Bumps in the Road.

Computer (well, email) being hacked into, job interviews, sleepless nights. I hate when real life gets in the way of design. Anyway, to make up for it here's a quick post of sf/fantasy book covers I do like:

Dianna Wynn Jones' Howl books, images from Amazon and the excellent Nina Tara, who is responsible for these designs:







The Ladies of Grace Adieu, again from Amazon, the very soft tones of the book cover may be hard to see here. The flowers are picked out in flock, giving the book a luxurious feel even in paper back- and a welcome change from UV-Gloss.


The hardcover was similarly opulent (image from Borders.co.uk):

Sci-Fi is harder for me to come up with ready examples, but I have never escaped this 1978 version of '1984' (Image from NY Times bookblog via designkultur) -

Famous graffiti artist Shepherd Fairy recently did a redesign of the often-issued book:


In both cases the illustrative elements are subsumed by the graphic, becoming like texture. The leather of the man and the black background are less important than the red circle on the blue field. Fairey's eye is made up of newsprint and wallpaper (domestic propaganda). But layering artfully is a bit like throwing lots of good ingredients into a mixing bowl and then carefully arranging the outcome- it's almost like you can't go wrong. I want something more purposeful, therefore... minimal?