The Design of the Mind
June 22, 2008

Do you give much thought to book covers? I mean the design of the jackets. Unconsciously, you do. They are the primary marketing tool used to entice you, the bookstore browser, into picking up a book and looking more closely at it—and hopefully, buying it. But do you consciously study them? Are you drawn in by an image, an illustration or a typeface? Have you picked up any that repulse you so that you slap that book down without giving it another chance?

I do. I love book covers, am fascinated by them. What particularly interests me is how well or how poorly an entire marketing package is concentrated into a design of limited size. (It’s true that this could be said about print ads or radio and television ads, even Internet ads; nothing offers limitless  The cover needs to be an arresting piece of work to attract attention, but its true purpose is to operate as a sales tool because readers tend to interpret the cover as an extension of the text inside. It’s that competition for the book buyer’s eye that ultimately drives the design process. Crudely put, it’s a huge part of what sells the book, Oprah’s announcements notwithstanding.

I am sorry that I did not discover this passion early enough in my life to concentrate on design and maybe end up a book cover designer. What set my mind to thinking about book covers this week  was two things: the Benjamin Franklin Awards for which I am a design judge, and this recent article in Publishers Weekly, the trade magazine for the publishing industry. The latter involves the story of a jacket design for a book that will be released in August—After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival. The first cover was arresting, a simple yet dramatic cover of nothing but text over black. I was immediately taken with it, and had I seen it in a bookstore would have immediately picked it up. But the drama wasn’t the story, and the cover changed. “We wanted something more emotional,” Little, Brown creative director Mario Pulice said. They got it (a soft shot of the two survivors walking down the street), but I found myself thinking that while I understood the reason for the change, and I agreed that the second cover may have reflected the subject matter better, that it seemed bland and uninteresting, and I knew I would not pick it up.

Same story. Different reaction.

I had briefly mentioned the Ben Franklin awards a couple of months ago, but could not go into detail as the contest was still in progress. Run by Independent Book Publishers Association (formerly Publishers Marketing Association), these awards are an annual event celebrated at a gala dinner on the eve of Book Expo America. I have been one of their judges for five or six years, and am usually assigned to either the Arts or Coffee Table/Large Format category.

I enjoy this very much. It’s an enormous project with no pay (other than the books), but the rewards are wonderful. And what I get to see is often stupendous. This year, for example, I had books from three university presses, two high-end museums, and a number of top independent presses. Besides rating each book on a one-to-ten scale in about 15 categories, I write a page of comments, noting what worked, what didn’t work, and offering suggestions for improvements where I felt they could be made. It’s always a rewarding experience, but being able to attend the ceremony and watch some very excited publishers and authors receive their crystal awards is doubly exciting.

As I mentioned, some of those books now reside on my shelves, among them Croatia, The Natural World (yes, it is as large as it looks), Great Moments in Greek Archaeology, Inspirations from France & Italy, Swahili Chic, Ottoman Women, and The Art of the Snowflake.

If you are interested or want to be come interested in book cover design, several blogs are devoted to it. Among them are The Book Design Review (where a recent post in response to the question “How does one become a book designer?” brought forth 44 responses); Covers, which is “dedicated to the appreciation of book cover design”; and the hilarious and snarky Judge a Book by its Cover (because “there’s no accounting for taste”). Since few of us can or would want to buy every book out there, these are places where we can enjoy seeing the range of design. It’s truly amazing how bad some of it can get, and how remarkable the best of it can be. 

This Week. . .
Abbeville Press, a publisher of fine art and illustrated books, has joined forces with Artblog to offer a 30 percent off coupon for any of Abbeville’s books. If you are an art lover, this is definitely worth checking out. I’m drooling in a rather unseemly manner over this, but you can also find books on Alphabets & Symbols; Architecture; Biography & Literature; Fashion, Jewelry & Watches; Food & Beverage; Nature & Gardening; History & Archaeology; Pets & Animals, Sports & Automobiles; and much more. 

In order to get this discount, you must be a retail customer, order before July 15 and use the coupon code “artblogdotnet” when you check out. I hope to see you over there.

Until next week, read well, read often and read on!

Lauren