encyclopedia of World History

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

(scroll down; I couldn't find a simple cover shot)

By: Grod

Grod — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 08:32:23 -0800

Chip Kidd is the master.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 08:37:56 -0800

yup--Chip Kidd without a doubt. Also take a walk thru a bookstore and see what catches your eye and why.

By: callmejay

callmejay — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 08:42:38 -0800

You might be interested in this guy who seems to review book covers once a month.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 09:40:06 -0800

Great book on the topic. And... for Chip Kidd fans.

By: Succa

Succa — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 10:28:07 -0800

I love the look and weight of Christopher's Alexander's A Pattern Language.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 10:29:24 -0800

This Iain Banks cover

That's nice enough, but I prefer the old one, complete with motorcycle tracks pressed into the cover.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 11:29:48 -0800

Wow, I don't like any of the covers featured on the cover of that Alan Powers book (dobbs's "great book"). Different strokes.

By: callmejay

callmejay — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 13:11:11 -0800

Oops, don't know how I missed staggernation's comment. Ignore my link.

By: Songdog

Songdog — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 15:38:36 -0800

Not even Gatsby, languagehat?

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 16:50:58 -0800

*enlarges image, squints*
Nah, not crazy about Gatsby, but now that I look more closely I do see a couple I like, notably Beside the Seaside and George Mackie. Well, also Catch-22, but that may be sentimental attachment to the book itself, which I love dearly and read in that edition.

Other nice covers: The Lover, by Duras; The Diary of Samuel Pepys.