Aptly titled new Tumblr "Lousy Book Covers" collects the delightfully dubious achievements in jacket design. The book Spending Christmas With a Yeti is already at a marketplace disadvantage, what with that title, but then there’s the book cover. Oh boy, where to start. The real-life snowcapped mountain intruded upon by a clip-art Ford Explorer and what looks like an albino King Kong drawing? The puke-green background behind the title? Fortunately, for our amusement at least, it was efforts like this one for which the "Lousy Book Covers" Tumblr was made. In an age of consumer-as-creator, it’s sometimes fun to see the self-generated works that aren’t soaring aesthetic achievements. Creator Nathan Shumate is a writer and artist who also--wait for it--designs book covers. This expertise gives him special insight into what makes these book covers so bad, but anyone can plainly see that perhaps Chip Kidd was not called in on these jobs. Most covers featured on the site look like self-published works gone horribly wrong. Of course, the major publishing houses are also capable of putting out the occasional clunker every now and then.Read Full Story Continue reading at 'Fast Company'
[ Fast Company | 2013-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
December marks the start of the holiday season and the return of one of our favorite year-end traditions: the annual best book cover tournament. Now in its fourth year, this contest is our way of recognizing and celebrating the talented designers behind the books. After all, the cover is the... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-12-17 12:05:00 UTC ]
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The professionals weigh in: here are the best book covers of the year, according to book cover designers. | Lit Hub Design “The stone would outlast everyone, would transcend the memory of those who were there, and those who came after, and would see Topaz and its eventual ruin beyond the end.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-12-14 11:30:31 UTC ]
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A Book Review art director selects the book jackets that made a compelling impression. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-12-13 10:02:08 UTC ]
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One of fantasy and sci-fi’s all-time greats has passed away. Artist Greg Hildebrandt, known for his iconic work on Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Marvel and Magic: The Gathering, died on Thursday at 85. He and his twin brother Tim, who died in 2006, were a powerhouse duo — the Brothers... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-11-01 19:30:27 UTC ]
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Samsung is once again expanding its tablet lineup, and this time, the company is doing so with AI at the forefront. Today, Samsung revealed the Galaxy Tab S10 series, two models that it says are "built with AI enhancements available right out of the box." The 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-09-26 16:26:33 UTC ]
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The Power Broker at 50, and new book cover trend, and remembering Steve Silberman in today's book news. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-09-11 16:35:46 UTC ]
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The pros are here to remind us that racism persists in publishing. Plus: an adaptation from a queer icon and an MCU-style romance enterprise. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-08-15 15:15:00 UTC ]
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Designing a book cover is always something of an emotional roller coaster. There’s the excitement of nailing it on the first try (rare!); there’s the low of working hard on an idea, only for it to be discarded; there’s the struggle (every time) and the self-doubt (ever present) that come with... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-02 08:57:20 UTC ]
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Designer Elisha Zepeda has become a TikTok star for sharing his book cover design process. Are publishers are paying attention? Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Penguin Books UK competition in book cover design for a third year was open to all applicants: 30 percent are not students. The post In London: Penguin Books UK’s 2024 Cover Design Awards appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-07-03 20:13:30 UTC ]
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A new book by designer Jesse Reed gives unsung book covers their due. In the age of fickle online trends, font horoscopes, and tiny mics, what room is there to engage with the humble mass-market paperback of yesteryear? A new book, Second Hand, dusts off should-be-classic book covers that have... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2024-05-17 09:00:00 UTC ]
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A satirical confession, from an imagined designer who unleashed the style of book cover with “amorphous shapes of suggestive colors” on the world. I’ve created a monster. I’m the designer who first created the colorful blob book cover. You know the ones: the vaguely egg-like, kidney-bean-like... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-05-08 17:07:26 UTC ]
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Another month of books, another month of book covers. It’s been gloomy in upstate New York, but according to a certain saying, all this endless rain will pay dividends one day soon. In the meantime, here are some nice things to look at: The audacity, indeed. I love a book cover that feels goofy... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
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“At a time when books are being banned in schools and public libraries in unprecedented numbers, it’s alarming how writers have been reproached simply for signing letters that call for peace.” Maris Kreizman on the Jewish Book Council’s new initiative. | Lit Hub Politics The best book covers in... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-02-29 11:30:17 UTC ]
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Last week, we asked our social media followers to vote for the cover of year from the best 32 designs of the year. This year’s tournament was fierce, with surprise twists and crowd favorites that bowed out early. The winner edged out the competition by a mere 6 votes. From 32 cover designs, here... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-12-29 12:05:00 UTC ]
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The reign of the color-blob book cover has slowly come to an end over the last several years, and various pretenders to the throne have taken their best shot at being the next trend—sans-serif minimalism (The “Cusk”); brightly-colored paper-cut-out illustrations, usually involving women (The... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-18 15:14:58 UTC ]
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It’s the festive season, which means our fourth annual book cover tournament begins today! We had a tough job winnowing the hundreds of thousands of book covers published this year to the best 32 designs, so we need your help to crown a winner via an interactive poll on our Twitter and Instagram... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-12-18 12:00:00 UTC ]
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“Each of these portraits is, as advertised and expected, profoundly ‘humane.’” Gideon Lewis-Kraus recommends Nathan Thrall’s A Day in the Life of Abed Salama. | Lit Hub Criticism The 138 best book covers of 2023, as chosen by some of the industry’s best book cover designers. | Lit Hub Design... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
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