design:related

Karen Horton’s inspiration

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Cover design for "The Book of Fathers" by John Gall

Add to Folder | Comments (0) | October 14, 2009

I spotted John Gall's new book cover design for The Book of Fathers (published by Other Press on October 13, 2009). From browsing the shelves at Posman Books in Grand Central, the cover instantly caught my attention from a distance. Up close the subtle special effects help to make this design truly unique. The collage illustrations (which are embossed) are by Nicole Natri. (cover image via n a k n)

Link: more collages by Nicole Natri

Covers for Vintage Swedish Books w/ Repetitive Patterns

Add to Folder | Comments (0) | March 18, 2009

A couple of years ago I spotted the book "Modern Swedish Grammar" at a local library book sale for less than a dollar. There was no good reason for me to add this to my collection other than the fact I was drawn to the simplicity of the geometric pattern used on the paper over board book. I had never seen a book like this, and at first assumed it was missing the dust jacket (maybe?).

Through the great resource of flickr, I discovered that this style of book cover design was more common in Sweden during the 1950s—early 1960s.

But if anyone knows any more about this graphic trend, please comment!

Link: The Repetitive Graphic Pattern Covers flickr pool

Paul Sahre: A Designer and His Problems

Add to Folder | Comments (0) | February 08, 2009

UPDATED on 4/19/09 with video of Paul Sahre's talk:
Paul Sahre: A Designer And His Problems from AIGA/NY on Vimeo.

The Paul Sahre talk, A Designer and His Problems (or Problmes) was really humorous, inspiring and overall not a bad way to spend a Friday evening. And, we all got lovely misspelled souvenirs to take home. For those who missed the talk, click through Sahre's Regrets archive on his site. I always appreciate when designers own up to their mistakes (or should I say opportunities to learn) and share their experiences.

Below are a few of my pretty awful iphone photos (sorry):

Hand painting signs for a car dealership was on of Sahre's first jobs

We all took home flags like the one seen on the bottom right

a letter by Silas Rhodes

Link: Office of Paul Sahre

The Art of Romance: Mills & Boon and Harlequin Cover Designs book

Add to Folder | Comments (0) | October 30, 2008

"Founded in 1908 the now legendary Mills & Boon created romantic heroes and heroines that reflected every decade: the dark and rugged sheikh-doctor-widower-businessman who meets the young, attractive girl-next-door-secretary-careerwoman. The winning formula rarely changed, and today a Mills & Boon book is sold in the UK every three seconds, with Harlequin selling more than four books per second globally in 26 languages." —from back cover description of The Art of Romance

Romance fiction is not a genre I've ever embraced. I've never read a Harlequin or Mills & Boon novel. But when I saw the new book The Art of Romance: Mills & Boon® and Harlequin® Cover Designs, I was instantly drawn to take a further look at the evolution of this genre which has such a recognizable aesthetic in our pop culture.

The book, published by Prestel on October 30th, was created on the occasion of the And Then He Kissed Her exhibition. And Then He Kissed Her honors the 100 year anniversary of Mills & Boon. The exhibition was on display at the Manchester Library from June 5th — August 9th, 2008.

Thumbing through this book was very amusing, and I discovered a new found appreciation for the early covers in this visual timeline. The dialogue in the introduction of the book focuses mainly on the characteristics of the genre, the culture of the women through the decades, and the history of Mills & Boon and Harlequin.

A few pages go into deeper depth of the cover design and illustration commission/purchasing process. Here is a small excerpt: "Magazine illustrations by artists such as Jack B. Faulks, Colin Orme and Phillip Simmonds were purchased by Mills & Boon and used as covers. Alan Boon, like the magazine editors, had strong opinions on the covers, commenting in 1964: 'We go back to our nice young couple, nearly (and always fully) dressed with a bit of background, every object is clearly recognizable for what it is...'" I was disappointed the artist credits were not provided for all of the book covers presented. But, overall the book is a unique and fun look back at the last century.

Link: The Art of Romance book

Gateways: International Book Covers Exhibit and Catalog

Add to Folder | Comments (7) | September 23, 2008

"Idioms is a series of exhibitions that explores the day-to-day world of graphic design by looking at visual languages and forms that designers use and the impact these have on the messages they express. Curated by Andrew Howard, the series is part of the programme that the Serralves Foundation has been developing with the Silo-Espaço Cultural, Norte Shopping in Matosinhos." —Andrew Howard

Gateways: An International Exhibition of Book Covers is the 6th exhibition in the Idioms series curated by Andrew Howard (sponsored by ESAD). The exhibition is on display between July 31st and September 2008 at the Silo-Espaço Cultural, NorteShopping, in Porto, Portugal.

The exhibition had a website set up for their call for submissions back in June. Since the initial call for entries, I was not able to find much information online about the show. But the curator and designer of the show, Andrew Howard, was so kind to send me some extra info with photos of the space and a beautifully type-set catalog for the show.

For me its a rarity to see a book cover exhibition in the midst of a shopping mall. But I think its fantastic.

The full exhibition included 400 cover designs, representing 53 designers from 14 countries. Most of the books were selected through an open call for submissions. Special invitations were extended to Jon Gray and David Pearson, who both are given substantial attention in the pages of the catalog (with essays/commentary in their own words). Jon Gray's chapter touches upon process, difficulties associated with being a freelancer, authors that have family members with artistic talents, pressures from sales, marketing and major book chains. David Pearson goes into great detail about the Penguin Great Ideas series designs, and spreads show covers from the Great Journeys and Great Loves series in full color. These two chapters alone make the exhibition catalog an incredible resource and source of inspiration (and at times support for those dealing with some of the challenges associated with a career in book cover design). Ariane Spanier, Helen Yentus, Paul Sahre, Coralie Bickford-Smith, Clare Skeats, Juan Pablo Cambariere, Gregg Kulick, and Jaime Keenan, were also given personal invitations to participate in the show.

The catalog took awhile to arrive (all the way from Portugal!), but it was a great surprise to find in the mail last week. I was expecting a typical catalog, a listing of entries...But what I got instead was a nicely designed book, which may take me a few hours to fully absorb. The writing by the curator, and also Jon Gray and David Pearson is top notch. Its not just a book of pretty pictures. The descriptions and commentaries are very informative and in some cases make me take extra notice to something I may have skimmed past (and most of the text is set in both English and Portuguese).