When Creativity Takes A Wrong Turn: Lousy Book Covers

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 ]
News tagged with: #book cover #book covers #chip kidd #covers featured

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Is the next book cover trend . . . rainbows?

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HarperCollins Children's Books takes two from Skinner

HarperCollins Children’s Books has signed two novels by middle-grade author Nicola Skinner. Continue reading at The Bookseller

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Announcing the Winner of Electric Lit’s Book Cover of the Year Tournament

This week, readers on Electric Literature’s Twitter and Instagram voted to narrow a field of 32 beautiful book covers down to their favorite of the year. Some of the margins were razor-thin—in particular, both Sin Eater vs. The Exhibition of Persephone Q in round one and Animal Wife vs. Follow... Continue reading at Electric Literature

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Help Us Pick the Best Book Cover of 2020

This hasn’t been an easy year for sustained, careful reading. But you know what doesn’t take any attention at all? Judging a book by its cover! That’s why we’re doing our first ever “best book cover of the year” tournament—and we want you to weigh in. Vote for your favorites on Electric... Continue reading at Electric Literature

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What a Book Cover Can Do

As a physical component of the book, the cover is a skin, a membrane, and a safeguard: paper jackets protect hardback boards from scuffing and sun damage, while paperback covers not only hold the book together but also keep its sheets clean and safe from tearing. In the past, paper jackets were... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

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The biggest book tour in history is taking place on . . . Roblox?

We’ve all had to adapt to the pandemic, and some have adapted more quickly than others—maybe none more so than Ernest Cline, author of Ready Player One, who is touring his new book Ready Player Two on the virtual platform Roblox. The Ready Player Two promotional event will start with a Q&A... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

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Browse excerpts from The Book of Homelessness, a new graphic novel by unhoused creatives.

The Accumulate Art School for the Homeless, a London-based charity that provides creative education and workshops for young homeless people, has partnered with unhoused artists to create a new graphic novel called The Book of Homelessness. The project began with a series of writing and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

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Beautiful Book Cover Posters For Your Walls

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Six roles at risk as Reach publishing team takes over Mirror Books

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The 10 Best Book Covers of October

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After losing two loved ones to covid-19, I turned to books. Here are 15 titles that helped me cope.

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2020 is the year of enormous pink lady faces on book covers.

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Apparently, the White House turned the routine review process for Bolton’s book into a huge mess.

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BBC2's Between the Covers book choices unveiled

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Former NRA Executive Turns Crosshairs On Wayne LaPierre In New Book

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Daunt Books takes Singh's 'visionary' The Breaks

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The 12 Best Book Covers of July

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Herring to take on International Men’s Day in new book

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