Publishing houses with notable graphic design
December 16, 2019 3:23 PM Subscribe
Apart from early Penguin paperbacks, what are some publishers known for their graphic design?
Best answer: Persephone Press, located in London, which "reprints neglected fiction and non-fiction by mid-twentieth century (mostly) women writers".
posted by ALeaflikeStructure at 4:17 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by ALeaflikeStructure at 4:17 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
Best answer: O'Reilly books - especially the older ones - have very distinctive covers.
Unfortunately, there's not much market for printed computer books anymore...
posted by Hatashran at 4:39 PM on December 16, 2019 [5 favorites]
Unfortunately, there's not much market for printed computer books anymore...
posted by Hatashran at 4:39 PM on December 16, 2019 [5 favorites]
Best answer: O'Reilly, which has become more of a tech conference promoter these days, is known for its distinctive covers featuring woodcut looking animals. The publisher came up selling short books on Unix topics via mail order, and eventually the covers became so well-known they inspired a parody generator.
posted by jzb at 4:40 PM on December 16, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by jzb at 4:40 PM on December 16, 2019 [2 favorites]
Taschen has some v. attractive books.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:41 PM on December 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:41 PM on December 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The Folio Society makes some of the most pleasurable to read hardcover books I've held.
posted by Mizu at 4:44 PM on December 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Mizu at 4:44 PM on December 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
Someone else can jump in on this but I’m France “serious” books are print with this same kind of cream cover.
posted by raccoon409 at 4:48 PM on December 16, 2019
posted by raccoon409 at 4:48 PM on December 16, 2019
Best answer: Older Faber & Faber books often used typography in unusual ways. Also Anchor Books' Edward Gorey covers are wonderful demonstrations of integrating hand-lettering and illustration.
posted by zadcat at 5:09 PM on December 16, 2019
posted by zadcat at 5:09 PM on December 16, 2019
Best answer: I wound up doing some work for Melville House because I was so blown away by the design of their novella series.
posted by ferret branca at 5:17 PM on December 16, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by ferret branca at 5:17 PM on December 16, 2019 [2 favorites]
New Directions, especially covers by Alvin Lustig.
posted by miles per flower at 5:32 PM on December 16, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by miles per flower at 5:32 PM on December 16, 2019 [4 favorites]
The Kelmscott Press?
posted by runincircles at 5:55 PM on December 16, 2019
posted by runincircles at 5:55 PM on December 16, 2019
The Doves Press were famous for having no graphics.
They're hardly what you'd consider a publisher, but I'd suggest Ikea too.
posted by scruss at 7:57 PM on December 16, 2019
They're hardly what you'd consider a publisher, but I'd suggest Ikea too.
posted by scruss at 7:57 PM on December 16, 2019
The Dutch publishing house A.W. Bruna had a very distinctive design for a lot of their books, many (over 2000) designed by the publisher's son, Dick Bruna (of Nijntje/Miffy fame).
posted by Ms. Next at 1:46 AM on December 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Ms. Next at 1:46 AM on December 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: On a less visually interesting note, the Everyman's Library (now Penguin/Random House UK) and Library of America are distinctive in their boring design - to the point that we called them "margarines."
posted by aspersioncast at 4:48 AM on December 17, 2019
posted by aspersioncast at 4:48 AM on December 17, 2019
Best answer: Chronicle Books
Nobrow Press
posted by the_blizz at 6:25 AM on December 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
Nobrow Press
posted by the_blizz at 6:25 AM on December 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by vunder at 3:32 PM on December 16, 2019 [1 favorite]