The persuasive art of the dust jacket

Book covers have long been a source of artistic quality and, in the age of Kindle, are reintroducing more and more of us to the pleasures of traditional reading• Click here to view of gallery of of images from The Illustrated Dust Jacket 1920-1970When the essayist and caricaturist Sir Max Beerbohm learned in 1949 that there was to be an exhibition of dust jacket designs at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, he drolly observed that he wouldn’t be attending, as he only needed to call in at any bookshop to witness the “internecine warfare between the innumerable latest volumes, almost all of them violently vying with one another for one’s attention, fiercely striving to outdo the rest in crudity of design and of colour.” He went on to liken the experience to visiting the parrot house in the Zoological Gardens, “save that there one can at least stop one’s ears with one’s fingers”.The right cover is like a beautiful coat, elegant and warm, wrapping my words as they travel through the world Related: Cover versions: why are UK and US book jackets often so different? Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2017-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Boudreaux: persuasive publishing

When authors describe editor Lee Boudreaux— ex-Doubleday, ex-Random House, ex-Harper/ Ecco, who has been given the notable mandate to build a fiction imprint at Little, Brown, launching in January—they say she reminds them of a 1940s movie star, larger than life and inflected with a strong... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The flyaway success of the Ladybird art prank

We Go to the Gallery, a Peter and Jane-style satire of modern art, won Miriam Elia fans around the world – and a legal warning from Penguin. But that hasn’t stopped the artist-provocateur and her new imprint, Dung BeetleWhen Miriam Elia released a small book lampooning the art world, she might... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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L.A. arts groups get $4.5 million from Michael Bloomberg's foundation

Michael Bloomberg, the publishing mogul and former New York City mayor, will pump $4.5 million into L.A.'s nonprofit arts scene over the coming two years, as part of a national initiative by his Bloomberg Philanthropies to help small and mid-size arts organizations. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A manifesto for ebooks on art

"Just as portable paint tubes revolutionized the act of making art for painters like Monet and Renoir, the digital revolution is transforming the art book," writes critic Carol Strickland. The author of a digital book for iPad on impressionism in Erudition's Masterpieces of Art series,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Art of Packaging

The first round of storytelling and myth-making about the wave of American filmmaking that temporarily conquered the culture in the late 1960s and 1970s, often called the New Hollywood or the American New Wave, focused mostly on the stories of men. The Rosetta stone of this type of scholarship... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2015-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pullman blasts government over status of arts in schools

Author Philip Pullman has said the UK is run by “philistines and barbarians” as government plans appear to reduce the status of arts subjects in secondary schools. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Laurence King hires Valli as art commissioning editor

Marc Valli, managing director of the independent book and gift shop Magma and editor-in-chief of Elephant contemporary art magazine, has been appointed as art commissioning editor at Laurence King Publishing. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Spy The Unsung Psychedelic Pop-Art Landscapes Of Roy Lichtenstein

A new exhibition chronicles the iconic artist's lesser known fascination with sea and sky.Roy Lichtenstein was once derided as the "worst artist in America," but time has proven him to be synonymous with 1960s Pop Art and cemented him in the annals of art history. After all, good art typically... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2015-08-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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First Look: David Petersen Talks ‘The Art of Mouse Guard’

Mouse Guard creator David Petersen talks about his evolution as an artist, as seen in this exclusive excerpt from 'The Art of Mouse Guard.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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L.A. River art project gets a boost from Michael Bloomberg

Plans to display artworks alongside the Los Angeles River and to educate the public about water conservation and the drought have received a significant boost thanks to a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization of New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Datebook: New works by Mark Bradford, street art temple, the end of men

New abstractions from Mark Bradford. An artist who remixes literature with pop culture. A street art temple inspired by Indian graphics. Plus: the story of two men connected in death, a performance about the end of men, and a panel about keeping L.A. creative. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Type Books Turns Window Displays into Art

On Toronto’s Queen Street West, there is a nine-year-old independent bookstore that has taken the art of window displays to a whole new level. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Photo Mania: Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2015

Held in the Toronto Reference Library building, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival reinforced its reputation as one of the best comics arts festivals in the world, attracting an international slate of artists, publishers, fans, and comics-loving librarians Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Photo Mania: MoCCA Arts Festival 2015

This year's MoCCA Art Fest featured comics legends like Aline Kominsky-Crumb and lots of new comers like Kris Mukai, who was awarded a MoCCA Arts Fest 2015 Award of Excellence. Despite having to find a new venue for next year, this year's show was full of enthusiasm and lots of great indie... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AWP 2015: The Art and Business of Writing Children's Books

Although AWP 2015 focused on literature written for and by adults, children's authors held their own at the conference and presented their ideas about how to best publish for Middle Grade and YA readers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ward joins HarperCollins as fiction art director

HarperCollins has hired Claire Ward as fiction art director, joining from Transworld where she has worked for 25 years. Ward, who will begin at HarperCollins in July, has designed covers for titles such as Before I Go to Sleep, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, The Book Thief and The Girl... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Go Set a Watchman book jackets: a designer reads the artwork

The newly revealed covers of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird sequel are a graphic illustration of their publishers’ ambition to ensnare her fansCover for Harper Lee’s Mockingbird sequel revealedArguably the most hotly-anticipated novel in the world in 2015, Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman, had... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Go Set A Watchman jacket revealed

Cornerstone has released the jacket of the forthcoming Harper Lee novel Go Set a Watchman. A set of dedicated online channels have also been launched for the novel, set for release in the UK on 14th July. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Blackstaff Press 'devastated' to have Arts Council funding withdrawn

Northern Ireland publisher Blackstaff Press  said it is “devastated” to learn its Arts Council funding has been withdrawn and is “absorbing the shock” of the news. The independent press, which has been running since 1971, said it found out its funding had been slashed from £82,200 to zero for... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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