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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Weak start to 2011 for UK and US book trade

Written By: Benedicte Page and Philip Stone Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 09:40 Book sales have slumped on both sides of the Atlantic as the British and American markets experienced year-on-year declines in the first quarter of 2011. Book sales in the UK were down 3.1% to £324m, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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London Book Fair 2011: An Evolutionary Phase

This year's London Book Fair is taking place at a time of unique change. The shift from the printed word to the downloaded text is accelerating; chains and standalone bookstores are closing down around the world; and the very future of the book "entity" is being challenged by commentators and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trade looks to "packed" London Book Fair

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 08/04/2011 - 08:48 A record number of exhibitors are set to showcase at the London International Book Fair next week, as one publishing m.d. reported a "bouncy and optimistic" mood ahead of the three-day event and digital conference. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Vintage Classics launches cover design competition

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 08/04/2011 - 17:06 Vintage Classics has launched its fourth cover design competition for children, choosing The Wizard of Oz as this year's book. The competition, in partnership with the Times' Young Times and Random House Children's Books,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quadrille buys book by Royal cakemaker Cairns

Publication Date: Fri, 08/04/2011 - 10:49 Quadrille has acquired a baking title by Fiona Cairns, who is to make the wedding cake for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s impending nuptials. Editorial director Anne Furniss acquired world rights to The Birthday Cake Book from agent Heather Holden... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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London Book Fair: ones to watch, part II

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 16:04 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Cache: Playing Catch-Up in E-Books

Outside the United States, the digital book business is still in its infancy and has problems to resolve before taking off. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Arts Council defends Poetry Book Society cuts

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Dynamic Russian Book Market

Talk about transformation. In a span of 20 years, the Russian book market has made a 180-degree shift, from state-owned publishing and distribution to privately held (except for a few exceptions) and increasingly client driven. Every component of its book market was created overnight, after... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cooking the Books with Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lessons from Powell's Books

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On Rights and Book-Scouting

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Alex and Aki's Ideas in Food: A new book brings technological cuisine within reach of the everyday cook.

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[ Slate | 2011-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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London Book Fair: ones to watch

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Taschen's First 3D Books Are Big

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Beautiful Books buys Waugh biography

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Forensic and furious" books up for Orwell Prize

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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